Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Michelle Casady is based in Houston and covers litigation and appeals — including trials, breaking news and industry trends — for The Texas Lawbook.
Michelle Casady has been a reporter in Texas since January 2009. She's covered crime at The Bryan-College Station Eagle, courts at the San Antonio Express-News and civil litigation for Law360. In July 2022, she joined The Texas Lawbook.
Her reporting has included covering arrests, trials, plea deals and settlements, executions, natural and manmade disasters, colorful characters and various oddities.
She lives in Houston with her husband Matt, a sweet dog Hurricane Harvey brought into their lives, and a confident cat who keeps everyone in line. She holds a bachelor's degree in journalism from Texas Tech University and was a 2018 fellow of the Loyola Marymount University Journalist Law School.
You can reach Michelle at michelle.casady@texaslawbook.net or (713) 614-7929.
In the intermediate appellate court races, Democrats picked up four seats total — three across the two appellate courts in Houston and one on the Thirteenth Court of Appeals, which serves the area of Corpus Christi and Edinburg. A total of 22 seats for the First through Fourteenth Courts of Appeals were on yesterday's ballot, with 18 seats staying with their incumbent parties. In those races, a total of 10 candidates won reelection.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez has approved Camp Mystic's proposal to hand control of its wrongful death litigation to two independent fiduciaries. The 19-page order avoids the appointment of a Chapter 11 trustee but leaves the door open for future challenges from creditors.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Motorola sees a discovery win in a European patent infringement dispute reversed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and a Houston appellate court ends a man’s quest to investigate potential Texas Heartbeat Act claims against a former romantic partner.
The city of Arlington is moving to protect a $270 million stadium maintenance funding deal and a lease extension for the Dallas Cowboys that would keep America’s team playing in the city through 2055. To quickly squash a taxpayer lawsuit blocking the deal, the city has invoked a statute to force an immediate trial.
In a filing late Wednesday, lawyers for Camp Mystic filed an updated proposal that would see the Eastland family cede control over the defense and possible settlement of wrongful death litigation stemming from the July 4, 2025, flood that left 25 campers, two counselors and the camp’s own director dead. The move comes after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez identified the Eastland’s control over the litigation as a conflict of interest that would require him to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee if not remedied.
Just hours after the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders sought an emergency restraining order in Collin County, counsel for rock band My Chemical Romance agreed to stop using alleged knockoff uniforms on tour, a move that canceled a scheduled Wednesday temporary restraining order hearing.
Facing a looming discovery deadline, former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman has filed an expedited motion to drop her $258,000 fee request in the IEH Auto Parts bankruptcy, heading off a fight with the U.S. Trustee.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup Jackson Walker and Quinn Emanuel are hired by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders to pursue trademark violation claims, the Texas Supreme Court agrees to wade into a dispute involving the municipal regulation of short-term rentals and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit determines a federal law regulating switchblades is unconstitutional.
Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo V. Rodriguez took under advisement Thursday whether to sanction Jackson Walker, expand the universe of cases subject to fee disgorgement or even appoint a special master if needed after an hourlong show-cause hearing in Houston. The hearing was prompted by the court’s discovery of more undisclosed cases in which former judge David Jones presided while romantically involved with former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman.
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez denied without prejudice competing motions to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee or to approve independent fiduciaries in the Camp Mystic bankruptcy, giving the debtors until Oct. 28 to file an amended plan to give independent fiduciaries control over the potential settlement of wrongful death lawsuits. The proposed plan the camp filed, he said, failed to provide the kind of independence necessary “to move these cases forward.”
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