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Michelle Casady

Michelle Casady is based in Houston and covers litigation and appeals — including trials, breaking news and industry trends — for The Texas Lawbook.

Michelle Casady

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.

Harris County Judge Lauren Reeder Succeeds in Keeping Challenger Off Ballot

The race for the 234th District Court bench in Harris County has gotten ugly.

Incumbent Judge Lauren Reeder and challenger Kim McTorry both allege the other played a role in trying to coerce them into dropping out of the race. The allegations range from threats to expose a brief decade-old affair to offers of a $50,000 bribe.

At the conclusion of a hearing that stretched across two days, Senior Judge Christi Kennedy, who was sitting on the case by assignment, determined Thursday night that McTorry's petition was invalid and ordered that she not appear on the March primary ballot.

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Acer Hits AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile with Infringement Claims

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, an East Texas scammer who prosecutors said lied about representing the late Major League Baseball player Pete Rose and about owning cannabis dispensaries in Las Vegas is sentenced to prison, and the decision of a Collin County jury in a dispute between a landlord and a tenant over a rat infestation is undone by a Dallas appellate court.

Michelle Casady

Atlas Unplugged: In Houston Lawyer’s Collection, the Past Unfolds

In his corner office in downtown Houston, history hangs from every wall.

You don’t just see the maps. Centuries call out, empires rise (and fall) with each step you take in Joseph Ahmad’s office, where the past is still very much alive.

The collection of maps bleeds out into the hallways of the skyscraper floors that the law firm Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing occupies, jockeying for wall space alongside other works of art.

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Lawyer Who Leaked Accused Priest’s Name to Reporter Can’t Shake $400K Sanction

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a divided Fifth Circuit panel revives an excessive force lawsuit against a Lake Worth officer stemming from a 2021 fatal shooting, with the judges sharply criticizing each other in their opinions, and a husband and wife in Fort Worth admit guilt in a custom home building scam that defrauded 40 victims out of about $4.8 million. 

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Founder, CEO of McKinney Aerospace Company Named in Wrongful Discharge Case

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a group of wildfire survivors, represented by Susman Godfrey, are awarded $62 million in damages by a jury in Oregon, federal indictments against the former executives of Dallas-based Tricolor are unsealed and the founder and CEO of an aerospace company in McKinney is accused by former executives he hired of firing them after they refused to commit a $1 million “theft.” 

Michelle Casady

Dallas-Based Firm Secures $65.5M Verdict Against J&J in Minnesota

Johnson & Johnson owes a 37-year-old mother of three $65.5 million in damages for causing her mesothelioma, a jury in Minnesota determined Friday afternoon.

Anna Jean Houghton Carley, who was diagnosed with terminal peritoneal mesothelioma in February, alleged exposure to Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder throughout her childhood exposed her to asbestos and contributed to her developing mesothelioma. 

Ben Braly of Dean Omar Branham Shirley, who represented Carley at trial, said the case wasn’t just about compensation, but about “truth and accountability.”  

Michelle Casady

Camp Mystic Defendants Want New Venue, Deny Wrongdoing 

In the four separate lawsuits filed in Travis County District Court by families whose daughters were killed in the July 4 flooding of the Guadalupe River that swept through Camp Mystic, the defendants are arguing the cases should not proceed in Austin.

Instead, the cases should be litigated in Kerr County, where Camp Mystic sits and where “all relevant events in this lawsuit took place,” recently filed motions argue.

Michelle Casady

Xcel Energy Accused of Causing Deadly Smokehouse Creek Fire

Attorney General Ken Paxton on Tuesday announced he was suing Southwestern Public Service Company, which does business as Xcel Energy, for allegedly causing 2024’s Smokehouse Creek Fire. The fire, which killed three and caused more than $1 billion in damages, was the largest wildfire in recorded Texas history. (File photo by Julio Cortez/The Associated Press)

Michelle Casady

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