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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.

Judge Liu Calls Out ‘Deplorable Management’ of Case, Points to Central Docket System as Culprit 

Travis County’s newest district court judge issued an order this week in a nearly 2-year-old dispute, stemming from a soured joint venture that was formed to buy and sell a luxury home in Austin, while granting and denying certain motions from both parties. 

But the real news in the three-page order entered Wednesday in Brandon Becker v. UpEquity Title came in the final three paragraphs, where Travis County District Judge Cory Liu, appointed to the bench by Gov. Greg Abbott in March, took to task the Travis County central docket system. 

Michelle Casady

AZA to Open Dallas Office in January 

The firm, which launched in Houston in 1993, was patient about opening a second office. John Zavitsanos said the amount of intellectual property work the firm is handling made Dallas a clear location for expansion. (Photo by Sharon Ferranti/The Texas Lawbook)

Michelle Casady

Mavs Hire Jackson Walker in Stars Lawsuit 

To lead the high-profile breach of contract lawsuit the Dallas Mavericks ownership filed against the Dallas Stars ownership Tuesday, the basketball club’s General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer Sekou Lewis has tapped the law firm Jackson Walker. Partners Charles “Chip” Babcock, Chris Bankler and associate Sarah Starr are representing the Dallas Sports Group and Radical Arena in the litigation against DSE Hockey Club. 

Michelle Casady

Texas Hires Keller Postman for Tylenol Suit

Plaintiffs law firm Keller Postman, which has its sole Texas outpost in Austin, has been hired by the state to pursue a deceptive trade practices lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue over their marketing of Tylenol. Three lawyers from the firm’s office in Washington, D.C., and Ashley Keller from its Chicago office all signed on to the lawsuit filed Tuesday in Panola County. 

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Zero Times Zero is Not $26.9M

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, three former federal judges in Texas join more than two dozen of their colleagues in urging the U.S. Supreme Court to reject President Donald Trump’s tariff regime, the parties involved in an East Texas water fight reach an agreement and a math lesson from the Dallas Court of Appeals wipes out a $26.9 million prejudgment interest award.  

Michelle Casady

Kyle Hawkins is Newest Texas Supreme Court Justice

Gov. Greg Abbott announced Friday he has appointed the former solicitor general of Texas to serve as the newest member of the Texas Supreme Court. Kyle Hawkins, who most recently was a partner at Lehotsky Keller Cohn, will be filling the seat left vacant by former Justice Jeff Boyd, who left the court in September.

Michelle Casady

Texas Book Review Law ‘Unconstitutionally Compels Speech, is Void for Vagueness, and is an Unconstitutional Prior Restraint’

U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright on Tuesday issued a 24-page opinion permanently banning Texas from enforcing certain parts of HB 900, referred to as the READER Act, which stands for Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources. He wrote that while the state has an interest in protecting children “from obscene content in the school setting,” the challenged law “misses the mark on accomplishing its goal and is unconstitutional.”

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Lawyers Can’t Shake $525K Sanction

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a federal judge in Fort Worth makes a business pitch to Apple and X Corp., a hefty sanction is upheld against two lawyers, and a pro se litigant is called out by a Fifth Circuit panel for citing cases that “appear to be fake” in her sex discrimination appeal.

Michelle Casady

Forty Years in the Making, Harris County Finally Gets More Civil District Courts

Lawmakers this session did something that hadn’t been done in more than 40 years: approved the creation of new civil district courts in Harris County. The five new courts will come online next year and in 2027, and officials have said the additions will improve docket efficiency, enhance access to justice and strengthen the court system’s ability to serve Harris County.

Michelle Casady

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