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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 Ho Expresses ‘Sincere Concerns’ About ‘Disrespect’ Shown to Pres. Trump, Judge Hendrix in Concurrence Slamming Supreme Court

In a seven-page concurrence, Fifth Circuit Judge James C. Ho accused the U.S. Supreme Court of affording “special treatment” to “favored litigants” in a case involving deportation under the Alien Enemies Act. And he stood up for U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix, writing that he had "conducted himself in a reasonable and indeed admirable manner,” calling the U.S. Supreme Court’s criticism of his actions in the underlying case “unwarranted and unfortunate.”

Michelle Casady

Gibbs & Bruns Notches 2 Trial Wins in 2 Days

Recently, trial teams from Gibbs & Bruns convinced two Harris County juries to return complete defense wins for two of its clients, one that was facing as much as $13.7 million in liability and another that was fighting claims seeking more than $20 million in damages. 

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: En Banc Fifth Circuit Decides to ‘Unweave Weaver’

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we detail two recent Texas Supreme Court rulings defining the contours of the Texas Citizens Participation Act, the whole Fifth Circuit unites to overturn a 45-year-old binding precedent in a lawsuit between a Houston plaintiffs firm and a former associate, and in another Fifth Circuit ruling, a panel upholds a $26.5 million award for a man injured in a collision with a letter carrier, writing that it wouldn’t “manufacture inequity, uncertainty, and arbitrariness” by adopting arguments presented by the Department of Justice in that case.  

Michelle Casady

Baker Hughes’ ‘Fearless’ VP of Litigation: Teresa Garcia-Reyes 

Baker Hughes shifted from defendant to plaintiff in a years-long legal battle with LiquidPower Specialty Products, overcoming patent infringement claims through inter partes review while building a strong antitrust case. This strategy, spanning U.S. and Canadian courts and the Patent Office, enabled Baker Hughes to settle in December 2024 and clear the way for a new product launch. Vice President of Litigation Teresa Garcia-Reyes, who oversees about 80 attorneys, emphasized the high stakes involved. “We are an energy technology company, so we take IP cases and the effect that they have on the ability to market our products very seriously,” she said. “There was real money at stake here, and it had been going on for so long, that it was nice to drive this one to closure.” The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook congratulate Garcia-Reyes for being selected as one of two finalists for the 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year. The awards ceremony is set for May 22 at the Four Seasons downtown.

Michelle Casady

Houston Crane Co. Slammed with $640M Verdict Over Construction Site Fatality 

Jurors in Harris County this week awarded the family of a man who was killed at a construction site a total of $640 million, most of which came in the form of a whopping $480 million assessment of punitive damages against Houston-based TNT Crane & Rigging.  A day before the jury assessed punitive damages, counsel for TNT had asked the court in an emergency motion for a mistrial, dismissal of the punitive damages phase of trial and sanctions against plaintiffs counsel, Tony Buzbee.

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Decides Barratry Case 

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Dallas law firm gets another favorable verdict in a mesothelioma trial against Johnson & Johnson, a federal judge in McAllen hands out prison sentences for participants in a $110 million kickback scheme, and the Texas Supreme Court clarifies the limitations of a state law that prohibits the unlawful solicitation of legal clients.

Michelle Casady

Texas Reaches $1.375B Settlement with Google in Data Privacy Suits

A little more than a week after Google and Texas told the state’s supreme court they were in settlement negotiations that could end litigation in a consumer protection lawsuit, Texas on Friday afternoon announced a $1.375 billion settlement with the tech giant. Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement calling the settlement of the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims “a major win for Texans’ privacy” and said it “tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.”

Michelle Casady

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