The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

Avatar photo

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.

Paul Hastings Hires Away King & Spalding Trial Pro in Houston

In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Craig Stanfield said that closely watching Paul Hastings’ moves over the past year or two fostered his interest in the firm. “I wanted to see their strategy, and it seemed to me they had a pretty well-defined strategy for building, bringing on teams in Dallas and Houston,” he said. “That was very attractive to me. This is a really strategic and ambitious firm, and they have a Texas strategy that is working.”

Michelle Casady

Houston Appellate Court Asked to Revive Winter Storm Uri Market Manipulation Suit

CirclesX Recovery, which describes itself as a software and data analytics company, argues MDL Judge Sylvia Matthews granted a motion to dismiss its lawsuit accusing some of the biggest energy companies of manipulating the natural gas market ahead of the 2021 winter storm, “without any analysis or explanation as to how or in what respect Appellant failed to plead its claims.”

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Judge Calls Out ‘Constitutional Flaws in the FCA’s Qui Tam Device’

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the widow of an oilfield worker sues Apache Corp. over her husband’s heat-related death, lawyers for the driver of a vandalized Tesla tout a first-of-its-kind civil suit, and Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan takes aim at the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act in a concurring opinion where the court wiped out a $28.7 million jury award.  

Michelle Casady

Auto Group Files $150M Suit Against Ex-Biz Partner 

Tate Group Automotive, run by three siblings, has turned to the Texas business court to resolve a $150 million dispute with one-time business partners Reynolds and Reynolds Company and Legacy Automotive Capital. The lawsuit brings claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misapplication of fiduciary property or civil theft, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, quantum meruit, tortious interference and civil conspiracy.

Michelle Casady

DOJ Picks WDTX as Forum for CBA Suit Against American Federation of Government Employees

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, who is being asked to declare that eight federal agencies have authority to terminate the collective bargaining agreements with their employees. The lawsuit was filed one day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order exempting employees of the eight federal agencies bringing this lawsuit from federal labor law requirements, purportedly in an effort to “enhance the national security of the United States.” The Office of Personnel Management subsequently instructed those agencies “to take appropriate steps toward terminating their previously negotiated CBAs,” according to the lawsuit.

Michelle Casady

Texas Trial Team Secures $1.6B Final Judgment Against Pharmaceutical Firm

In June, a New Jersey jury hit Janssen Products with a $150 million verdict. The final judgment trebled damages and assessed a whopping $1.27 billion civil penalty but did ax about $30 million in damages to the states under the False Claims Act after the judge agreed with Janssen that not enough evidence was presented to sustain that portion of the award. Dallas boutique Reese Marketos was brought into the case two years ago to take it to trial.

Michelle Casady

Family of Ex-SMU Quarterback Sees CTE Case Against NCAA Revived

Roger S. Braugh Sr. played both quarterback and defensive back for the Southern Methodist University football team from 1960 until 1962. He died in March 2019 and an autopsy performed at Boston University showed the cause was stage IV CTE. A Dallas County judge dismissed the suit after agreeing with the NCAA that the two-year deadline to bring the lawsuit had lapsed.

Michelle Casady

Justices Dig Into Preemption Issue in Boeing, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association Case

The crux of the case is whether the Railway Labor Act preempts the claims brought by SWAPA. Boeing says it does because deciding the case requires interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement between Southwest Airlines and its pilots. SWAPA says the RLA does not preempt its suit because the act only applies to claims between airline carriers and employees, and Boeing is not either of those.

Michelle Casady

© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.