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.
The energy-focused team from Alston & Bird that launched a new firm in Fort Worth late last month has added Craig Haynes from Holland & Knight to become Vartabedian, Hester & Haynes. The firm has also officially opened an office in Dallas and is in the process of opening an office in West Texas.
The court heard oral arguments in October in Rodriguez v. Safeco Insurance Company, a case that that asked the court to interpret a state insurance law as it related to recovery of attorney fees. “Rather than speculate about whether the Legislature intended recovery of attorney’s fees to be likely, unlikely, or impossible, we should instead stick with the bedrock principle that the Legislature intends the courts to follow its instructions as written,” Justice Jimmy Blacklock wrote for the unanimous court. “In this instance, the Legislature has required the use of a mathematical formula that yields zero attorney’s fees in cases like Rodriguez’s.”
Jennifer Harris’ attorney, Brian Sanford of Sanford Firm, told The Lawbook he plans to appeal the ruling either by seeking rehearing en banc at the Fifth Circuit or by petitioning the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case. Harris was awarded $366 million, including $365 in punitive damages, by a jury that rejected her claim of racial discrimination but did find that Harris’ firing was retaliatory.
Scott Nelson will join as the firmwide leader of the labor and employment practice and will also be a partner in the Houston office’s litigation department. He was previously a partner with Hunton Andrews Kurth.
The main issue in the case involves whether the state proved scienter — that Dr. Richard Malouf knew he was in violation of the law when he filed forms for reimbursement 1,842 times representing he had performed certain services that were actually performed by trainees at his All Smiles Dental Clinic — which is required for the judgment to stand. After Texas was granted the early win by Travis County District Judge Catherine Mauzy, Malouf appealed and a three-justice panel affirmed the holding in October 2022. He took his fight to the Texas Supreme Court in January 2023, and in November the court agreed to hear the case.
Each term, watchers of the Texas Supreme Court are likely to see the court grant review in a handful of cases interpreting oil and gas leases, or cases requiring them to delineate what constitutes a medical malpractice claim. But this term, the court has taken an interest in something slightly different: three cases involving police crashes and the immunity that typically shields officers from related litigation.
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, the Dallas appellate court undoes a $20.8 million award in a fight between a landlord and a grocery company after finding “red flags” during the negotiation process were ignored, a federal jury convicts a software company CEO of bilking investors out of at least $25 million and prosecutors go after a business mogul who they say hasn’t paid taxes since 1992.
A group of 10 attorneys have left Alston & Bird to launch their own law firm focused on serving energy industry clients. Rob Vartabedian and Conrad Hester, who have been working together since 2008, will be name partners in the new venture.
Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham authored the panel opinion and a concurrence, saying the court was bound to follow its own precedent in this case while also calling on the Fifth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court to “revisit the doctrine” that is “deployed daily across this country” in police shooting cases. The case involves the shooting death of Ashtian Barnes, who was stopped for having outstanding toll violations — a non-arrestable offense — and was killed by Officer Roberto Felix Jr. when he attempted to drive away.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Exxon Mobil sues two activist investors, a propane company draws a $150 million lawsuit over a fatal crash and the Texas Supreme Court issues an opinion clarifying premises liability law.
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