Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, Pioneer Natural Resources draws suit over its $60 billion Exxon deal, a fight between faculty at MD Anderson spills into court, a jury renders a take-nothing judgment in a personal injury suit that had sought damages in excess of $10 million, and the Fifth Circuit revives a fatal crash suit against Union Pacific.
William Moye is not only venturing out on his own for the first time after 20 years with Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons, he’s entering a whole new practice area. Moye Law Firm, slated to open March 1, will focus on handling catastrophic personal injury cases.
The State Bar of Texas recently released the results of a straw poll it conducts every election cycle that asks its members to cast a ballot for the judge or justice of their choice for the various contested races across the state. Here, The Lawbook takes a look at the 2024 results for Texas Supreme Court races, but also compares the results of the 2022 and 2020 straw polls with the results of the general election in an attempt to offer insight into how often the voting members of the bar aligned with the Texas voting public at large.
Christopher Novinger, of Mansfield, was before the Fifth Circuit for the second time on Thursday morning seeking relief from a “no admit, no deny” provision in a 2016 settlement agreement he entered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. In July 2022 a different panel of that court rejected his attempt to free himself from the gag order provision via a Rule 60(b) motion that argued the “no deny” portion of the policy violated his First Amendment and due process rights.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the dispute between ExxonMobil and two activist shareholders could be over, the battle between Yelp and Texas over pregnancy crisis center disclaimers continues and the Fifth Circuit agrees that a discrimination lawsuit against Lockheed Martin was rightfully tossed.
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.
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