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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.

Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Ruling Unravels $7.1B Deal; SEC Goes After $191M Cowtown ‘Ponzi Scheme’

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused a Fort Worth company of operating a $191 million Ponzi scheme involving the purchase and sale of cattle, and a trial team from Susman Godfrey secured an $86 million defense win. Also highlighted is a Fifth Circuit panel’s holding that the Federal Trade Commission used an incorrect standard in determining a $7.1 billion acquisition of a cancer test maker would harm competition, but the court also agreed with the agency’s conclusion, which was enough to prompt Illumina to announce it would divest Grail anyway.

Michelle Casady

Justice O’Connor’s Former Clerks, Texas Attorneys Share Remembrances of Her Life, Legacy

Two former clerks for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — Justin Nelson of Susman Godfrey and Allyson Ho of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — spoke to The Lawbook about lasting memories and lessons learned from their time working alongside her at the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor, who inspired many women to pursue careers in the law after becoming the first woman appointed to the high court, died Dec. 1 of complications related to dementia and a respiratory illness. Today, her funeral will take place.

Michelle Casady

V&E Team from Houston Notches Defense Win in $100M California Suit

The team, led by Jim Thompson, Nicholas Shum and Stephanie Noble had been defending Aera Energy against the claims lodged by business partners Vaquero Partners and Madison Energy for two years before the two-month trial began in October. The jurors deliberated for about a day and a half before determining Vaquero and Madison were entitled to no damages related to Aera’s operation of the Bakersfield-area oil and gas lease.

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Will Hear PUCT Authority Case, Short-term Rental Restrictions in Dallas Halted

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Dallas residents were granted a temporary injunction that will prohibit the city from enforcing new ordinances that would severely restrict the availability of short-term rental homes, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses the U.S. State Department of conspiring to censor conservative-leaning media outlets, and the Texas Supreme Court agrees to hear a case involving the scope of the Public Utility Commission of Texas’ authority.

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Federal Circuit Orders New Damages Trial in $2.1B VLSI/Intel Case, Pfizer Again Sued by Texas

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas follows up on a Medicaid fraud lawsuit accusing Pfizer of manipulating data about the efficacy of a pediatric attention-deficit drug with a lawsuit accusing the pharmaceutical company of lying about the effectiveness of its Covid-19 vaccine, Antero Resources continues its fight to recover an $11.9 million judgment from a former manager and an intermediate appellate court finds a fatal products liability suit should be litigated in Dallas.

Michelle Casady

SCOTX Tells Fifth Circ. Deadline-Tolling Statute Applies in Flight Attendants’ Boeing Suit

The federal appellate court had asked the Texas Supreme Court to answer two questions clarifying how Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.064 applies to the claims of former United Airlines flight attendants, Marvin Sanders and Matthew Sodrok, who say they were injured when a smoke detector activated — despite the absence of smoke or fire on board — at such a high volume that it burst their ear drums, caused their ears to bleed and left them with permanent hearing loss. The justices’ answers revived the lawsuit against The Boeing Company and two companies that provided parts and maintenance for the allegedly defective smoke detector.

Michelle Casady

SCOTX Ponders if ‘Wrongful Pregnancy’ is Gift from God or Grounds for Damages

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday morning in a lawsuit where mother of four Grissel Velasco is suing Dr. Michiel R. Noe for both his failure to perform a sterilization procedure she requested and his failure to inform her the procedure had not been done. Velasco is seeking pain and mental anguish damages for the so-called wrongful pregnancy that came about 15 months after she thought she had been sterilized.

Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Pharma Cos Draw Texas Fraud Suit, Small Refineries Beat EPA at Fifth Circuit

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sides 2-1 with a group of small refineries challenging an EPA decision to deny their requested exemptions from certain obligations under the Clean Air Act, the founder of SAExploration reaches a settlement with the SEC in a $100 million fraud case and private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe XI moves to toss an FTC monopoly suit lodged against it.

Michelle Casady

Federal Jury in Dallas Awards $210M in Software Trade Secrets Trial

After hearing six days of testimony, a jury in the Northern District of Texas unanimously sided with Computer Sciences Corporation and found the company was entitled to $70 million in actual damages for Tata Consultancy Services’ misappropriation of its proprietary source code and $140 million in exemplary damages because the misappropriation was willful and malicious.

Michelle Casady

Biz Community Tells SCOTX Abortion Ban Has Cost Texas $14.5B

An amici army 40 strong, led by dating app Bumble Inc. and joined by Match Group, SXSW, Amalgamated Bank, Central Presbyterian Church, a handful of boutique law firms, doctors and hospitality companies, filed their brief with the Texas Supreme Court Monday, about a week before the court is slated to hear oral arguments in Texas v. Zurawski. But the business community is far from the only voice trying to persuade the Texas Supreme Court. A group of 20 states filed an amicus brief, as did a group of 90 Texas legislators and a handful of national women’s rights organizations.

Michelle Casady

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