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.
In four separate filings, GWG bondholders this week spoke out forcefully against requests from Jackson Walker, Porter Hedges, David Jones and Elizabeth Freeman to dismiss racketeering claims against them, doubling down on allegations that each party was enriched by keeping secret a “live-in, intimate relationship” between then-bankruptcy judge Jones and bankruptcy lawyer Freeman.
The case turned on whether Texas or Mexico law applied to the issue of res judicata, which precludes parties from relitigating disputes once there’s been a final judgment on the merits. The Eighth Court of Appeals, in a 2-1 opinion, determined the trial court gets to decide which law applies and it was not incorrect in determining the litigation of a related suit in Juarez, Mexico, barred this one in El Paso under Texas law.
A filing this week marked the second time the U.S. Trustee’s Office, referred to as the watchdog of the bankruptcy system, has urged the presiding judge to reject proposed settlements the Dallas-based law firm has reached with its former bankruptcy clients.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Dallas lawyer secures an important ruling in a case involving NCAA eligibility for an Indiana University football player from Mesquite, and the brother of the Houston Texans principal owner hires Tony Buzbee to bring a $100 million tortious interference lawsuit against the National Football League. There is also coverage of non-football-related cases.
Anonymous Media Research Holdings had filed suit against Samsung Electronics Co. and Samsung Electronics America in September 2023, alleging infringement of two patents covering technology used to measure media consumption. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap presided over the case that began with jury selection Monday and ended with Friday’s verdict. A related patent infringement case brought by Anonymous Media has been filed in the Northern District of California, and is currently on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria granted Roku’s motion for judgment on the pleadings in that case on Sept. 12.
Strike Liquidating Trust and Auto Plus Auto Sales are among a handful of companies that have reached proposed settlements with Jackson Walker. Most recently, JCPenney reached a potential $1.4 million settlement with the law firm.
Chief Judge Kimberly A. Moore authored the court’s 15-page opinion that was issued Wednesday. She wrote that Jonathan Wells, who was Finesse’s infringement expert at trial, “offered no clear or detailed explanation for his contradictory testimony.” A jury had awarded Finesse the lump sum damages after finding AT&T and Nokia infringed two patents related to intermodulation interference, a longstanding problem for wireless networks.
In a three-page order, U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III granted Samsung’s motion for judgment as a matter of law that it had not infringed asserted claims in three patents covering technology used in smart phones and smart home appliances. The judge also invalidated asserted claims in two of the patents in the Sept. 18 order.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, executives of a Houston-based company that operates strip clubs are indicted on tax fraud charges in New York, and a trio of cities ask the entire Third Court of Appeals to rehear their constitutional challenge to a new state law.
Dallas law firm Burns Charest represented a man who was left profoundly disabled after suffering a stroke just before boarding and another stroke while flying over the Atlantic Ocean. Fort Worth-based American Airlines had argued they bore no responsibility for his injuries because he declined to deplane before the flight departed for Madrid.
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