Bankruptcy trustee James E. Cross alleges Dallas-area home flipper Skyler Aaron Cook, who has filed for bankruptcy in Arizona, defrauded investors out of at least $3 million in a scheme aided by Valliance Bank. The bank and its former executive vice president have denied the allegations.
Top Commercial Litigation in 2022
As restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic were rolled back in 2022, courts across the state went to work adjudicating long-delayed cases. Here, in no particular order, The Texas Lawbook looks back on some of the most significant litigation Texas lawyers handled in 2022.
Judge Miskel Appointed to Dallas Appellate Bench
Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday announced that Collin County District Judge Emily Miskel, who lost a bid to get elected to the Fifth Court of Appeals last month, will be assuming an open seat on that court. Miskel has been a judge in Collin County since 2015.
Dallas Jury Awards $15M in Asset-Moving Default Judgment Case
The jury deliberated for about three hours before siding with Maiden Biosciences on Tuesday morning. Over five days of testimony 15 witnesses were called, including five experts.
Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Grants Highlighted, Poultry Prep Patent Invalidated and Panel Decides Astronaut Artifacts Spat
In this week’s edition of litigation roundup, appellate rulings take center stage. The Texas Supreme Court granted review in a tax dispute between Kinder Morgan and a school district and allowed a sex trafficking lawsuit against Salesforce to proceed. In the Fifth Circuit, a former general counsel and staff attorney at a Louisiana college appeal to revive their pay discrimination and retaliation suit.
Government Touts $38.5M Recovery in Case it Argued ‘Never Should Have Proceeded This Far’
Five years after first arguing that the False Claims Act Lawsuit against Academy Mortgage Corporation should be dismissed, the Department of Justice publicized the $38.5 million settlement on Wednesday. This lawsuit marked the first time a judge denied the government’s motion to dismiss an FCA suit, presenting an issue of first impression to the Ninth Circuit panel that heard the case. Earlier this month, a case that asks what authority and discretion the government should have to dismiss whistleblower actions was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Dallas Jury Hits Hospital with $10.1M Verdict in Paralysis Case
The panel deliberated for about eight hours before returning the verdict finding Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Flower Mound 69 percent liable for the permanent injuries suffered by Judy “Jessie” Adams.
Litigation Roundup: Challenge to Texas Transmission Lines Law Expanded, Guns N’ Roses Files TM Claim Against Houston Business
In this week’s edition of litigation roundup, a team from Norton Rose Fulbright wins dismissal of a lawsuit over a never-realized business acquisition, Oncor wins an appeal in Austin in a suit over the valuation of its transmission lines, and a constitutional challenge to a state law governing transmission lines gets expanded by the Fifth Circuit.
Jury Awards Families of Fatal Crash Victims $12.1M
A Harris County jury awarded the money to the families of three individuals who were among six killed when a twin-engine plane crashed outside Kerrville in 2019. Deliberations took about five hours before the panel determined a Raymond James financial advisor who was piloting the plane was responsible for the crash and was on the clock at the time.
Litigation Roundup: Targa Wants $129M Award Axed, 5th Circ. Won’t Rehear Courtroom Prayer Case
In this week’s edition of litigation roundup, Targa Channelview files its opening brief with the Texas Supreme Court in a long-running $129 million fight with Vitol Americas, Maersk says its not responsible for cargo lost at sea and a former Abraham Watkins’ associate accused of taking files and clients from the firm fires back with an anti-SLAPP dismissal bid.