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 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.
In orders issued Friday morning, the Texas Supreme Court granted a request from Houston Baseball Partners to drop its claims against Comcast and NBC. That means the case now pits current owner Jim Crane against the man who sold him the team, Drayton McLane.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a short-lived trademark infringement suit over the name of a Dallas restaurant settles, a trade secrets dispute marches toward a jury trial in Fort Bend County and a judge in Midland gets chided for a procedural misstep in granting a change of venue request.
After being dragged into six fights by a former associate who alleges he’s owed back wages — before the labor commissions in California and Texas, the bar associations in each state and courts there — the Berg & Androphy partner David Berg is asking a Harris County district judge to sanction Justin Carl Pfeiffer. In an answer and counterclaim filed Monday, Berg referred to Pfeiffer as “unhinged” and a “vexatious litigant” who “harasses all whom he claims have wronged him.”
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the insulated power structure of an agency meant to protect racehorses facially unconstitutional, Oncor was found liable for a tree trimmer’s injuries and a closely watched insurance case is teed up before the Texas Supreme Court.
The German car manufacturers had argued that Gov. Greg Abbott shouldn’t be allowed to hand-pick two justices from lower courts to replace the two Texas Supreme Court justices who recused themselves from deciding the lawsuit Texas is bringing against them.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the University of Texas settles a gender discrimination lawsuit with the law professor Linda Mullinex, Amazon draws a patent infringement lawsuit over robotics used at its fulfillment centers, the Fifth Circuit denies a bid from a fraudster — who waived his right to appeal — to challenge his 14-year sentence and a settlement is reached in a shareholder lawsuit against Fluor Corporation.
There were few surprises in the races for district judge seats in the state’s biggest counties, where Democrats have steadily made inroads in recent years. Three judges who were recently appointed to their seats by Gov. Greg Abbott were soundly rejected by voters.
Both sides touted the ruling as a win in press releases and statements to reporters. The Nov. 4 ruling means it will cost Fox at least $4.1 billion to exercise its option to purchase an 18.6 percent stake in the online sports betting company.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas reaches a tentative settlement with Colorado and New Mexico in a nearly decade-old lawsuit over use of the Lower Rio Grande River’s resources, two major tobacco companies say Texas owes them about $8.6 million in taxes paid under protest, and another trial between VLSI and Intel kicks off.
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