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.
The family of Nevaeh Hall sued the dentist, Bethaniel Jefferson, reaching a settlement with her insurer prior to trial, and also sued a pharmacist Charlotte M. Smith Brown, alleging she told Jefferson to administer an incorrect medication to Hall during the medical emergency. Brown drew Jefferson back into the lawsuit as a potentially liable party, and jurors found the dentist 100 percent liable for the injuries.
During oral arguments before the Texas Supreme Court Wednesday, Justice Jimmy Blacklock expressed some hesitation about the ramifications of adopting an argument from Walmart that it is a third-party beneficiary of a contract between the government and Xerox over the administration of a food-assistance program for low-income individuals.
University of Texas School of Law professor Stephen Vladeck filed an amicus brief Monday calling out Texas for undermining “core principles” of Article III standing with “transparent judge-shopping tactics” in its challenges to various Biden administration directives. He told the justices Texas shouldn’t be allowed to “so transparently manipulate the legal system in order to obtain injunctive relief against any party — including the federal government.”
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, a team from Vinson & Elkins gets a win for the Sabine-Neches Navigation District in a case of first impression involving the Water Resources Development Act, a bus manufacturer is hit with a wrongful death lawsuit over the death of a 6-year-old girl and a Taiwanese pipe maker escapes a wrongful death suit.
A Harris County jury recently determined that Matthew Smith, former general counsel to Microvast, had breached his fiduciary duty to his client, and owed it the cost of a laptop computer it purchased for him. The jurors rejected Smith’s argument that he was entitled to $3.4 million based on an oral agreement for stock options.
Mark Lanier, who hired Ken Starr to join his law firm in 2018, recalled helping his mentor navigate his departure from Baylor amid a scandal, Starr’s role as ‘principal architect’ of the firm’s appellate strategy in the $2.5 billion Johnson & Johnson talc powder case and other memories from their nearly 40-year relationship.
On appeal, Targa Channelview argued the award rested on a faulty interpretation of the contract between the parties related to a crude oil storage and processing facility. Both Vitol and Targa had an impressive list of legal leaders representing the companies on appeal.
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, a team from Bracewell gets a win for the John M. O’Quinn Foundation in a 12-year dispute with the famed lawyer’s former companion, Texas attorneys are named to take the lead in a multidistrict litigation over contaminated infant formula and the Fifth Circuit affirms $51 million in fees and costs for the Stanford Ponzi case receiver.
In a list of orders issued Friday morning, the Texas Supreme Court denied a request for rehearing that HouseCanary lodged on Aug. 4. The real estate analytics startup was asking the court to undo a Fourth Court of Appeals ruling that gave it an ultimatum: submit to a new trial or move for judgment on the jury’s $201 million award tied to a breach of contract claim.
Industry groups argue the burden of proof as to whether property damage is caused by a covered or uncovered cause has erroneously shifted to policyholders when it should be on the insurers. As hurricane season approaches its traditional peak in the state, the Texas Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Sept. 21 in the dispute that could have major implications for insurance policyholders.
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