Toyota and a proposed class of hybrid-vehicle owners have settled a class action lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas. The case had originally been set for trial this July before the court ordered mediation for the parties.
Jury Awards Port of Houston $22M in Equipment Damage Case
A Houston federal jury found Friday that French agricultural merchant Louis Dreyfus Co. breached a contract with the Port of Houston Authority when it returned a damaged grain elevator and other equipment it had leased to handle its Houston-based exports.
BMC-IBM Trial Closes with a Menu of Damages Options
Lawyers in a showdown between BMC Software and IBM concluded Thursday their cases with hundreds of millions of dollars in potential damages for presiding judge Gray Miller to ponder over whether IBM committed fraud. Natalie Posgate was in the courtroom for closing arguments.
AZA Associate Sets Precedent in Fifth Circuit for Sexual Harassment Victims
Kelsi Stayart White set new precedent as an associate with the Houston-based AZA firm in the Fifth Circuit when a three-judge panel this month found for her client, a former Houston female firefighter. The unanimous holding broadens sexual harassment protection in part by allowing her complaint to proceed after she discovered an intimate video taken from her laptop had been circulating among her firehouse colleagues for nine years.
Yetter Coleman Nabs Partner from Kirkland
Houston litigation boutique Yetter Coleman announced Tuesday that it has hired a complex commercial litigator from Kirkland. The new partner also has significant restructuring trial experience.
BMC ‘Crystal Clear’ IBM Could Not Replace BMC Software
BMC’s second witness took the witness stand for most of Tuesday. Brian Jones, a key negotiator for BMC during its contract discussions with IBM, said his side was always “crystal clear” about its position of removing a coveted client from the parties’ displacement provision: it wasn’t happening.
In Beginning of Trial BMC Lambastes IBM’s Conduct As ‘Not Acceptable’
BMC’s attorney tells the court: BMC “always relied on the plain meaning” of its contracts with IBM and the language “speaks for itself.” But IBM’s lead lawyer countered that BMC breached the non-displacement contract when it did not inform IBM that AT&T had purchased special rights in its own contract with BMC that allowed IBM, as its outsourcer, to displace BMC software in AT&T’s systems without paying extra. “At best, BMC could (and did) try to leverage payments from IBM.”
Trial Begins Between BMC & IBM
IT giants BMC and IBM map their cases for U.S. District Judge Gray Miller today in a bench trial alleging fraud and trade-secrets misappropriation. Although BMC begins trial with a breach-of-contract finding already in the bag, Judge Miller made clear in a February order that BMC still has much to prove before it’s considered a win. Opening statements wrapped up just before lunch Monday afternoon and when the parties returned, BMC called its first witness, BMC VP Raul Ah Chu.
Anne Johnson: The Lawyer ‘No One Wants’ on ‘the Other Side of an Appeal’
Anne Johnson has accomplished much in her legal career. The UK-born lawyer has won numerous difficult appeals, served on Haynes and Boone’s management committee and tried a multi-month case while six months pregnant. On Tuesday, Johnson made a move in her career that is both a big transition and another accomplishment: She joined a boutique law firm as a name partner.
The Lawbook details Johnson’s life and career and the magnitude of her lateral move.
Anne Johnson & Jeff Tillotson Join Forces
After 27 years at Haynes and Boone, prominent appellate lawyer Anne Johnson is joining forces with respected Dallas trial lawyer Jeff Tillotson. The move puts Johnson’s name on the door as well as another lawyer at the firm. The Texas Lawbook has the scoop.