Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The Fourteenth Court’s two sitting Republican justices — Tracy Christopher and Ken Wise — have won their races, while two Democratic challengers — Veronica Rivas-Molloy and Amparo Monique Guerra — have defeated their incumbent opponents in the First Court of Appeals.
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday declared a mistrial in a commercial case after a COVID-19 outbreak among participants of the jury trial temporarily closed the Sherman federal courthouse and left the parties with less than six jurors.
A federal judge in Sherman has halted a jury trial underway in his courtroom in which multiple people involved in the trial, including two jurors, tested positive for COVID-19, according to court records and multiple sources. In response, the Paul Brown federal courthouse will be closed the rest of the week for a deep cleaning. Natalie Posgate has the scoop.
A new Fifth Circuit ruling involves an Austin legal recruiter and a competitor who are sparring in litigation that has stretched from Texas to Asia and involves accusations of defamation and theft of trade secrets.
Three days after the election and with nearly all the votes counted, the four judicial races in Houston’s First and Fourteenth Court of Appeals are in a photo finish that seems to reflect that two Republican incumbent justices and two Democratic challengers are on the verge of winning.
Like President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden, the fate of all eight candidates is still pending as they enter the weekend. One of the candidates has a lead of 0.6%. “All I can say is we are ahead as of now,” Amparo Monique Guerra, a candidate for the First Court told The Texas Lawbook. Natalie Posgate has all the details.The four races for seats on Houston’s First and Fourteenth courts of appeals are incredibly close. Three incumbent Republican justices are leading their opponents by 1%, while one Democratic candidate is ahead of the GOP incumbent justice by 1%. By contrast, three Democratic district court judges are leading the incumbent Republican justices on the Dallas Court of Appeals by significant margins. Natalie Posgate has the details.
Texas lawyers from Latham & Watkins and Jones Walker are advising the company.
Houston voters do not have an incumbent candidate to consider as they cast their ballots for the next judge in Harris County’s 80th District Court, but they have two women with varied experience to choose from.
First elected to the bench in 2009, Gomez is currently serving his third term. Archer has practiced law for three decades handling probate matters, business litigation and other civil law.
While it’s not up to the legal community alone who will prevail, a recent poll by the Houston Bar Association indicates that it’s a pretty tight race among Houston lawyers for their pick to serve in the court going forward.
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