A contentious battle between two residential mortgage firms heads to the next phase after one side rendered a take-nothing verdict in a Dallas federal court. But the other side doesn’t seem to be backing down either. Litigation writer Natalie Posgate has the story behind this ongoing fight.
Neiman Marcus Countersues Creditor Hedge Fund
Neiman Marcus countered a $1 billion fraudulent transfer lawsuit filed by one of its debtholders, charging that the suit is part of an illegal scheme for the debtholder to injure the Dallas-based luxury retailer and “extract improper benefits for itself.” The Lawbook’s Natalie Posgate details the new litigation.
Patent Suit Against Baylor Rejected After UT Refused to Join as Plaintiff
Baylor College of Medicine and the inventor of a cancer immunotherapy won, in effect, dismissal of a patent-infringement suit when a federal judge ruled that Baylor rival, the University of Texas, had a sovereign right to refuse to participate as a plaintiff. The loser: the company that tried to drag UT into the litigation. Natalie Posgate explains.
Gray Reed Closes Syngenta Case with $1.51B Settlement
A Kansas federal judge Friday approved what may be the largest agricultural settlement in U.S. history. It marks the end of a four-year legal battle in which farmers alleged Syngenta released genetically modified corn into the marketplace, causing major disruptions in the corn trade between the U.S. and China. A Dallas attorney took part in the deal.
Eight Major Hotels Sued in Antitrust Lawsuit in EDTX
An online travel agency has sued eight major hotel chains claiming an agreement to suspend competitive bidding on each other’s branded online search terms damaged its business. It’s a complex allegation of anticompetitive behavior and Lawbook litigation writer Natalie Posgate explains it.
$178.5M Arbitration Award Ties Off 1990 South Texas Asbestos Case
Two recent rulings for $178.5 million have ended what had been one of the longest running cases in the nation. The downside of the case, filed nearly three decades ago, is that only about 70 of the original 2300 plaintiffs have lived to see its end. The Lawbook’s Litigation Writer Natalie Posgate has the bittersweet details.
Johnston Tobey Baruch Scores $5M Settlement Against San Antonio Firm
Texas-based 1776 Energy Partners has settled for nearly $5 million a legal malpractice claim against a San Antonio law firm after one of its lawyers botched a lawsuit so badly that they were forced to settle as defendants a suit the company had pursued as the plaintiff.
Kelly Rentzel: GC of a Bank; ‘Pioneer’ for Mental Health Advocacy
Only four months before Texas Capital Bank General Counsel Kelly Rentzel became the bank’s first in-house lawyer, she tried to kill herself in her bathtub. Rentzel’s journey with bipolar disorder has seen both struggle and revelation. Natalie Posgate profiles Rentzel’s remarkable personal trials and her brave new effort to educate others.
Dispute Involving Apache to Continue in Arbitration, Appeals Court Rules
An appellate court ruled Thursday that the arbitrability of a $15 million legal dispute between Houston-based Apache Corp. and Fort Worth-based Wagner Oil Company will have to be debated in front of an arbitrator in Houston, not a trial court in Fort Worth as WOC had hoped.
Judge Reopens Forest Park Bankruptcy to Investigate Contempt of Party
It started with a Chapter 11 bankruptcy tied to an Austin affiliate of the Forest Park hospital. It ended with a revelation in a separate case in Dallas of multiple potentially illegal transfers of millions of dollars during the bankruptcy proceeding. The bankruptcy case has now reopened to determine whether a Dallas private equity manager, the recipient of these millions, should be held in contempt and hit with six-figure sanctions. The Lawbook has the story.