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Appellate

Texas Supreme Court: ERCOT is Government Agency, Has Sovereign Immunity

A sharply divided Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is a government agency and is entitled to sovereign immunity from civil lawsuits. In a highly anticipated decision, the state’s highest court for civil litigation ruled that “because ERCOT performs a ‘uniquely governmental’ function as part of a ‘larger governmental system’, it is an organ of government.”

The decision to declare ERCOT a state agency and grant it immunity directly impacts thousands of wrongful death, personal injury and property damage lawsuits brought by victims of Winter Storm Uri and currently pending in a multidistrict litigation in Harris County District Court. ERCOT is a defendant in nearly all of those cases.

History of the Heavyweights

The Lawbook has pulled together some highlights of past battles won, lost and settled between the four Houston lawyers leading the prosecution and defense in Ken Paxton’s Senate impeachment trial. Dick DeGuerin, Rusty Hardin, Dan Cogdell and Tony Buzbee have all handled blockbuster trials in their legal careers, but here we explore instances where they were involved in the same case.

All of Paxton’s Men (And Two Women)

Who is representing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in all of his various legal battles? The make-up of his defense teams have varied case-to-case, but some attorneys have been retained in almost all of the lawsuits Paxton faces. The Lawbook breaks it down.

Legislature Makes Seismic Shifts on Civil Courts

Lawmakers upended the state’s system of elected district court judges and regional intermediate appellate courts as business interests won a new court system for complex business disputes. The 2023 legislature rejected efforts to cut local governments out of public nuisance suits and weaken the state’s anti-SLAPP statute.

Amici Take Sides in $1.6B IBM, BMC Appeal

Six amicus briefs have been filed with the Fifth Circuit in the case where IBM is trying to undo a $1.6 billion judgment entered against it after a bench trial before U.S. District Judge Gray Miller. BMC had filed a cross appeal in the lawsuit but dropped that fight in April to “simplify and shorten the proceedings.”

Fifth Circuit Seeks SCOTX Input in Flight Attendants’ Boeing Suit

A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit has asked the state’s high court to answer two certified questions that will determine if two flight attendants, Marvin Sanders and Matthew Sodrok, can proceed with their suit against Boeing over the alleged malfunction of a smoke detector on one of the company’s planes.

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