Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The owner of a restored vintage Mercedes that was declared salvage by USAA, a decision the company later walked back, argues the insurance giant participates in a wrongful practice of prematurely reporting to the state that it has paid claims. USAA argues the plaintiff should be required to pursue her novel claims as an individual and not on a classwide basis.
The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday determined the Commodity Futures Trading Commission employed an “unprecedented interpretation” of a 39-year-old rule when it filed a “novel civil liability suit” against energy futures trading company EOX Holdings and a Houston energy trader that resulted in a $7.5 million penalty.
Issam Abdallah and Abderraouf Alkhawaldeh recently reached a confidential settlement with Mesa Airlines. The two men filed suit after their flight was delayed and subsequently canceled because of what they allege was racial profiling by a flight attendant and pilot. U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor had tossed the claims against Mesa on summary judgment. The Fifth Circuit revived the lawsuit in October.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is considering a new certification requirement about the use of generative artificial intelligence. While the proposed rule is thoughtful and well-intentioned, it is largely redundant of existing rules and may invite satellite litigation that interferes with legitimate use of AI to provide quality client service.
Two former clerks for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — Justin Nelson of Susman Godfrey and Allyson Ho of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — spoke to The Lawbook about lasting memories and lessons learned from their time working alongside her at the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor, who inspired many women to pursue careers in the law after becoming the first woman appointed to the high court, died Dec. 1 of complications related to dementia and a respiratory illness. Today, her funeral will take place.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has developed a reputation for divisiveness among its members. But Thursday, Judge Don Willett, Judge Carolyn King and Judge Dana Douglas — three jurists with widely differing judicial leanings — issued a unanimous opinion that highlighted a major injustice, publicly sought a reversal of precedent by the full Fifth Circuit and demonstrated judicial restraint. The case is the story of Erma Wilson, who was falsely accused and wrongly convicted of cocaine possession 22 years ago in Midland.
“Erma Wilson placed her faith in the justice system, trusting she would get due process and a fair trial," Judge Willett wrote. “Wilson’s faith was misplaced. In Wilson’s trial — and in hundreds of others in Midland County spanning decades — bedrock judicial norms were dishonored.”
In a significant legal blow to victims of Winter Storm Uri, large power generators in Texas scored a decisive multibillion-dollar defense victory Thursday when a Houston appeals court ruled that wrongful death, personal injury and property damage claims against the generators have “no basis in law or fact.”A three-judge panel of the First Court of Appeals in Houston ruled that “Texas does not currently recognize a legal duty owed by wholesale power generators to retail customer s to provide continuous electricity to the electric grid, and ultimately to the retail customers.”
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Dallas residents were granted a temporary injunction that will prohibit the city from enforcing new ordinances that would severely restrict the availability of short-term rental homes, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses the U.S. State Department of conspiring to censor conservative-leaning media outlets, and the Texas Supreme Court agrees to hear a case involving the scope of the Public Utility Commission of Texas’ authority.
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