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Appellate

Government Touts $38.5M Recovery in Case it Argued ‘Never Should Have Proceeded This Far’

Five years after first arguing that the False Claims Act Lawsuit against Academy Mortgage Corporation should be dismissed, the Department of Justice publicized the $38.5 million settlement on Wednesday. This lawsuit marked the first time a judge denied the government’s motion to dismiss an FCA suit, presenting an issue of first impression to the Ninth Circuit panel that heard the case. Earlier this month, a case that asks what authority and discretion the government should have to dismiss whistleblower actions was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Litigation Roundup: Challenge to Texas Transmission Lines Law Expanded, Guns N’ Roses Files TM Claim Against Houston Business

In this week’s edition of litigation roundup, a team from Norton Rose Fulbright wins dismissal of a lawsuit over a never-realized business acquisition, Oncor wins an appeal in Austin in a suit over the valuation of its transmission lines, and a constitutional challenge to a state law governing transmission lines gets expanded by the Fifth Circuit.

Comcast, NBC Dropped From $332M Astros Sale Lawsuit

In orders issued Friday morning, the Texas Supreme Court granted a request from Houston Baseball Partners to drop its claims against Comcast and NBC. That means the case now pits current owner Jim Crane against the man who sold him the team, Drayton McLane.

The Use (or Abuse?) of the Mail and Wire Fraud Statutes

Ask any fraud prosecutor what their bread-and-butter criminal statute is, and you’ll surely hear about mail fraud or wire fraud. Taken together, they account for a significant percentage of fraud prosecutions at the federal level. Both statutes are broad and malleable, requiring a fraudulent scheme to obtain money or property, a criminal intention to defraud someone and either a mailing or interstate wire transmission. And, properly drafted, just about every type of economic crime can be cabined into a charge of mail or wire fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court is revisiting the scope of property rights protected under the mail and wire fraud statutes this term in Ciminelli v. United States.

Fifth Circuit Rejects EDTX Class Action Against Southwest, Boeing

A three-judge panel of the Fifth Circuit ruled Monday that a class action lawsuit pending against Southwest Airlines and the Boeing Company should be dismissed because the plaintiffs suffered no actual damages. Southwest CLO Mark Shaw told The Texas Lawbook the decision is a major win for the airline and he praised three Southwest in-house counsel and lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright.

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