SCOTX Tells Fifth Circ. Deadline-Tolling Statute Applies in Flight Attendants’ Boeing Suit

The federal appellate court had asked the Texas Supreme Court to answer two questions clarifying how Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.064 applies to the claims of former United Airlines flight attendants, Marvin Sanders and Matthew Sodrok, who say they were injured when a smoke detector activated — despite the absence of smoke or fire on board — at such a high volume that it burst their ear drums, caused their ears to bleed and left them with permanent hearing loss. The justices’ answers revived the lawsuit against The Boeing Company and two companies that provided parts and maintenance for the allegedly defective smoke detector.

December 1, 2023 Michelle Casady

SCOTX Ponders if ‘Wrongful Pregnancy’ is Gift from God or Grounds for Damages

The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday morning in a lawsuit where mother of four Grissel Velasco is suing Dr. Michiel R. Noe for both his failure to perform a sterilization procedure she requested and his failure to inform her the procedure had not been done. Velasco is seeking pain and mental anguish damages for the so-called wrongful pregnancy that came about 15 months after she thought she had been sterilized.

November 28, 2023 Michelle Casady

Biz Community Tells SCOTX Abortion Ban Has Cost Texas $14.5B

An amici army 40 strong, led by dating app Bumble Inc. and joined by Match Group, SXSW, Amalgamated Bank, Central Presbyterian Church, a handful of boutique law firms, doctors and hospitality companies, filed their brief with the Texas Supreme Court Monday, about a week before the court is slated to hear oral arguments in Texas v. Zurawski. But the business community is far from the only voice trying to persuade the Texas Supreme Court. A group of 20 states filed an amicus brief, as did a group of 90 Texas legislators and a handful of national women’s rights organizations.

November 21, 2023 Michelle Casady

New Texas Solicitor General Inherits Platform to Change Federal Law and Policies

BYU law professor Aaron Nielson is a renowned scholar and “a key member of the conservative legal movement” with expertise litigating against alleged regulatory overreach by federal authorities, according to lawyers and academics familiar with his work and even those who have battled him in court. The new Texas solicitor is an expert on the Administrative Procedure Act, a 1946 law that governs how federal agencies develop and implement regulations and a statute that Paxton has repeatedly used to challenge the authority of federal agencies. But in this article, The Texas Lawbook examines Nielson's work on a 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case in which he was appointed by the justices to, ironically, brief and argue in favor of the constitutionality of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s structure — a position that legal experts agree his boss, Texas AG Ken Paxton and other anti-federal agency advocates opposed. Nielson's arguments won the day.

November 20, 2023 Krista Torralva & Mark Curriden

Litigation Roundup: Paxton Gets TRO to Stop Razor Wire ‘Destruction’ at Border, ITC’s Win Against Enviro Claim Affirmed in Case of First Impression

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a jury sides with a Baylor graduate in a lawsuit over the alleged mishandling of her sexual assault complaints, a woman sexually assaulted by her masseuse has a $1.8 million punitive award wiped out on appeal, and a judge in Texas puts a nationwide halt to a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would require lenders collect certain data from small business borrowers.

October 30, 2023 Michelle Casady

Regulations Cutting Roofers Out of Insurance Claim Process Challenged

Tensions between free speech and public protection were exposed during SCOTX arguments on licensing requirements for public adjusters. The justices posed hypotheticals about professions including lawyers, doctors and journalists, but the prevailing image was that of a roofer standing atop a house calling the insurance company.

October 27, 2023 Janet Elliott

SCOTX Denies Bid to Skip Over 5th COA in Judicial District Reapportionment Challenge

Keresa Richardson has argued to the courts that the malapportionment of the 14 judicial districts in Texas is a “disease” and that the use of docket equalization measures to even the workload among the courts is a “field dressing.” Richardson is alleging both issues constitute violations of the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

October 27, 2023 Michelle Casady

SCOTX to Decide if Thousands of Plaintiffs Can Sue Their Former Fen-Phen Lawyer 

Houston lawyer George Fleming says Texas law should bring an end to the claims of thousands of his former clients by analyzing “privity,” or the existence of a legally binding relationship between them, under standards articulated both in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Taylor v. Sturgell and Section 40 of the Restatement of Judgments. SCOTX justices heard arguments Tuesday and had plenty of questions.

October 25, 2023 Krista Torralva