Appellate Archives - Page 3 of 25

Supreme Court Rules for Pipeline Project Under the Appalachian Trail

In a 7-2 decision by Justice Clarence Thomas, the court ruled that the U.S. Forest Service had the authority to issue a permit for the Atlantic Coast Pipeline. The decision overturns a ruling by the U.S. Fourth Circuit. Tony Mauro reports from Washington.

June 15, 2020 Tony Mauro

Workers’ Comp Exemption Requires Intent to Kill ‘Particular Individual’ SCOTX Rules in ‘Tired Trucker’ Case

A calculated disregard for safety by Mo-Vac Service Company may have contributed to the death of one of its drivers, but that isn’t enough to allow an exception to the Texas Workers’ Compensation Act, the court ruled. The likelihood of death has to be “substantially certain” to a “particular individual” for a wrongful death claim to be excepted from the exclusive authority of TWC. Janet Elliott explains.

June 15, 2020 Janet Elliott

SCOTX Refuses to Reconsider Bill Brewer Sanctions Decision

The Texas Supreme Court will not revisit its April decision that reversed disciplinary sanctions against Dallas trial lawyer Bill Brewer for allegedly attempting to taint a jury pool.

June 15, 2020 Mark Curriden

Bet the Business, Lose the Business

The start of Judge Andrew Oldham’s opinion in Hewlett-Packard Co. v. Quanta Storage captures the essence of high-stakes litigation. Faced with a major antitrust claim by Hewlett-Packard, “Quanta risked bet-the-company litigation and lost, so the district court ordered it to hand over the company.”

June 10, 2020 David Coale

Fifth Circuit Upholds HP’s $438M Antitrust Judgment Against CD-ROM Maker

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Friday upheld a nearly half-billion-dollar judgment in favor of HP, paving the way for its courtroom opponent, Taiwanese CD-ROM manufacturer Quanta Storage, to pay the computer software company $438 million and begin turning over its assets.

June 9, 2020 Natalie Posgate

Chron: SCOTX Will Review ERCOT’s Immunity from Lawsuits

The review is a win for Dallas-based electricity generator Panda Power, which is being represented by Haynes and Boone.

June 9, 2020 L.M. Sixel of the Houston Chronicle

Feud Between Rival Recruiters Heads for Fifth Circuit

With a filing in Hong Kong, an otherwise routine employment dispute between recruiters Evan Jowers and Robert Kinney gained global dimension. But it always had the one essential element of a feud: they once were friends. Natalie Posgate explains.

June 9, 2020 Natalie Posgate

SCOTX Decision Preserves $1.7M Verdict in ‘Borrowed Employee’ Case

The 7-1 decision is a win for Austin lawyer Kevin Dubose in the first Texas case argued via Zoom. Janet Elliott has the details.

June 8, 2020 Janet Elliott

Texas Appeals Court Orders New Trial in HouseCanary v. Amrock $740M Trade Secrets Dispute

The four-year-long legal battle between property valuation firm Amrock and real estate analytics company HouseCanary experienced another twist this week.

June 4, 2020 Mark Curriden

Bryan Garner: Spreading the Word about Words from Dallas

Legal wordsmith extraordinaire Bryan Garner hadn’t left his house in 69 days, but the creator of LawProse and editor of Black’s Law Dictionary was still finding extraordinary success online. Supreme Court journalist Tony Mauro takes an exclusive look at Garner’s career – from being rejected by 31 publishers to being inspired on Twitter by Ricky Gervais. He has 37,000 books in his home library and more than 4,000 dictionaries in his “scriptorium.” And don’t forget his close but sometimes stormy relationship with Justice Scalia.

June 1, 2020 Tony Mauro