Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Houston jury awards a woman $1.2B in a revenge porn case she brought against her ex-boyfriend, the state of Texas is facing another lawsuit over a new law set to go into effect Sept. 1, and McCathern teams up with civil rights lawyer Ben Crump in a suit against Harris County over its treatment of jailed individuals.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, mootness ends Surfside Beach property owners’ dispute with the Texas General Land Office in a 2-1 ruling from the Fifth Circuit, a challenge to the Inflation Recovery Act’s medication pricing controls keeps rolling and a conservative activist sues Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over an impeachment-related gag order.
Over the last three years the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has sent more certified questions annually to the Texas Supreme Court than it has in decades. The recent increase — five in 2021, six in 2022 and four so far this year — is notable when compared to the average of 1.8 a year the Fifth Circuit had sent for the 24 years prior. Does accepting the questions — a discretionary decision by SCOTX — strain the court’s ability to decide disputes percolating through Texas’ 14 intermediate appellate courts?
The Fifth Court of Appeals has granted an unopposed request from Ken Paxton to postpone oral arguments in the lawsuit brought against him by the state bar’s Commission for Lawyer Discipline, days after he requested they be delayed until after the conclusion of his impeachment trial.
“The case will be reset for submission in due course,” the court’s order reads.
The U.S. Supreme Court's recent ruling in Mallory v. Norfolk Southern has the potential to bring forth the most fundamental shift in jurisdictional case law in decades. The decision opens the doors for new state laws expanding their courts’ jurisdictional reach. Businesses operating in Texas must grapple with this uncertainty and the accompanying risks it presents.
Last week, the United States Supreme Court and Texas Supreme Court issued several high-profile opinions as they cleared the dockets from last year’s terms. With so many rulings issued at once, it could be easy to miss an opinion from the Texas Supreme Court with important practical implications for the attorney-client privilege under Texas law.
The Texas Supreme Court said the wrongful death case was improperly cast as a premises liability claim. The plaintiff will lose her day in court by failing to meet a deadline for submitting an expert report required for health care liability claims. The assisted living industry was watching closely.
In a 7-2 ruling issued Friday morning, the last day of the court’s term, the justices denied a request from the former owner of the Houston Astros, Drayton McLane, to bring an early end to a lawsuit brought by the team’s current owner, Jim Crane, alleging lies and deceptions caused him to overpay for the team in 2011. The ruling means Crane will have a chance to proceed with a trial in Harris County where he is seeking to recoup the entire $332 million he paid for a stake in the Houston Regional Sports Network that was part of his $615 million purchase of the Major League Baseball team.
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