Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The state’s high court, minus three justices who recused themselves from the case, heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that’s being closely watched by the insurance industry, economic and trial lawyer interest groups and law professors. The case presents the court with an opportunity to clarify the proper standard of review for noneconomic damages awards.
After eight years on the Dallas Court of Appeals, former justice David Schenck is practicing law at his old law firm. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Schenck said Dykema was the only firm he seriously considered.
Currently, judges and justices in Texas are required by the state’s constitution to retire at age 75 in most instances. A legislator from Angleton has authored a resolution that would give voters an opportunity to amend the constitution and do away with that requirement.
Allied Aviation and Ulysses Cruz filed a brief this week with the First Court of Appeals in Houston explaining they are close to finalizing a mediated settlement in the personal injury lawsuit and seeking an abatement of the appeal.
The Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court.issued important precedents in 2022. The Fifth Circuit clarified the standard for a conditional-refusal-to-deal theory under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, established that arbitration rules incorporated into an arbitration agreement control the question of whether arbitration happened and sent a clear signal that the Seventh Amendment attaches to traditionally common-law prosecutions. The Texas Supreme Court provided guidance on the scope of a waiver of claims in a settlement agreement, clarified substantial compliance with contractual notice provisions, rejected informal fiduciary duties to an individual shareholder in a closely held corporation and narrowed the availability of consequential damages. This article examines those and other rulings of significance by the appellate courts.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a team from Susman Godfrey secures a $166 million patent win against AT&T and Nokia, the Texas Supreme Court sides with insurance companies in a dispute brought by emergency room doctors over out-of-network reimbursement payments and the Fifth Circuit chides an attorney’s litigation tactic.
A nonprofit news organization seeks documents uncovered during a consulting firm’s investigation into allegations of favoritism in admissions to the University of Texas. Although the report was made public, UT says the underlying documents fall under attorney-client privilege.
If the Texas Legislature wanted the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to be immune from civil lawsuits, it would have passed laws stating so, lawyers representing two large energy companies told the Texas Supreme Court during oral arguments Monday. The justices clearly understood the full stakes of the decision before them. “Are you arguing that ERCOT is too big to fail?” Justice Boyd asked. “In essence, yes,” former Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson, representing ERCOT, answered.
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