SCOTX, Fifth Circuit Chiefs to Marry
Court officials say it is the first time in U.S. history when a chief judge of a federal appeals court and a state supreme court chief justice have married.
SCOTUS Calls a Halt to ‘War’ Against Texas Bar Mandatory Dues
The Supreme Court also denied certiorari Monday in two mandatory bar cases – one from Michigan and the other from Oklahoma. The actions may slow the momentum of nationwide “bar wars,” but other challenges could be likely.
Texas Supreme Court Gives Plaintiffs Another Shot at a Chick-fil-A at the San Antonio Airport
Plaintiffs, objecting to the San Antonio City Council’s rejection of the restaurant chain’s location inside a San Antonio International Airport concourse, sued under a state law the Texas Legislature specially passed missed a point – the law was not retroactive. But the council’s action came well before the Legislature’s. The Supreme Court sent the case back to the trial court to allow repleading to establish jurisdictional facts – and maybe give the plaintiffs another bite at a chicken sandwich.
Southwest Airlines Brings Its Baggage to the Supreme Court
At issue is a decades-long dispute over the meaning of a clause in the FAA. Lawyers for the Dallas-based airline go before the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday to assert that its baggage loaders and supervisors can be required to undergo arbitration when they file employment complaints.
Oil Exporter’s Oil-Spill Fund Payment an ‘Unconstitutional Export Tax,’ Court Holds. But the Decision Goes Without Precedent
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has decided that payments by oil exporters into an oil-spill remediation fund are unconstitutional export taxes. But the holding held not so much because one judge concurred only in the judgment and one dissented, evidently robbing the decision of precedential value.
Status of Bar Wars: The Reincarnation?
The fact that a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a challenge to the mandatory Texas bar-association dues has been lumped together with similar disputes from Michigan and Oklahoma suggests the high court may have decided to tackle, once and for all, the extent to which state associations can compel lawyers to pay dues that may finance activities with which they disagree.
AZA Associate Sets Precedent in Fifth Circuit for Sexual Harassment Victims
Kelsi Stayart White set new precedent as an associate with the Houston-based AZA firm in the Fifth Circuit when a three-judge panel this month found for her client, a former Houston female firefighter. The unanimous holding broadens sexual harassment protection in part by allowing her complaint to proceed after she discovered an intimate video taken from her laptop had been circulating among her firehouse colleagues for nine years.
A Special Deal Too Good to Be True. And Was.
From the Texas Supreme Court: A client supposedly in Europe wants help with a debt collection and contacts a Houston lawyer by email, promising a $10,000 retainer. A bad scenario got worse. More than $380,000 wired by the lawyer to Japan: Gone. Plus: Two more cases from the SCOTX docket: SandRidge Energy Inc. v. Barfield and Baby Dolls Topless Saloons Inc. v. Gilbert Sotero.
Anne Johnson: The Lawyer ‘No One Wants’ on ‘the Other Side of an Appeal’
Anne Johnson has accomplished much in her legal career. The UK-born lawyer has won numerous difficult appeals, served on Haynes and Boone’s management committee and tried a multi-month case while six months pregnant. On Tuesday, Johnson made a move in her career that is both a big transition and another accomplishment: She joined a boutique law firm as a name partner.
The Lawbook details Johnson’s life and career and the magnitude of her lateral move.
Anne Johnson & Jeff Tillotson Join Forces
After 27 years at Haynes and Boone, prominent appellate lawyer Anne Johnson is joining forces with respected Dallas trial lawyer Jeff Tillotson. The move puts Johnson’s name on the door as well as another lawyer at the firm. The Texas Lawbook has the scoop.
Fifth Circuit Judges Reveal Keys to Appellate Success
Three Fifth Circuit Appeals Court judges told 500 lawyers attending the Northern District of Texas Federal Bench Bar Conference on Friday about critical mistakes that lawyers make in their briefs and oral arguments. Judge Catharina Haynes, Judge Gregg Costa and Judge James Ho provided extraordinary behind-the-scenes insight into the operation of the Fifth Circuit, including what the judges think about introductions in briefs and decisions on whether to have oral arguments. The Texas Lawbook has exclusive details.
Dallas Appeals Court Strips ERCOT of Sovereign Immunity Defense
The Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas ruled Wednesday that the Electric Reliability Council of Texas does not have sovereign immunity from all lawsuits and that the Texas Public Utility Commission does not have exclusive jurisdiction over all claims against ERCOT. The 12-to-1 decision has been widely anticipated because it could have ramifications in hundreds of lawsuits stemming from Winter Storm Uri in which ERCOT is a named defendant.
“To date, the supreme court has not extended sovereign immunity to a purely private entity neither chartered nor created by the state, and this court will not create new precedent by extending sovereign immunity to ERCOT,” Justice Erin Nowell wrote.