Sherman Murder Defendant Loses Effort to Overturn His Death Penalty in Racially Tinged Prosecution 

The U.S. Supreme Court denied review — and habeas relief — for the killer in a notorious 2004 Sherman case who murdered his estranged wife, turning down his argument that he was denied effective assistance of counsel after his trial counsel failed to strike any of three jurors who stated religious objections to interracial marriage or mixed-race children. The habeas corpus effort lingered on the Supreme Court’s docket for more than a year from when it was filed in September 2021 and drew amicus support by leading Texas jurists and ex-PepsiCo general counsel and former deputy U.S. attorney general Larry Thompson.

October 11, 2022 Osler McCarthy

Texas Supreme Court Weighs Meaning of ‘Double Fractions’ in Ancient Oil-and-Gas Agreements

In one case alone, $50 million in disputed royalties are at stake. And that could be just the tip of the iceberg.

October 11, 2022 Bruce Tomaso

Texas Supreme Court Halts Compelled Remote Jury Trial

In a list of orders issued Friday morning, the state’s high court decided the case without hearing oral argument, agreeing with the plaintiff and defendant in an underlying lawsuit over an automobile crash that Harris County District Judge Dedra Davis abused her discretion in ordering the remote trial. Three prominent trial lawyer groups filed amicus briefs in the case arguing the order was unconstitutional.

October 7, 2022 Michelle Casady

SCOTX Focuses On Expert Requirement In Assisted Living Center Fall Case

The court is being asked to determine whether claims arising out of a resident’s fall on the facility’s sidewalk is a premises liability claim or a health care liability claim requiring an expert report.

October 5, 2022 Janet Elliott

Pathbreaking Journalist, Remarkable Human Being, ‘Jeopardy’ Clue: ‘Who is Tony Mauro?’

For more than four decades, Tony Mauro has been a reporter with the U.S. Supreme Court as his beat. He's covered 22 justices — from William Brennan, Thurgood Marshall and Sandra Day O'Connor to John Roberts, Neil Gorsuch and Ketanji Brown Jackson. He was there in 1986 when the Supreme Court upheld laws criminalizing sodomy and in 2003 when the justices, in Lawrence v. Texas ruled such laws unconstitutional. Mauro revolutionized how journalists wrote about the Supreme Court, holding the justices accountable for the gender and ethnicity of their clerks and doing his best to bring transparency to a branch of government that long-cherished its anonymity. Mauro, who has been a correspondent for The Texas Lawbook since 2020, has some great stories to tell. But he is a great story himself.

October 3, 2022 Terry Carter

As SCOTUS Readies for the First Monday in October, Texas-related Cases Loom

The marquee cases of the U.S. Supreme Court term that begins Monday touch on issues such as affirmative action, voting rights, immigration and LGBTQ and First Amendment rights. a second tier of lesser-known cases set for October and November are also worth a look for Texas lawyers and for aficionados of Supreme Court business cases. More cases will be granted review and scheduled for argument soon. Some of the cases will be a test of the high court’s relationship with the Fifth Circuit.

"It's shaping up to be another big term,” says Scott Keller of Lehotsky Keller in Austin and Washington.

September 30, 2022 Tony Mauro

UT Asks SCOTX To Reinstate $51M Royalty Win for Lyme Disease Detection Patent

Earlier this week the University of Texas System’s Board of Regents appealed to the Texas Supreme Court in its fight with IDEXX Laboratories arguing a lower appellate court misinterpreted the parties’ contract in wiping out the victory.

September 29, 2022 Michelle Casady

Don’t Answer That Question: Two Settlements Blocked SCOTX from Clarifying a Troublesome Insurance Doctrine

Attorneys who represent property owners have argued that the law has been turned on its head, saddling policyholders with a burden of proof that is squarely on the insurer in every state in the union except Texas. A settlement reached earlier this month — five days before the Texas Supreme Court was going to hear arguments in the case that could have clarified the issue — deprived the state’s high court of its second opportunity to answer certified questions from the Fifth Circuit.

September 28, 2022 Michelle Casady