Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The new Democratic majority in the Fifth Court of Appeals was viewed as favoring trial court discretion and seen as pro-jury trial, thus not inclined to expand rules or processes that would resolve cases in other ways. But an appeal of a medical malpractice case directly pits those two ideas against each other and provides valuable insight into the philosophy of the new majority.
Three federal appeals court judges got it all wrong six weeks ago when they invalidated a $65 million settlement in the eight-year litigation battle over the Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme, according to motions filed Wednesday by Stanford receiver Ralph Janvey, who wants the Fifth Circuit to reconsider the case en banc.
The Dallas-based Fifth Court of Appeals issued a remarkable en banc decision this week. It involved majority, concurring and dissenting opinions on a matter of appellate procedure. But more importantly it may be the first significant signal that last year's dramatic election swing is going to have an effect on the direction of the court.
Two Texas law firms are one step closer to obtaining what they say are long-overdue reforms to the state’s foster care system after a ruling issued Monday by the Fifth Circuit. Natalie Posgate has the details on the ruling and the 411 on the Texas lawyers involved and how they got on the case.
More than 200 American businesses have jointly filed an amicus brief filed Wednesday asking the U.S. Supreme Court to find that workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity is illegal. Only seven - including five major corporations - of the 206 companies are based in Texas. All are in the DFW area. None in Houston or Austin. None in the oil and gas industry.
AUSTIN - SCOTX held to its preference for plain language over industry custom, rejecting a $27.7 million verdict in a closely-watched farmout dispute. But the narrow 5-4 decision generated two very vigorous dissents. Janet Elliott reports.
The ruling is a slam-dunk win for Houston firm Gibbs & Bruns, which essentially defeated billionaire Warren Buffett in the case. Gibbs & Bruns' courtroom opponent is an Omaha-based company owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
The Supreme Court of Texas will consider whether a business version of common law marriage exists when companies do deals with each other in the Lone Star state, according to a ruling Texas’ high court issued on Friday. The case has been viewed by the Texas legal community as the most important business dispute since Joe Jamail's $10 billion win against Texaco in the 1980s.
When is an investor buying a security versus purchasing a partnership in a joint venture? It depends on some very specific but basic facts that usually are only available via a full trial, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
The U.S. Supreme Court Monday granted a new level of protection to businesses that provide the government with confidential data, requiring lower courts to consider the actual meaning of "confidential" before granting access to such data under the Freedom of Information Act. Critics say the case provides a new obstacle to public access to government. But Baker Botts Austin partner Evan Young, who argued the winning case before SCOTUS, says nothing could be further from the truth. Natalie Posgate reports.
A stockholder lawsuit against the directors of Blue Bell Creameries – filed in the wake of a 2015 outbreak of listeria in the company’s ice cream products – was revived this week by the Delaware Supreme Court. The case, filed in 2017 and dismissed in 2018, was remanded back to a Delaware Chancery Court for trial.
The former Dallas Cowboys quarterback is asking the Dallas Court of Appeals to revisit his case against the NFL, which surfaced after a failed 2016 fantasy football event in California.
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