Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Doubling down on a ruling earlier this year that intent governs whether employee lawsuits are excepted from the restrictions of the Texas Workman’s Compensation Act, a unanimous SCOTX tossed a $43.5 million jury verdict for a worker who lost a leg in what the court itself described as “an avoidable, unjustifiable, and grossly negligent accident.” Janet Elliott explains.
The Fourteenth Court’s two sitting Republican justices — Tracy Christopher and Ken Wise — have won their races, while two Democratic challengers — Veronica Rivas-Molloy and Amparo Monique Guerra — have defeated their incumbent opponents in the First Court of Appeals.
In HouseCanary v. Title Source, a scrap over source code pits a 2013 law designed to protect trade secrets against a longstanding rule of Texas Civil Procedure that presumes that court records are open to the public. At stake is not only a jury verdict of more than $700 million, but a longstanding vision of public trust.
A new video featuring Fifth Circuit Judge Jennifer Elrod and U.S. District Judge Charles Eskridge singing about the coronavirus’ impact on the federal courts in the Southern District of Texas is spreading across Facebook. The message: Don't be sad or mad. Your fave judges will be back in their courtrooms soon.
A new Fifth Circuit ruling involves an Austin legal recruiter and a competitor who are sparring in litigation that has stretched from Texas to Asia and involves accusations of defamation and theft of trade secrets.
Oral arguments over the Texas-led challenge to the Affordable Care Act appeared to be an uphill battle for Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins Tuesday. Questions about the Texas arguments, even from the conservative end of the bench, appeared to be "bludgeoning him," in the words of one observer. Texas Lawbook Supreme Court reporter Tony Mauro explains.
Three days after the election and with nearly all the votes counted, the four judicial races in Houston’s First and Fourteenth Court of Appeals are in a photo finish that seems to reflect that two Republican incumbent justices and two Democratic challengers are on the verge of winning.
Like President Donald Trump and Former Vice President Joe Biden, the fate of all eight candidates is still pending as they enter the weekend. One of the candidates has a lead of 0.6%. “All I can say is we are ahead as of now,” Amparo Monique Guerra, a candidate for the First Court told The Texas Lawbook. Natalie Posgate has all the details.The four races for seats on Houston’s First and Fourteenth courts of appeals are incredibly close. Three incumbent Republican justices are leading their opponents by 1%, while one Democratic candidate is ahead of the GOP incumbent justice by 1%. By contrast, three Democratic district court judges are leading the incumbent Republican justices on the Dallas Court of Appeals by significant margins. Natalie Posgate has the details.
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