Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
SCOTX reversed two lower courts and remanded for trial a lawsuit brought by the survivors of two men killed in a 2007 West Texas car crash, as well as a man injured in the accident. The case involved fees paid to their employer to assure transportation between their job site and company housing and a 1981 case both sides relied on to make their case.
The Texas Supreme Court last week remanded a controversial jury award on legal fees back to a Dallas court for retrial. The court decided that expert testimony instrumental in the $7.25 million ruling for Dallas lawyer Gregory Shamoun was insufficient to justify the claim. The case is the latest in what the court itself called a "spiderweb of litigation" involving Albert Hill Jr. Natalie Posgate has the details.
In two closely-watched cases decided Friday, SCOTX defended its seemingly conflicting views on state regulation of retained acreage. Chief Justice Nathan Hecht says it’s actually pretty simple: contracts mean what they say. Janet Elliott explains in The Texas Lawbook.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday invalid a complaint of same-sex sexual harassment. The behavior, which involved two female middle school teachers, was not shown the be motivated by sexual desire. Critics say the decision undermines the rights of workers at an important moment of social awareness. Janet Elliott has the details in The Texas Lawbook.
In hot pursuit of mineral leases in the frenzied 2010 Eagle Ford Shale play, Orca Assets paid $3.2 million for six leases in DeWitt County that they later discovered belonged to another company. Rather than simply accept a return of their cash, Orca sued the owner’s agent, accusing them of fraud, demanding $400 million in unrealized revenues. On Friday, the Texas Supreme Court suggested that Orca should have known better. Janet Elliott reports on the court’s reasoning in The Texas Lawbook.
In a decision that could significantly impact school funding in the oil patch, the Texas Supreme Court ruled that statutory formulas setting valuations for business and personal property are not unconstitutional. Janet Elliott explains the ruling in The Texas Lawbook.
There are 31 different appellate judgeships on primary ballots across Texas. But the Fifth Court of Appeals should get more attention than the rest. Eight of the 13 seats on the Dallas appeals court are up for election. There are two vacancies, the chief judge’s chair is open and Democrats have narrowed the vote margins in recent years. With an unprecedented number of judicial spots up this election cycle, the Fifth Court has the potential to undergo dramatic and transformational change.
Proponents of binding mandatory arbitration scored two huge victories this week in the Texas appellate courts. In two separate and unrelated rulings, the Texas Supreme Court and the Dallas Court of Appeals ordered plaintiffs in two cases – a group of customers alleging they were illegally victimized by a payday lender and an exotic dancer suing a strip club for gross negligence – to litigate their claims through private arbitration instead of the public court system.
Patent agents who provide authorized legal services may invoke attorney-client privilege to withhold client communications, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling supports Andrew Silver, the inventor of tablet technology for ordering and paying the tab at a restaurant. Silver claims Tabletop Media failed to pay him for his patent and is fighting a Dallas trial court’s order compelling the production of emails between Silver and his non-attorney patent agent. The Texas Lawbook has complete details.
Mental anguish damages might be available in a case alleging negligent mishandling of a corpse, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday, sending a recently argued case back to a Brown County court for trial. The justices upheld a ruling by the 11th Court of Appeals in Eastland that Nelson, Lobban’s only adult child, had common law and statutory rights as next of kin to determine the disposition of his mother’s remains.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is famously reluctant to grant a mandamus petition. The court recently invoked authority from 1881 as the reason for denial. But last week, a Fifth Circuit panel in a case that received little attention granted mandamus relief as to a finding of an extensive waiver of attorney-client privilege. This Texas Lawbook article explains the case and why it matters.
The Dallas Court of Appeals Tuesday upheld a lower court ruling for Dallas investment firm Highland Capital Management to recover nearly $288 million from Swiss bank Credit Suisse for a real estate deal gone wrong in the run up to the 2008 financial crisis. This Dallas Business Journal report has the details.
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