Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Last week, James Ho was nominated to the U.S. Court of Appeals of the Fifth Circuit and won the biggest case of his career when the appellate reversed a $663.3 million judgment against his client, Trinity Industries. The Fifth Circuit's landmark opinion also showcased Ho’s future colleague, Judge Patrick Higginbotham, who showed once again why he is the smartest jurist on the appellate court.
President Trump has nominated two stalwart conservatives – Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett and Dallas appellate law expert James Ho – to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The selections, if approved by the U.S. Senate, will keep the Fifth Circuit, which handles appeals from federal courts in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi, as the most conservative appellate court in the U.S., according to legal experts.
When Cash Biz didn’t get paid on time, the payday lender sought help from the criminal justice system. Now faced with lawsuits for their overstep, the company is claiming a right to arbitration, but the Texas Supreme Court is going to have a say about that.
When Cash Biz, a payday lender, didn’t get paid on time, they sought help from the criminal justice system. Now faced with lawsuits for their overstep, the company is claiming a right to arbitration, ,but the Texas Supreme Court is going to have a say about that. Janet Elliott has the details in The Texas Lawbook.
The Fifth Circuit refused to intervene in the massive Johnson & Johnson hip implant multidistrict litigation cases that have been consolidated in federal court in Dallas. But two of the three judges on the panel criticized Judge Ed Kinkeade and asked him to reconsider moving forward with a bellwether trial set to start Sept. 5. The Texas Lawbook has full details.
Plaintiffs’ lawyers battling Johnson & Johnson in a multi-district litigation over allegedly defective hip implants faced what appeared to be a couple of hostile Fifth Circuit judges who seemed ready to take the extraordinary step of stopping U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade of Dallas from moving forward with more bellwether trials. Oral arguments Thursday at the Fifth Circuit proved highly dramatic in a case that is attracting significant legal attention.
The Dallas Court of Appeals has reversed the 2014 landmark Texas jury verdict that legally established a business version of common law marriage and a $535 million judgment against Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners in favor of Energy Transfer Partners.
Huddle authored more than 400 majority opinions during her time on the First Court of Appeals.
The Supreme Court of Texas ruled Friday that a Texas court has no jurisdiction over non-resident defendants in a lawsuit filed by Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Company Inc. Reversing a ruling by the 14th Court of Appeals in Houston, the court ruled that neither routine discussions involving Texas lawyers nor the administration of a trust fund in Texas changed the fact that the underlying misconduct alleged by Pepsi—fraudulent transfer and tortious interference—occurred as the result of a settlement agreement reached in New York.
The TWL Pathfinder Award is given each year to an individual who has championed the advancement of women in the law and who exemplifies professionalism, leadership, and commitment to the public interest.
An appeals court’s use of Wikipedia to define the term “welfare queen” is under review by the Texas Supreme Court in a closely watched libel case involving D Magazine. Media groups urge the court to be cautious in embracing online sources, particularly an open-source website like Wikipedia. The online “encyclopedia” allows users to make and edit entries, which may heighten the potential for inaccurate and biased information.
In a unanimous ruling, the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin ruled that the core of the Texas Highway Beautification Act, which regulates highway signs and billboards, is unconstitutional because it is content-based by cracking down on various billboards and signs differently based on their message. It is a slam-dunk win for Houston attorney Meredith Parenti and her client, who displayed a Ron Paul sign in front of his Highway 71 store only to get sued by the state for doing so.
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