Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
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.
Oral arguments took place Wednesday regarding the 2014 landmark Texas jury verdict that legally established a business version of common law marriage and resulted in a $500 million judgment against Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners. Enterprise asked the Dallas Court of Appeals to reversed the trial court, saying there were “serious legal flaws with this verdict.” Not true, argued lawyers from Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, who noted that, “This is a big dollar case because Enterprise stole a big dollar opportunity from us.”
Oral arguments took place Wednesday regarding the 2014 landmark Texas jury verdict that legally established a business version of common law marriage and resulted in a $500 million judgment against Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners. Enterprise asked the Dallas Court of Appeals to reversed the trial court, saying there were “serious legal flaws with this verdict.” Not true, argued lawyers from Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners, who noted that, “This is a big dollar case because Enterprise stole a big dollar opportunity from us.”
The Supreme Court of Texas announced the decision to add Mills to the 12-member board on Aug. 28. He will serve a three-year term.
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