Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Tony Mauro has covered thousands of court cases during his nearly five decades as a legal journalist – from Tiny Tim’s divorce to Bush v. Gore. Mauro, one of the most respected legal journalists in the world, is joining The Texas Lawbook as a contributing writer. He will write articles about Supreme Court cases important to Texas business lawyers and about lawyers who regularly practice before the nation's highest court.
Emails can be useful tools for negotiation, but they aren't definitive until both sides agree they are, wrote Nathan Hecht in Chalker Energy Partners III v. Le Norman Operating. Janet Elliott has details.
Seventy years ago, utility companies were routinely granted easements across private property of no fixed width. Those "general easements" have become a concern for landowners who fear they give the companies too much power over their private land. Last week, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled on such a case made by three North Texas landowners. Their ruling offered sympathy, but not a lot of help.
This week the First Court of Appeals in Austin rejected an appeal by Mikel Peter Eggert to reverse his 2008 disbarment after his conviction for conspiring to falsify evidence. Although his appeal failed, it stirs up a convoluted tale about a newly-minted lawyer in Erath County who briefly followed in his father's messy footsteps practicing law outside the law.
“Birds of a feather flock together,” says the old proverb. But in the Dallas Court of Appeals this year, justices of the same political party do not always rule together, as shown by two recent opinions from that court.
Two cases decided by the Texas Supreme Court last week involved lawsuits against lawyers. One involved representational immunity, the other criminal defense malpractice. Not all they had to say favored lawyers. Janet Elliott explains.
An Ohio bridal shop lost its claim against Dallas Presbyterian Hospital Friday for its handling of the 2014 Ebola scare in Dallas, when the Texas Supreme Court decided unanimously that the shop's claim failed to meet an essential requirement of the Texas Medical Liability Act. The court ruled, in effect, that when it comes to medical claims bridal shops are people, too.
A $15,000 dispute involving the ill-starred Podesta Group was properly tossed from a Houston court, the First Court of Appeals ruled Thursday. The D.C. firm was accused of ignoring their client, a prominent Houston law firm, while the firm's co-founder, Tony Podesta, was under federal scrutiny in the Paul Manafort investigation.
© Copyright 2026 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
