Class Actions Evolve in the Fifth Circuit
The federal appeals court signals the potential future of federal class litigation in the Fifth Circuit after Dukes, writes David Coale.
Fifth Circuit: Texas Open Meetings Act is Constitutional
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled unanimously Tuesday that the open meetings law does not violate the free speech rights of government leaders and does not criminalize all private speech of those officials. James Ho, a partner at Gibson Dunn in Dallas representing Belo and other news media organizations, says the court decision is “a complete and total victory for those who believe in open government.”
Churchill Downs Seeks Injunction Against Texas Online Betting Crackdown
Churchill Downs, the most famous Thoroughbred racetrack and home of the Kentucky Derby, sued the Texas Racing Commission in an attempt to stop the racing commission's enforcement of a law that makes it illegal for Texans to bet unless they are in-person at a racetrack.
Court Hears ‘Common-Sense’ Arguments on Business Tax Fairness
A plain reading of the Texas Constitution’s requirement that taxes be “equal and uniform” should sound the death knell for the state’s revised franchise tax, a lawyer for food and beverage giant Nestle USA told the Texas Supreme Court. Not so fast, said the state’s lawyer. The Texas Legislature has authority to pick winners and losers by distinguishing among classifications of businesses.
Third-party Allegations Scrutinized in Libel Case Heard by Texas Supreme Court
Justices ponder whether Austin TV reporter's focus on neurosurgeon's disciplinary case, malpractice suits led to defamatory broadcast.
Texas Supreme Court Weighs Protections for Whistleblowers who Report Internally
A demoted Parkland Memorial surgeon urged the justices to protect government employees who report wrongdoing through internal channels.
Did Greg Abbott Just Save the Voting Rights Act?
The Texas Attorney General claims in court that the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965 is outdated, unnecessary and an unconstitutional encroachment on the sovereignty of the state, but his legal efforts may have just assured the law's survival. Election law experts say that the VRA rose from near death – or at least irrelevance – last week when a federal court ruled that Texas legislators committed intentional racial discrimination when they drew new voting districts in 2011. "It is amazing that Texas officials intended to kill the Voting Rights Act, but because of the evidence of intentional discrimination, they may have just resurrected it," says University of Michigan law professor Ellen Katz, a nationally recognized election law expert.
Texas Justices Reverse $46 Million Award in Defective U-Haul Truck Case
The Texas Supreme Court threw out a $46 million award to a man who was crushed by a rolling U-Haul truck, finding that evidence of safety problems in Canadian trucks was improperly admitted in a Dallas County trial. The justices said there is enough evidence for a re-trial on negligence and actual damages, but rendered a take-nothing judgment on the jury’s gross negligence findings and punitive damages. The six-person jury’s initial award of $84 million in the case was the fifth largest verdict in the nation in 2008, according to Dunn & Bradstreet. V&E's Tom Leatherbury represents U-Haul.
Heman Sweatt’s Family Files Brief in UT Law Admissions Case
Sixty-six years ago, Heman Sweatt walked into the University of Texas Tower seeking admission to the UT Law School. His application was denied for one simple reason: “the fact that he is a negro.” Sweatt sued and won a historic case at the Supreme Court of the United States in 1950. This week, his daughter and other family members filed amicus curiae briefs with the Supreme Court in the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas, which challenges the law school’s consideration of race in its admissions policy. “The purpose of the Sweatt family’s brief is simple,” says Allan Van Fleet, a litigation partner in the Houston office of McDermott Will & Emery, who is representing the family pro bono. “They want the Supreme Court to remember their father and uncle and his story.”
Port of Houston Authority Wins Six-Year Contractual Dispute
The Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals on Thursday reversed an $18.6 million judgment against the Houston Port Authority in a six-year contractual dispute with Zachry Construction Corporation. The justices also awarded $10.6 million in legal fees for the Port Authority and its legal team, led by Vinson & Elkins. "The decision of the Court of Appeals upholds the contractual terms agreed to by sophisticated contracting parties and allows the Port to protect the public's funds with contract provisions that provide certainty as to the dollars that the Port will owe under the contract," says V&E appellate partner Marie Yeates.
Fifth Circuit: SEC Case Against Microtune Execs Too Little, Too Late
A former CEO and a former General Counsel at Plano-based Microtune Inc. won a major legal victory Wednesday that is likely to end the SEC's five-year-long effort to prosecute them for allegedly being involved in a $22.5 million options backdating scheme. The federal appeals court ruled that the SEC waited too long to bring charges against Douglas Bartek and Nancy Richardson. The three-judge panel also rejected the SEC’s efforts to have the executives banned from serving as an officer or board member of a publicly traded corporation because such efforts are punishment, not merely an equitable remedy.
Government Employees Can File Whistleblower Lawsuits, 5th Circuit Rules
Court rejects argument by government and Shell that case should be barred because whistleblowers were federal auditors.