Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The nine-figure judgment is a bittersweet win for a team of Porter Hedges lawyers, whose client did not live to see the result. But opposing counsel at three Houston firms assured an appeal is coming — one that is sure to catch the attention of Texas employers and boards alike as important issues surrounding for cause termination play out.
The Marshall Division of the EDTX is the latest federal court to shut down jury trials due to the coronavirus. Federal courthouses in Texarkana and Sherman have been closed through Dec. 4. Judges in the Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas have postponed most or even all in-person jury trials for the remainder of 2020. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Don't expect federal civil jury trials in Texas to increase for the next few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, three federal judges told 200 Texas general counsel Thursday. The judges have some other pet peeves, too.
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday declared a mistrial in a commercial case after a COVID-19 outbreak among participants of the jury trial temporarily closed the Sherman federal courthouse and left the parties with less than six jurors.
The firms announced Tuesday that their two shops are merging to create a 10-lawyer plaintiff’s practice that will have offices in Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth.
A federal judge in Sherman has halted a jury trial underway in his courtroom in which multiple people involved in the trial, including two jurors, tested positive for COVID-19, according to court records and multiple sources. In response, the Paul Brown federal courthouse will be closed the rest of the week for a deep cleaning. Natalie Posgate has the scoop.
A new Fifth Circuit ruling involves an Austin legal recruiter and a competitor who are sparring in litigation that has stretched from Texas to Asia and involves accusations of defamation and theft of trade secrets.
With results still trickling in, Democrats seemed certain to maintain their lock on the civil District Court benches in the state's two most populous counties.
The Texas Lawbook has five journalists tonight - election night - covering the judicial appellate and trial court races and will provide details as the election results are provided.
Yvette Ostolaza said the firm had opportunities to go into the lateral market because of recent retirements in its IP practice and one attorney who moved in-house.
John Bash's resume also includes five years in the U.S. Solicitor General's office; a brief stint as associate counsel to President Donald Trump; and clerkships with Justices Antonin Scalia and Brett Kavanaugh.
For the second time in three months, a Texas jury has slapped Apple with a half-billion dollar verdict for patent infringement. This time, the verdict is against Apple for violating VPN on Demand technology patents owned by VirnetX on 598 million iPhones, iPads and other products sold after Sept. 2013. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
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