Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Judges who have implemented the practice of allowing jurors to ask questions of witnesses via written submission say it makes deliberations more efficient and allows jurors to reach the correct result. But the majority of judges don't allow it, and Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap said that's for good reason.
Mike Gruber and two young shareholders have left Dorsey for Greenberg Traurig. The Texas Lawbook spoke with the lawyers on Day One at GT.
This week’s Litigation Roundup features a fight between the Houston Astros and Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar over about $462,000 in taxes assessed against the ball club, a $3.3 million jury win for the buyers of a North Dallas office complex and a second bite at the apple for a Louisiana federal judge who enjoined a Biden administration order pausing oil and gas lease sales.
In the five years since Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston region, courts have been wrangling the massive amount of litigation spawned by the storm, brought by property owners seeking damages for the flooding that in many instances took everything they had. Storm cleanup and later the COVID-19 pandemic caused some roadblocks to resolution, but time hasn’t run out for those still waiting to make a claim.
A major point of contention in the case was whether Rothwell Energy Services’ president and director, Juan Hurtado, was the actual nephew of the former head of Citgo, Nelson Martinez, who later served as Venezuela’s oil minister and died in prison after being swept up in the PDVSA corruption probe. Rothwell’s attorneys argued Hurtado referred to him as “uncle” but had no blood relation with the close family friend, while Citgo’s attorneys argued that relationship was proof of impropriety in the deal.
There remains a minefield of issues that can drastically impact the enforcement of noncompete covenants. This article highlights several key issues that practitioners should be mindful of under Texas' Covenants Not to Compete Act.
KSAT TV in San Antonio reports that several of the families of victims and survivors of the Robb Elementary school shooting in May plan to file a lawsuit seeking billions of dollars against the law enforcement agencies involved in the Uvalde tragedy and the maker and seller of the gun used in the mass shooting.
U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman on Monday sided with Discover Property & Casualty Company and The Travelers Indemnity Company of Connecticut and agreed the commercial general liability policies didn’t require it to defend the breach of fiduciary duty claims. Judge Pitman wrote that Texas courts haven’t squarely addressed the issue presented in this lawsuit.
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