A Nueces County jury took 15 minutes last week to find a Round Rock man guilty of real estate fraud. Yesterday, the judge in the case took even less time to sentence Everett Craig Williams to 20 years in state prison and pay $189,000 in restitution to investors in a fraudulent real estate program with victims in Nueces, Collin, and Harris counties.
Houston Chief Federal Judge Issues First TRO in Parent Deportation
U.S. Chief Judge Lee Rosenthal of Houston issued a temporary restraining order Thursday prohibiting federal immigration officials from deporting a Honduran woman who came to the U.S. last month with her daughter after being tortured and persecuted in her homeland. While the case is technically about only one mother, who is being held in a detention center in South Texas, and her 12-year-old daughter, who is housed in a facility in Florida, lawyers involved in the litigation believe that the impact could be far-reaching.
McKool Scores PTAB Win #2 for Sinus Surgery Device
A group of lawyers from the Dallas office of McKool Smith have scored a Patent Trial and Appeal Board win for a patent that a Dallas ear, nose & throat surgeon owns related to the technology of sinus surgery.
Federal Court Dismisses Pier 1 Shareholder Suit… Again
A Dallas federal judge this week dismissed a shareholder class action that alleged Fort Worth-based Pier 1 Imports and two former executives committed securities fraud when they misrepresented the company’s financial health to investors. The significance of the ruling is twofold: it not only marks a big win for a team of Bracewell lawyers, but it also went through a somewhat unusual procedure. Spoiler alert: the parties had to fully brief the motion to dismiss issue twice. The Texas Lawbook has the details.