TeamHealth Trial: A Threat, A Delay, A Juror Down

A stomach virus and a potential security threat sidetracked the ongoing jury trial in Las Vegas between TeamHealth and insurance giant UnitedHealthcare. The security threat proved false, but a juror was lost to the stomach virus. AZA, the Houston litigation boutique, is representing TeamHealth, a network of physicians and medical professionals complaining of systematic underpayment for their services by UnitedHealthcare. UnitedHealthcare, represented by O'Melveny & Myers, says TeamHealth charged too much in the first place. The Lawbook's Natalie Posgate is monitoring the trial that both sides hope to conclude by Thanksgiving.

November 9, 2021 Natalie Posgate

Astroworld Festival Suits Pile Up, Lawyers Bountiful in TRO Hearing in Harris Co. District Court

The first round of lawsuits – 31 of them as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday – hit the Harris County District Court dockets through late Monday evening charging a plethora of individuals, businesses and a non-profit organization with gross negligence and premises liability related to the tragedy that occurred Friday at the Astroworld Festival that killed eight people and injured hundreds of others. The Texas Lawbook has the details, including the lineup of plaintiffs and defense lawyers already involved.

November 9, 2021 Mark Curriden

DBJ: New Judge, Filings in High-stakes Case Charging UDF Execs with Cheating Investors, Banks

The criminal case against four United Development Funding executives has a new judge overseeing the case in Fort Worth federal court. Plus, new documents in the case shed light on how federal prosecutors plan to try to prove their case and how lawyers for the accused executives plan to defend them.

November 8, 2021 Bill Hethcock of the Dallas Business Journal

Updated – Chad Pinkerton Knows the Game Plan Against Live Nation and Travis Scott

Within hours of eight people dying and scores of others being injured at the Astroworld Festival Friday night, the website of Houston lawyer Chad Pinkerton was blowing up. He was getting calls and emails from victims and their families. Pinkerton is one of a dozen prominent lawyers – including Richard Mithoff, C.J. Baker and Rusty Hardin, to name a few – likely to file lawsuits this week seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages against Live Nation, rapper Travis Scott and a plethora of other potential defendants connected to the tragedy that took place outside of NRG Stadium.

But unlike many other lawyers, Pinkerton has been in court before against Live Nation and he knows the concert producer’s modus operandi.

November 8, 2021 Mark Curriden

Houston Music Festival Tragedy Lawsuits Coming, “Hundreds of Millions in Damages” Predicted

The legal liabilities will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars for the producers, promoters, performers and subcontractors – including security firms – of Houston’s Astroworld Festival Friday night that resulted in the deaths of eight people and dozens of others who were injured, legal experts predicted Saturday. Rapper Travis Scott, who was performing at the time of the crowd surge, may also face significant liability.

November 6, 2021 Mark Curriden

Updated – Houston Judge Weighing $352.7M Verdict for Paralyzed Airport Worker

A hearing Friday on plaintiff lawyer Randy Sorrels’s motion for entry of judgment dealt only with relatively minor calculations of a just sum – an indication that both sides expect District Judge Ravi Sandill to uphold in whole or large part last week’s jury verdict on behalf of Ulysses Cruz, who sued Allied Aviation Fueling Co. of Houston.

November 6, 2021 Bruce Tomaso

AZA Begins Next TeamHealth Trial in Sin City

Six women and two men are currently hearing opening statements in a trial that began today in Las Vegas between Blackstone-owned ER physician staffing company TeamHealth and UnitedHealthcare over reimbursement rates of ER physicians. It’s the first trial in a series of TeamHealth cases to involve a major insurer that provides health plans through employers. Litigation writer Natalie Posgate is tuning into opening statements and will report back later.

November 2, 2021 Natalie Posgate

Randy Sorrels: $352M Houston Jury Verdict ‘Could Have Been More’

If anything, the noted Houston plaintiffs’ lawyer claims, jurors should have given Ulysses Cruz, a paralyzed airport service worker, more for the lifetime of pain and anguish he faces after being hit by a van on a tarmac at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. And Sorrels believes the verdict exceeding one-third of a billion dollars will survive appeal.

November 1, 2021 Bruce Tomaso

Tarrant County Court Denies Injunction in American-Sabre Courtroom Fight

A Fort Worth state judge this week denied a temporary injunction sought by American Airlines that would have enjoined ticket distribution vendor Sabre Holdings Corp. from utilizing its New Airline Storefront display product and paying travel agents incentives to book higher-priced Delta Airlines tickets over American tickets.

October 29, 2021 Natalie Posgate

Shearman & Sterling Snags Litigation Pair from Haynes and Boone

The securities and class action defense experts are notable additions for Shearman, which has focused most of its growth in Texas on the corporate transactional side to date.

October 27, 2021 Brooks Igo

Encompass Health Sues DFW-Based Founder for Violating Noncompete & Trade Secrets Theft

A new lawsuit in Dallas County District Court pits Alabama-rooted Bradley Arant and Encompass Health Corp. against former Encompass CEO April Anthony, a Dallas millionaire and large figure in the at-home health world who left the company she founded this summer for a competitor.

October 27, 2021 Natalie Posgate

Bench and Bar Mourns Death of Former NDTX Chief Judge Jorge Solis

Jorge Solis was a tough prosecutor, a fair and learned judge, a mentor for dozens of lawyers and once considered a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. A former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Solis died Friday of an apparent heart attack while attending Mass. He was 70.

October 11, 2021 Mark Curriden