Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A jury that sat through a monthlong trial and deliberated for nearly two days has found wrongdoing on both the part of Zang Holdings, and the contractor it hired to build Zang Flats, Integrity Commercial Group. Both sides were awarded damages and counsel for Zang told The Texas Lawbook an appeal is coming.
Four technology companies either headquartered in Texas or with large operations in Texas illegally supplied semiconductor components — microchips, processors and programmable devices — that have been used by Russia’s military to kill thousands in drone and missile attacks in Ukraine, according to five different lawsuits filed Wednesday in the Dallas County Court at Law.
The lawsuits claim that Texas Instruments, Advanced Micro Devices, Intel and Mouser Electronics sold their technology to third parties which they knew or should have known were then providing those technologies to Russia to use in the war in Ukraine.
A team of prominent Texas lawyers, including Austin trial lawyer Mikal Watts, Dallas trial lawyer Charla Aldous and the Dallas office of Baker Hostetler, a national law firm with about 1,000 attorneys, are representing the plaintiffs.
In early November, I addressed a room full of lawyers at a CLE seminar, and said, “nothing is more powerful than a bar card put to good.” A day later, a trusted colleague who was there called me with a crazy idea: Would I consider representing Ukrainian citizens injured or killed by Russian drone and missile attacks? Research provided by the State Capture Accountability Project suggested that American chip suppliers had exported the guidance chips enabling Russian drone and missiles to hit their targets.
A month of subsequent research and diligence confirmed my worst fears.
This week, Dallas County Judge Sally Montgomery ordered the longtime owner and president of Home Marketing Services to pay $5.7 million for workplace sexual harassment. The findings of fact were handed down Monday. A six-day bench trial concluded last month.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the state of Texas secures a temporary restraining order against Johnson & Johnson from a judge in rural West Texas. The order came a few days after the pharmaceutical company asked a Travis County judge to bring an end to what it said were four retaliatory investigations launched after Johnson & Johnson got a win in Tylenol-related litigation the attorney general initiated in rural East Texas.
A Kaufman County jury found the corporate outing at Cornerstone Ranch was not properly planned and led to Felissa Gamero being struck in the hand with a 9mm projectile and needing surgery.
A Southern District Court jury in Houston awarded $138 million to Carlo Civelli, who claimed Philippe Mulacek owed him money he loaned to him and broke agreements they made. The pair had worked together in a company, InterOil, which invested in properties in Papua New Guinea for potential oil and gas.
“It's been a long and hard-fought battle to get to this point,” said Munsch Hardt's Richard Schwartz, who represents Carlo Civelli.
Toyota allegedly sold driver data to Progressive Insurance and other third parties, a class action claims. In a Tuesday order, Chief Judge Amos Mazzant ordered a stay pending arbitration in the case.
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