Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A federal appeals court put plaintiffs’ lawyers on a monetary diet Monday when it affirmed a lower court’s decision to toss a lawsuit that claimed Dr Pepper/Seven Up falsely led consumers in California to believe that Diet Dr Pepper could help them lose weight. The opinion also provided an unexpected vocabulary lesson on the word 'diet.' Natalie Posgate explains.
The ruling is important because a victory for the plaintiffs could have had implications for the drilling rig industry and possibly other blue collar fields because it may have obligated companies to pay workers for the time spent putting on and taking off personal protective gear, Norton Rose Fulbright, the prevailing law firm said.
A Dallas jury has awarded $20 million to the family of Hunter Brown, a 25-year-old Seattle resident who was killed in 2017 by a Greyhound bus as he tried to chase after it when it left him behind at a rest stop. Natalie Posgate spoke to Brown’s parents and their lawyer, Charla Aldous, and tells their story.
(UPDATED to include Texas responses). Litigation rose slightly in most dispute categories in 2019, but respondents in the annual Norton Rose Fulbright litigation survey say they are worried that economic turbulence in 2020 will provoke a rise in lawsuits over the coming year. The Lawbook has details.
The Houston Bar Association has released its bi-annual evaluation of state and federal trial and appellate judges. The best rated judge mustered a “B” grade. Dozens of civil court judges got straight “F’s.” U.S. District Chief Judge Lee Rosenthal got the highest score, while Houston District Court judges Ursula Hall and Dedra Davis received the lowest rating.
Harris County filed suit against three insulin manufacturers this week, accusing the firms of colluding to set artificially high prices for the medicine and other diabetic treatments.
A state judge in Houston ruled Wednesday that a tax simplification restructuring deal involving mining properties in Wyoming does not require Natural Resource Partners to pay $56 million demanded by Anadarko.
The reign of the Eastern District of Texas as the busiest patent docket in the U.S. ended last year when Delaware captured the top spot. Now, EDTX isn't even the busiest patent jurisdiction in Texas. The designation now belongs to the Western District and new federal judge Alan Albright. The Texas Lawbook has an exclusive interview with Judge Albright, new data and an in-depth report on the new hot patent docket.
A terminated project risk manager for Anadarko claims the Woodlands-based company downplayed the risks of a multibillion-dollar LNG project in Mozambique. The action, the plaintiff says, came before a beheading of another Anadarko worker and a whistleblower complaint. Natalie Posgate reports.
A Harris County judge is facing federal charges that accuse her of using campaign donations for personal expenses, including for mortgage payments, private school tuition and travel.
The move expands Kirkland's growing litigation practice in Dallas, which the firm launched in September with another high-profile lateral hire.
Fort Bend County did not reasonably accommodate an employee’s religious observation when she attended church on a Sunday instead of going to work, a Houston federal jury ruled on Friday.
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