Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
There are three ways to defend an oil company involved in litigation, according to EDGE Litigation Consulting's Dan Jacks and Mark Sobus: the good, the bad and the downright ugly. But even if it’s ugly, it's best to start any defense with the reality of what jurors really think about your client going in.
The unprecedented election last week of 20 Democratic candidates to the state courts of appeals in Austin, Dallas and Houston will have an almost immediate and substantive impact on civil litigation and issues such as enforcement of arbitration clauses, excessive use of Anti-SLAPP laws and deference to juries in large-dollar plaintiff’s verdicts.
It started with a client-vendor deal. A nondisclosure agreement was signed. The deal took the back burner, and the parties went their separate ways. But now, they are reunited in the courtroom in the thick of a $49 million legal battle. Neither side is backing down. Natalie Posgate tells the story.
In an era characterized by the zig of headlong expansion, the Texas-based firm of Kane Russell Coleman Logan has found a way to zag. In unusually amicable fashion, senior director Zach Mayer is departing from the 26-year old firm and, with the blessing of its founding management, taking as many as 20 lawyers with him. More in The Texas Lawbook
Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts is breathtaking in its scope and breadth. This 14-volume treatise is edited by New York litigator and scholar Robert Haig, but its authors include several leading Texas lawyers, including David Beck, Judge Barbara Lynn, David Coale, Rod Phelan, Van Beckwith and Chip Babcock.
Judge Dale Tillery of the 134th District Court is easily the busiest civil trial judge in Dallas County. But it's not easy being the busiest. It involves relentless punctuality, the occasional 3 a.m. hearing and a willingness to eschew lunch. Natalie Posgate profiles the judge who presided over Reavis v. Toyota.
As a young man, I accompanied my dad to a bank to get a loan in hopes of opening an auto body shop. The loan officer denied us service, threw our completed paperwork at us and told we would never receive a loan from that bank or buy that business. That banker made certain that we knew we were not welcome in his world. And that is a major reason I’m a lawyer today. My story is the story of many.
Dallas District Judge Dale Tillery on Friday ordered Toyota Motor Corp. to pay a Dallas family $213 million – the bulk of a $242 million jury verdict from August that found the automaker liable for a 2016 rear-end accident that left two small children with permanent brain damage. Toyota says it will ask for a new trial. The Lawbook has the details.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed a 2017 jury verdict that awarded $3 million to a member of the Saudi royal family in a breach of contract dispute. The ruling benefits Prince Mansour Bin Abdullah Al-Saud of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Details here of the ruling.
The Federal Trade Commission on Friday dismissed its remaining claims against DIRECTV in the middle of a bench trial that once had $4 billion at stake. The dismissal is the denouement to an opinion issued by a federal judge in California in August that arguably killed the case for the FTC.
The Houston trial firm’s newly-minted partners are all women.
Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property and USPTO Director Andrei Iancu spoke at the SMU Dedman School of Law Friday during its Tsai Leadership Lecture series. The Texas Lawbook's Natalie Posgate had the opportunity to sit down with Director Iancu for a few minutes after the program. Check here to find out what he said.
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