Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
An Anderson County district judge ruled late Monday that she will not reconsider a court-approved settlement in a case pitting a group of poultry and cattle farmers against the Neches & Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District that could restrict or even prohibit Dallas businessman Kyle Bass from drilling for millions of gallons of water on two of his East Texas ranches.
After a roughly two-hour hearing, U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer sent a trademark infringement lawsuit that the Texas Stock Exchange filed against the Toronto Stock Exchange to mediation. The Texas Stock Exchange took the fight to court in 2024 after receiving a cease and desist letter from the Toronto Stock Exchange that claimed its design was too similar and would cause confusion.
Pennzoil v. Texaco's legacy remains significant, as it changed how companies handle mergers and acquisitions, caused the Chamber of Commerce to designate Texas as a judicial hellhole in 1986 and directly led to two decades of massive tort reform efforts that dramatically limited the rights of Texans to sue businesses, doctors and insurance companies for wrongdoing. It also launched Texas trial lawyer Joe Jamail to national stardom and made him the richest trial lawyer in American history. In this in-depth article, The Texas Lawbook provides a detailed timeline of the events involved in the historic litigation, as well as comments from more than a dozen lawyers about the legal strategies employed.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a new trial is ordered in a dispute involving heirs of deceased oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall, The Goldwater Institutes asks the Texas Supreme Court to grant review in a public records fight involving Highland Park Independent School District and fine-dining steakhouse Perry’s is found to be in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act.
New Jersey and McKool Smith announced Friday that the state has settled its 2021 lawsuit against Horizon Healthcare Services for $100 million. New Jersey claimed that the healthcare services provider had been submitting false funding claims to the state for years. Horizon says it never retained any of the money charged to the state for healthcare provider claims.
The families of five girls who died in the July 4 flood while at summer camp are being represented by Arnold & Itkin. They were added to the lawsuit filed earlier this week on behalf of Ellen Elizabeth Getten, the 9-year-old daughter of Baker Botts partner Douglas Getten and Jennifer Getten.
The first bench trial for the Texas Business Court resulted in a win for Marathon Oil in Houston. Marathon filed its declaratory judgment lawsuit after Mercuria claimed Marathon owed it $17.4 million for failing to deliver natural gas during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.
Sanderson Farms, five East Texas poultry and cattle farms and the Consolidated Water Supply Corporation have asked an Anderson County judge to reject legal efforts by Dallas businessman Kyle Bass to intervene in their water rights litigation.
The Lanier Firm was among the six law firms that filed suit against Camp Mystic Monday, joining Yetter Coleman, Arnold & Itkin, Howry Breen & Herman, Tefteller Law and The Armstrong Firm. In total, 15 families are represented across four lawsuits. The flood killed 25 campers and two counselors at the camp. According to those involved in the litigation, more lawsuits are expected to be filed in coming days, but some families have decided against legal action.
Camp Mystic and the family that runs the Christian girls summer camp have been accused of putting “profit over safety” by the families of seven campers and two counselors who died in the July 4 flood.
Three separate lawsuits were filed Monday in Travis County district court.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann has been tapped to represent a trading card company that accuses Irving-based Panini America of using its market dominance to stifle competition and create a monopoly in the industry, and Jackson Walker is hit with a new lawsuit over the scandal involving its former bankruptcy partner and a sitting judge.
Another jury trial stemming from the Watson Grinding explosion that killed three people and destroyed hundreds of homes in 2020 recently ended in Harris County. The plaintiffs were seven victims of the explosion. The two-week trial ended with a verdict against 3M Company.
© Copyright 2026 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
