Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The Dallas County Democratic party has retained Randy Johnston and Chad Baruch of Johnston Tobey Baruch to defend it in the lawsuit the GOP filed against it seeking the removal of 128 Democratic candidates off the March 6 primary ballot. Johnston has a few things to say about it. Details here.
Lawyers for a group of blind law students said Wednesday that they have settled their claims against Dallas-based bar examination preparation course giant BARBRI. The students alleged in a lawsuit filed two years ago that BARBRI failed to address issues that prevented them from adequately preparing for the bar exam despite spending thousands of dollars on the course.
Tom Mason and Tonja De Sloover and their legal department at Energy Transfer Equity are finalists in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards for Business Litigation of the Year. And they’ve had a lot of that to deal with: In Delaware, a $33 billion fight over a failed merger: in North Dakota, endless legal struggles over the Dakota Access Pipeline; in Texas, they’re leading the battle to restore a $535 million jury verdict on appeal. Learn more about the philosophy behind their aggressive approach to litigation in The Texas Lawbook.
U.S. Magistrate Judge David Counts in Midland heard two felony pleas agreements Thursday morning and recommended to the U.S. District judge that they be accepted. After lunch, Judge Counts accepted the pleas of a handful of criminal felony defendants. Between the two court appearances, he was sworn in as the new U.S. District judge for the Western District of Texas. The Texas Lawbook has an exclusive interview with Judge Counts.
Dena Stroh says she had no idea that government law could be fascinating. But in 2017, she guided the North Texas Tollway Authority through one of the largest government bond issues in the U.S., as well as a potentially major class-action lawsuit. For that, and more, she and what she calls her “excellent lawyers” are nominated in two categories of the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read the details in The Texas Lawbook.
A 2014 East Texas jury verdict that Trinity Industries violated the False Claims Act resulted in a $663 million judgment against the Irving-based manufacturer of highway guardrails. Instead of cratering, Trinity launched a counter-offensive led by the company’s top legal officers, Theis Rice and Sarah Teachout. In 2017, the duo and their outside counsel scored an historic reversal—earning them nominations as finalists in three categories of the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. The Texas Lawbook explains.
The Houston Bar Association recently released its biennial survey of lawyer ratings for judges. Dallas released a similar survey last May. Taken at face value, Dallas lawyers are a lot more comfortable with their local judges than Houston lawyers. The problem is you can’t take it at face value. And if you look closely, the results may be reversed. Natalie Posgate explains in The Texas Lawbook.
Jo Hopper and her step-children won an $8 billion jury verdict against J.P. Morgan last year over the handling of her late husband's estate. But a fight over attorneys' fees in a Dallas probate court this week shows the real battle is just beginning. Natalie Posgate has the details in The Texas Lawbook.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit denied an appeal by Nintendo challenging a $10.1 million patent infringement verdict by a Dallas jury. The Texas Lawbook has coverage of the appeal and the trial verdict that sparked it.
Derrick Boyd scored the biggest courtroom victory of his 23-year career last week when a Dallas jury found that a bank had defrauded his client, a North Texas developer, and awarded $98 million in damages. The Decatur-based trial lawyer said the trial turned on emails from bank executives. The Texas Lawbook has the inside details.
An East Texas jury on Wednesday found William E. Mapp liable for one count of negligence for misleading investors about the business prospects of company that he founded and formerly led, McKinney-based Servergy. But it also cleared Mapp of seven other charges that Mapp committed fraud and offered unregistered securities.
Summary: A West Texas judge has entered a long-awaited final judgment in the T. Boone Pickens lawsuit against his former partners in an oil and gas deal. The judge’s order is a mixed bag worth more than $117 million for Pickens, but the real value may be in the court battle it took to get the judge to file it. Natalie Posgate has the details.
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