Austin Jury Slams Golf Cart Company with $15.8M Verdict – Updated
A federal jury in Austin on Thursday awarded $15.8 million to a Buda, Texas woman and her family for damages she suffered from a defective utility vehicle that left her
Health Insurers Fear Texas Trial Lawyers Seek Billions in New Litigation
Texas health insurers and hospitals clashed Wednesday over whether the insurance companies face a dire threat from computer-assisted, mischief-making trial lawyers. The issue is whether plaintiffs’ lawyers, assisted by data mining companies, are about to collect billions from insurers for dragging their feet on reimbursement claims.
Plano Oil Lawyer Takes on Sandbranch Clean Water Case for Free
Mark McPherson is no Erin Brockovich. The Plano environmental lawyer, 50, has represented land developers and helped oil and gas companies secure water for fracking. So what’s he doing taking on — as his first-ever pro bono case — the plight of Sandbranch, an impoverished Dallas County community that lacks running water?
EDTX Jury Returns Goose Eggs to Huge Telecom Equipment Makers in Patent Dispute
A pair of squabbling telecom equipment makers asked a Marshall panel for damages totaling $62 million on respective infringement claims of a combined 10 patents. Instead, they got a verdict killing parts of six of those patents.
Updated – Dallas Jury Awards $502 million to Five Hip Implant Victims
A federal jury in Dallas on Thursday ordered the former manufacturers of metal-on-metal hip implants to pay $502 million to five Texans who claim they suffered severe injuries from the defective devices they had implanted. The jury heard 37 days of testimony from the plaintiffs, company officials and expert witnesses for both sides before finding that DePuy Orthopaedics and its parent company, Johnson & Johnson, were liable, negligent and responsible for the plaintiffs’ chronic and painful physical problems. After more than five days of deliberations, the eight-women and one-man jury awarded the five plaintiffs $142 million in actual damages and $360 million in punitive damages.
Obama Nominates Five to Federal Judgeships in Texas
President Barack Obama has nominated five lawyers to serve on the U.S. District Courts in Texas, including the first Asian Pacific American. In the Northern District of Texas, President Obama nominated Judge E. Scott Frost, James Wesley Hendrix and Judge Irma Carillo Ramirez. In the Eastern District of Texas, he nominated Karen Gren Scholer. In the Western District, Obama nominated Judge Watler David Counts, III. If confirmed, Scholer’s nomination would mark the first time for an Asian Pacific American to serve as a federal district court judge in Texas or any courts encompassed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Irving Optical Company Ex-CEO Flees U.S. to Avoid Federal Contempt Order
A Dallas federal judge issued contempt charges and an arrest warrant late Thursday night against a Swiss businessman who headed an Irving optical company for violating multiple court orders involving an on-going civil lawsuit.
Delaware Judge Approves Litigation Finance in Complex Business Dispute
A Delaware court ruled Wednesday that a business suing another business did not violate the state’s prohibition against “champerty and maintenance” when it engaged a third-party to finance the litigation. The opinion is believed to be the first such ruling issued by a judge in the U.S.
Exclusive: DraftKings Sues Texas AG Paxton, FanDuel Settles
Lawyers representing DraftKings said Friday evening that Paxton is wrong about Texas law.
DraftKings Sues Texas AG Paxton, FanDuel Settles
Online fantasy sports operator DraftKings sued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in Dallas County District Court Friday evening, seeking a court order to prevent Paxton from “forcing DraftKings out of business in Texas.” DraftKings lawsuit came only hours after Paxton announced the state had reached a settlement with the other major daily fantasy sports site, FanDuel.
Former Chesapeake CEO Aubrey McClendon Dies in Car Crash Day After Being Indicted
A federal grand jury in Oklahoma has indicted Chesapeake Energy Corp. co-founder and former chief executive officer Aubrey McClendon on charges that he violated antitrust laws by conspiring with another energy company to fix the bidding process bids for the purchase of oil and natural gas leases in northwest Oklahoma from 2007 to 2012.
Baker Botts Secures $775 Million Settlement for Liberty Media
Baker Botts announced Friday that it has secured a $775 million settlement for firm client Liberty Media in a decade-long securities fraud litigation against Vivendi Universal S.A.