Grocery Deliverer Claims Private Equity Firm Cost It Millions in Longstanding Contracts with El Rancho Chain
Skyward Transportation’s lawsuit claims all was well until El Rancho was acquired in 2023 by an arm of Apollo Global Management.
Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Decides Barratry Case
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Dallas law firm gets another favorable verdict in a mesothelioma trial against Johnson & Johnson, a federal judge in McAllen hands out prison sentences for participants in a $110 million kickback scheme, and the Texas Supreme Court clarifies the limitations of a state law that prohibits the unlawful solicitation of legal clients.
Texas Reaches $1.375B Settlement with Google in Data Privacy Suits
A little more than a week after Google and Texas told the state’s supreme court they were in settlement negotiations that could end litigation in a consumer protection lawsuit, Texas on Friday afternoon announced a $1.375 billion settlement with the tech giant. Attorney General Ken Paxton issued a statement calling the settlement of the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act claims “a major win for Texans’ privacy” and said it “tells companies that they will pay for abusing our trust.”
KBR Gets Complete Defense Win in Houston Trial Over $18B Mexican Refinery Job
It took a jury in Harris County about seven hours of deliberations over Thursday and Friday to determine Houston-based Kellogg Brown & Root owed nothing to a Mexican construction company that had been seeking more than $100 million in damages over losing a bid to build a refinery in southern Mexico.
Appeals Court Upholds Part of Verdict for Fired Southwest Flight Attendant, Tosses Religious Training Order
Southwest Airlines won partial relief from a jury verdict in a case involving the firing of a flight attendant over antiabortion messages she sent to her union president. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday that while the airline violated Charlene Carter’s right to religious expression, it did not break federal laws banning religious discrimination in the workplace. The court also struck down U.S. District Court Judge Brantley Starr’s order requiring three of the airline’s attorneys to attend religious liberty training with a Christian legal group.
Susman Godfrey: President Trump Executive Order is ‘Unconstitutional — Full Stop’
A lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge Thursday that President Donald Trump was legally exercising his executive authority by prohibiting lawyers with the Houston-based law firm Susman Godfrey from entering federal buildings or representing clients who had contracts with the federal government and suspending their security clearances. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan of Washington, D.C., repeatedly asked U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General Richard Lawson to provide evidence supporting the president’s April 9 executive order condemning Susman Godfrey for racial discrimination in their hiring practices and for “spearheading efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrading the quality of American elections.”
Litigation Roundup: Google, Texas in Talks to Settle Consumer Protection Lawsuit
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit revives a software company’s breach of contract lawsuit against the Tarrant County College District, a sex discrimination lawsuit against UT Southwestern Medical Center is set for a bench trial, and Houston lawyers secure a $31 million jury verdict in Miami.
Jury Sides With Marathon Oil, Rejects $123.7M Claim in Uri Natural Gas Delivery Trial
Federal jurors in Houston on Monday afternoon sided with Marathon Oil in a lawsuit stemming from the delivery of natural gas during February 2021’s Winter Storm Uri, rejecting a $123.7 million breach of contract claim lodged by Koch Energy Services.