A jury of 12 sat through six days of trial and deliberated for about eight hours before determining the Baehr family was entitled to $3.1 million in damages. The toxic mold that infested their Austin home also sickened the family of six and prompted Kristina Baehr to launch her own firm to help others in the same situation.
Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories About Lawyers and the Law
Michael Clayton (2007, Dir. Tony Gilroy)
Is Michael Clayton a lawyer movie? It’s a fair question, given that the main character isn’t really a lawyer. He operates in the dark corners of the legal profession, trying not to get too dirty, until he reaches a point where he can no longer look at himself in the mirror. Played by George Clooney, Michael Clayton isn’t the kind of movie to supply an unequivocal happy ending. Having settled accounts, Michael climbs into the back of a New York City cab, hands the driver some money and tells him to drive — anywhere. The credits roll over Clooney’s pensive face.
With Police Actions Recently Targeting Journalists, Will Courts Protect the Rights of the Free Press?
Last Friday, police in Marion, Kansas, seized the computers, file servers and personal cellphones of journalists at the local newspaper, the Marion County Record. According to a search warrant, officers believed there was probable cause that newspaper personnel had used equipment seized by officers to commit identity theft. Journalism is not a crime. Reporters and editors are not criminals. The First Amendment guarantees it. This common view of freedom of the press in America appears to have escaped the attention lately of at least one police department in Kansas. And one in Texas, too.
Arbitrator’s ‘Undisclosed’ Christianity Prompts Motion to Vacate $603K Award
A Dallas-area pain management clinic, American Pain and Wellness, argues that the arbitrator of a dispute with a former employee over payment and reimbursement “intentionally” failed to disclose details about his education and religious preferences that amount to evident partiality and dooms the award. Fort Worth lawyer John Chalk of Whitaker Chalk served as the arbitrator.
BakerHostetler, D.C. Solo Tapped in ‘The Ticket’ Noncompete Suit
The Ticket’s parent company is accusing Jacob Kemp and Daniel McDowell, the former hosts of popular sports talk radio show The Hang Zone, of violating a noncompete agreement by launching a new podcast after leaving the station in July.
Veteran Antitrust Expert Jumps to King & Spalding
Sean Royall, who has represented AT&T, Facebook, Allergan and JUUL Labs, joins King & Spalding as its global head of antitrust and consumer protection. Since 2019, Royall’s career has taken him from Gibson Dunn to stops at Kirkland and Sidley and now K&S.
Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circ. Clears Way for 5G Rollout, Impeachment Gag Order Draws Suit
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, mootness ends Surfside Beach property owners’ dispute with the Texas General Land Office in a 2-1 ruling from the Fifth Circuit, a challenge to the Inflation Recovery Act’s medication pricing controls keeps rolling and a conservative activist sues Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick over an impeachment-related gag order.