Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A Hays County jury found a truck driver and the company he works for liable for the death of an oil field worker. The jury awarded $46 million to the worker’s parents after deliberating for about four hours.
Commissioner John Wiley Price is facing a lawsuit seeking up to $1 million in damages for alleged defamation of Dallas County District Judge Vonda Bailey. Judge Bailey’s lawsuit points to comments Price made during Commissioners Court meetings last year regarding her clearance rate and attendance as the basis of her claims.
Earlier this month, a jury in East Texas determined that BOE Technology Group owes $66.8 million in damages for infringing three patents owned by Longitude Licensing that cover semiconductor devices and methods for configuring pixel electrode orientations in LCD displays that are used in computers, monitors and televisions.
Chelsea Hilliard joins Dorsey & Whitney as a partner from McGuireWoods. Her addition is part of the firm’s efforts to grow its litigation practice.
In this edition of Asked & Answered, trial lawyer Chrysta Castañeda reflects on her career and offers advice for young lawyers. While she has closed her firm, retiring for good is not in her plans.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we give you details on the unusual terms of a settlement Texas reached with Cal-Maine Foods in a price gouging suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals issues a ruling being hailed as a victory for taxpayers, and a doctor in the Valley goes to prison for fraud involving adult day care centers.
A proposed class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Texas claims former bankruptcy Judge David Jones, former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman and major law firms allegedly hid the romantic relationship between Jones and Freeman. Jones resigned from the bench in 2023 after news of his relationship with Freeman was publicly reported.
Energy Transfer Partners faced months of protests that delayed the Dakota Access Pipeline, prompting a defamation suit against Greenpeace and allied groups over allegedly false statements that fueled sometimes‑violent demonstrations.
Sam Hardy became deputy general counsel in 2022, inheriting the case and hiring Gibson Dunn’s Trey and Collin Cox and former Judge Gregg Costa, valuing their deep trial experience and alignment with Energy Transfer’s aggressive, trial‑ready culture. By 2025, the company sought $350 million; a North Dakota jury instead awarded $667 million, including $400 million in punitive damages.
Hardy’s team also won a complete defense win in a $150 million fraud and contract case against Goldman Sachs and secured a $15 million settlement of a securities class action once valued above $2.1 billion, earning Hardy the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook’s recognition as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
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