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Commercial Litigation

Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Will Hear PUCT Authority Case, Short-term Rental Restrictions in Dallas Halted

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Dallas residents were granted a temporary injunction that will prohibit the city from enforcing new ordinances that would severely restrict the availability of short-term rental homes, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton accuses the U.S. State Department of conspiring to censor conservative-leaning media outlets, and the Texas Supreme Court agrees to hear a case involving the scope of the Public Utility Commission of Texas’ authority.

Litigation Roundup: Federal Circuit Orders New Damages Trial in $2.1B VLSI/Intel Case, Pfizer Again Sued by Texas

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas follows up on a Medicaid fraud lawsuit accusing Pfizer of manipulating data about the efficacy of a pediatric attention-deficit drug with a lawsuit accusing the pharmaceutical company of lying about the effectiveness of its Covid-19 vaccine, Antero Resources continues its fight to recover an $11.9 million judgment from a former manager and an intermediate appellate court finds a fatal products liability suit should be litigated in Dallas.

Judges Reject CirclesX Petition to Separate from MDL

A five-judge panel that decides which Texas civil lawsuits should be consolidated in statewide multidistrict litigation has rejected a plea by lawyers representing data analytics firm CirclesX Recovery and other plaintiffs alleging a multibillion-dollar market manipulation conspiracy among natural gas companies during Winter Storm Uri to separate their lawsuits from hundreds of others. The decision means the case will remain a part of the MDL before a single Houston judge.

SCOTX Tells Fifth Circ. Deadline-Tolling Statute Applies in Flight Attendants’ Boeing Suit

The federal appellate court had asked the Texas Supreme Court to answer two questions clarifying how Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.064 applies to the claims of former United Airlines flight attendants, Marvin Sanders and Matthew Sodrok, who say they were injured when a smoke detector activated — despite the absence of smoke or fire on board — at such a high volume that it burst their ear drums, caused their ears to bleed and left them with permanent hearing loss. The justices’ answers revived the lawsuit against The Boeing Company and two companies that provided parts and maintenance for the allegedly defective smoke detector.

Law Schools Could House New Business Courts

Tasked with implementing new laws creating a business court system for complex, expensive litigation, the Texas Supreme Court is gauging whether the state’s law schools might want to provide courtroom space. With 10 new trial courts and an intermediate appellate court coming online next September, Chief Justice Nathan Hecht discusses logistics and substantive issues the court is considering during its rulemaking process. Meanwhile, the chief justices for the 14 courts of appeals are identifying cases involving state government for likely transfer to the new Fifteenth COA, which will have exclusive jurisdiction over those cases and appeals from the business courts.

Litigation Roundup: Pharma Cos Draw Texas Fraud Suit, Small Refineries Beat EPA at Fifth Circuit

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sides 2-1 with a group of small refineries challenging an EPA decision to deny their requested exemptions from certain obligations under the Clean Air Act, the founder of SAExploration reaches a settlement with the SEC in a $100 million fraud case and private equity firm Welsh, Carson, Anderson & Stowe XI moves to toss an FTC monopoly suit lodged against it.

Federal Jury in Dallas Awards $210M in Software Trade Secrets Trial

After hearing six days of testimony, a jury in the Northern District of Texas unanimously sided with Computer Sciences Corporation and found the company was entitled to $70 million in actual damages for Tata Consultancy Services’ misappropriation of its proprietary source code and $140 million in exemplary damages because the misappropriation was willful and malicious.

Biz Community Tells SCOTX Abortion Ban Has Cost Texas $14.5B

An amici army 40 strong, led by dating app Bumble Inc. and joined by Match Group, SXSW, Amalgamated Bank, Central Presbyterian Church, a handful of boutique law firms, doctors and hospitality companies, filed their brief with the Texas Supreme Court Monday, about a week before the court is slated to hear oral arguments in Texas v. Zurawski. But the business community is far from the only voice trying to persuade the Texas Supreme Court. A group of 20 states filed an amicus brief, as did a group of 90 Texas legislators and a handful of national women’s rights organizations.

One Nation Under Insurance: The Insurance Industry’s Hold on Our Country, Our State and Our Pocketbooks – Part 2 – The Claims Practices Statute

The Prompt Payment of Claims Act is a statute ostensibly enacted to provide enforcement mechanisms for Texas businesses, among others, and their lawyers in transactions between insurance companies and their policyholders. But significant changes in the potential penalties for failing to timely investigate and pay policy benefits have been favorable to foreign insurance companies and harmful to Texas businesses.

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