Stating that President Donald Trump and his administration are “engaged in an unprecedented and unconstitutional assault on the independent bar, the independent judiciary and the rule of law,” lawyers for Susman Godfrey asked a federal judge Monday to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent federal officials from enforcing the president’s executive order signed last Wednesday against the Houston law firm. Last Friday, Susman Godfrey sued the Trump administration claiming that the executive order was an abuse of power “in an express campaign of retaliation for representing clients and causes” that President Trump “disfavors or employing lawyers he dislikes.”
Q&A with Trial Lawyer Jeffrey B. Simon
“There is no right that is so entrenched in the American experience that someone can’t take it away,” trial lawyer Jeffrey B. Simon told The Texas Lawbook about writing his book, Last Rights: The Fight to Save the 7th Amendment. Simon, who co-leads the state’s opioid multidistrict litigation, shared why he wrote his book and how it’s a collection of thoughts and ideas developed over a career spanning more than three decades.
Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Gets Fifth Circuit Homework
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Fifth Circuit sends a certified question about judges refusing to perform same-sex marriages to the Texas Supreme Court, Tesla hires Jackson Walker to defend against a workplace death lawsuit, and we take a look at three petitions for writ of mandamus the state’s high court recently granted.
Jackson Walker Reaches First of Potentially Several Settlements in Ex-Judge Jones Bankruptcy Fee Case
Jackson Walker issued a statement to The Lawbook indicating more settlements will be filed soon. “We have always said that we regret being misled in this matter by our former partner, and we have continued to proactively reach out to other parties to try to resolve this matter in a constructive fashion,” the statement reads.
Q&A with Trial Lawyer Geoffrey Harrison
Susman Godfrey trial attorney and partner Geoffrey Harrison won five lawsuits last year involving a total of more than $1.25 billion. In this exclusive interview, Harrison talks about his trial rituals, what name partner H. Lee Godfrey taught him as a newly minted lawyer, the litigation trends he’s watching closely and more.
Dickey’s Barbecue Sues American Arbitration Association Over ‘Flagrant and Stated Disregard’ of Rules
Dallas-based Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants is taking the American Arbitration Association and one of its arbitrators to court over what it alleges is a “flagrant and stated disregard” for the rule of law that resulted in death penalty sanctions against it.
Houston Appellate Court Asked to Revive Winter Storm Uri Market Manipulation Suit
CirclesX Recovery, which describes itself as a software and data analytics company, argues MDL Judge Sylvia Matthews granted a motion to dismiss its lawsuit accusing some of the biggest energy companies of manipulating the natural gas market ahead of the 2021 winter storm, “without any analysis or explanation as to how or in what respect Appellant failed to plead its claims.”
Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Judge Calls Out ‘Constitutional Flaws in the FCA’s Qui Tam Device’
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the widow of an oilfield worker sues Apache Corp. over her husband’s heat-related death, lawyers for the driver of a vandalized Tesla tout a first-of-its-kind civil suit, and Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan takes aim at the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act in a concurring opinion where the court wiped out a $28.7 million jury award.