Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we share the announcement that a new magistrate judge will be serving in the Northern District of Texas, and share details about both the federal government’s antitrust lawsuit against Richardson-based RealPage and the punishment doled out to a former controller for Simon Greenstone Panatier who bilked the plaintiff’s firm out of nearly $1.5 million.
Judge Ada Brown’s opinion is both well-reasoned and well-written, but it is not surprising. In light of the invalidation of the FTC’s rule, employers can breathe easy. Of course, the FTC can, and likely will, appeal the decision.
The pandemic has left a lasting impact on society, particularly in shaping public perceptions of corporate America. Media coverage during COVID-19, often sensationalized and focused on corporate failures or profiteering, has influenced public narratives about corporations. These narratives were further amplified by social media, where individual experiences and opinions shape jurors' preconceived notions long before they enter the courtroom.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Texas Attorney General’s Office — fresh off securing a $1.4B settlement with Meta in a similar lawsuit — has filed a data privacy suit against General Motors, U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor recuses from one X Corp. lawsuit but hangs on to another, and we offer an update on the lawsuits CenterPoint is facing from customers in the wake of Hurricane Beryl and which firms have been tapped to defend the utility company.
Dean Omar Branham Shirley has obtained three jury verdicts this year against Johnson & Johnson over allegations its baby powder contained cancer-causing asbestos. Another trial ended early when the parties settled. Johnson & Johnson has decried the verdicts and maintained its cosmetic talc products did not cause cancer.
Five plaintiffs who were displaced from their Dallas homes after a construction crane toppled onto an apartment complex in 2019 reached a settlement with the real estate developer and the crane rental company mid-trial Thursday. The confidential settlement resolves all remaining lawsuits related to the crane collapse, lawyers told a Dallas judge.
Earlier this month, Kansas resident Kelli Most filed a motion for en banc reconsideration with the court. She argued that dismissal of her lawsuit against Team Industrial Services — which came after the Sugar Land-based company had unsuccessfully attempted pretrial to get the appellate court to move the suit out of Texas courts — on grounds that Texas was an inconvenient forum is “literally unprecedented.”
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Fifth Circuit asks for the Texas Supreme Court’s input in a drowning death case, the city of Uvalde agrees to release its records related to the Robb Elementary shooting, and Munck Wilson Mandala is dealt a blow in a RICO lawsuit it brought against the owners of a Dallas building where it leases office space.
At the daylong hearing, Chief Judge Eduardo Rodriguez also denied a request to subpoena four years of phone and text logs from former bankruptcy Judge David Jones’ government-issued cell phone that the requesting party said was intended to investigate whether any ex parte communications had taken place between Jones and the attorneys who appeared before him. Chief Judge Rodriguez said he plans to quickly decide whether to partially or fully unseal a transcript and audio of the sealed portion of Wednesday’s hearing.
A law professor and a prominent litigator spoke to The Lawbook about the merits of X's new lawsuit against a group of advertisers and discussed why the case may have been filed in federal court in Wichita Falls. “Forum shopping is definitely going on here,” C. Paul Rogers III, current professor and former dean at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, told The Lawbook in an interview Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in the Wichita Falls Division of the Northern District of Texas and has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Reed C. O’Connor. John Sullivan and Jace Yarbrough of S|L Law are representing X Corp. in the suit that names the World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever PLC, Unilever United States, Mars Incorporated, CVS Health Corporation and RSTED A/S as defendants.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, individuals accused of bilking the government out of millions via Covid-19 testing and dental scams are sentenced to prison, Austin-based CrowdStrike gears up to fight litigation related to a global software outage and the Fifth Circuit seeks the Texas Supreme Court’s input in a lawsuit brought by a former Southern Methodist University law professor who was denied tenure.
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