Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The jury returned its verdict March 5, finding Downhole Well Solutions' tools infringed three patents held by Impulse and that the infringement was willful. The jury rejected arguments that the patents were invalid. Impulse’s lead lawyer, John Keville of Sheppard, told The Lawbook the jury awarded the damages he requested “to the penny.”
An Austin jury found last week that the rideshare platform Lyft infringed one of Quartz Auto Technologies’ patents and awarded the company $1.05 million. Lyft, accused of infringing five patents, is calling the verdict a win.
Dallas-based Dean Omar Branham Shirley, which has brought several cases against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson across the country, commenced its jury trial in Spokane, Washington, Monday morning. Jurors heard from the parties over whether the alleged asbestos in J&J’s baby powder caused Verna Richards’ life-ending mesothelioma cancer.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a divided panel of the Fifth Circuit sides with Susman Godfrey and undoes the dismissal of a qui tam False Claims Act suit against Lockheed Martin, and a former financial advisor is convicted of defrauding three NBA players, including two who played for Dallas and Houston.
San Antonio jurors deliberated for nearly three hours after a four-week trial in a trade secrets case that’s been litigated for a decade between HouseCanary and Amrock. The jury found Amrock misappropriated HouseCanary’s trade secrets and defrauded the company.
President Trump has the constitutional authority to issue executive orders against Houston-based Susman Godfrey and three other corporate law firms because those firms "have taken actions that threaten public safety and national security, limit constitutional freedoms, degrade the quality of American elections, and undermine bedrock American principles,” the U.S. Justice Department argued in court briefs filed Friday. “This is simply the President’s speech. Plaintiffs have no First Amendment right, and the Judiciary has no authority, to silence him,” DOJ wrote. But legal experts say what is missing from the DOJ brief is more important and critical to the litigation.
At Southern Methodist University, Judge Bill Whitehill heard arguments Friday afternoon on the Dallas Stars’ summary judgment motion. The lawsuit was filed in October 2024 by the Dallas Mavericks, claiming the hockey franchise was in violation of its agreement over its shared lease of the American Airlines Center.
The Senate Judiciary Committee approved an Austin litigator and a Fort Worth judge for the federal bench Thursday morning. Tarrant County Judge Christopher Wolfe will be serving in the Waco Division, and Andrew Davis will be in Austin.
The Business Court had a historic February. It presided over its first-ever jury trials, resulting in wins on both sides of the “v.” The Court also penned five opinions, including the first interpretation of its intellectual property jurisdiction. This month will be remembered as a culmination of the Court’s first chapter.
Less than 15 hours after telling a federal appeals court that it no longer planned to fight to enforce the executive orders signed by President Donald Trump last spring against Susman Godfrey and three other corporate law firms, the U.S. Justice Department filed new motions today seeking to “withdraw their motion to voluntarily dismiss these consolidated appeals.”
The same two senior DOJ lawyers who last evening told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit that the federal government would no longer fight to reverse orders from lower court judges declaring that the EOs targeting four law firms were illegal and blocked them from being enforced signed a six-page filing today saying that the fight is back on.
Justice Department lawyers gave no explanation for the government’s sudden reversal.
The Trump administration filed court documents late Monday stating that it will no longer seek to enforce the executive orders signed by President Donald Trump last spring against Susman Godfrey and a handful of other law firms.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Stone Hilton helps X Corp. defeat a proposed class action lawsuit in North Texas, and a group of South Texas doctors agree to pay millions to settle False Claims Act allegations.
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