Litigation Roundup: Match Group Hires Sidley to Defend Class Action; Judge O’Connor Recuses in CFPB Challenge

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Jerry Jones gets a defamation lawsuit brought by a woman claiming to be his daughter dismissed after the plaintiff’s failed attempt to amend the claims, the ExxonMobil Oil Corporation gets its win in a coverage dispute with AIG affirmed by a Dallas appellate court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit calls out a federal judge in McAllen for denying a motion to dismiss a retaliation lawsuit with “no analysis period.”

March 18, 2024 Michelle Casady

Oversight Board Constitutionality Case Gets Transferred to D.C. District Court

U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer of the Northern District of Texas said a John Doe auditor’s argument that the case should be heard in Texas is “unpersuasive.” The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of the U.S. Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s disciplinary proceedings.

March 15, 2024 Krista Torralva

Dallas COA Opinion Highlights How TCPA Framework Can be ‘Undermined’

This week a three-justice panel of the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas ordered Dallas County District Judge Staci Williams to hold a hearing on a motion to dismiss pending before her that was brought under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The state’s anti-SLAPP law requires that a hearing on a motion to dismiss take place within 60 days, but Judge Williams’ staff told the relators in this case — who tried six times to get a hearing set — that, while it does its best to accommodate requests for hearings, its docket is “jammed packed” and “there is no way to SQUEEZE your motion into the requested docket.”

March 13, 2024 Michelle Casady

Fifth Circuit Panel Decries ‘Rambo’ Tactics in Reversal, Scathing Opinion

A three-judge panel including the chief judge issued a rare reversal of a trial verdict on the grounds of improper jury argument. Two Texas lawyers who resorted to name calling, including one who threw a tissue box at opposing counsel, “employed nearly every category of what we have previously held to be improper closing argument,” the judges wrote. 

March 12, 2024 Krista Torralva

Litigation Roundup: SpaceX Wants Full Fifth Circuit to hear NLRB Case

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Yelp prevails against the Texas attorney general’s office in a suit that accused the website of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a Dallas-area law firm represents an insurance company accusing nearly 50 defendants of RICO violations related to New York workers’ compensation benefits, and a split Texas Supreme Court issues a ruling clarifying the tolling period in a healthcare liability claim.

March 11, 2024 Michelle Casady

Film About Landmark ATX Sex Assault Suits Debuts at SXSW

The high-profile South by Southwest Conference in Austin is commemorating International Women’s Day with the debut of “An Army of Women,” a documentary that follows the journey of 15 sexual assault survivors taking on the City of Austin and Travis County District Attorney’s Office for the mishandling of their cases, and the historic settlement that followed. Natalie Posgate and Bruce Tomaso spoke with the survivors’ lawyers, Jenny Ecklund and Elizabeth Myers of Thompson Coburn, before premiere day about the filming process, what they hope people take away from the documentary and how this case changed their lives.

Pictured: one of the plaintiffs, Marina, featured in the documentary. Courtesy of Julie Lunde Lillesæter/Differ Media

March 8, 2024 Natalie Posgate & Bruce Tomaso

To Interview or Not to Interview — The $1.675 Million Question

Does the law protect a deaf applicant before the interview even commences? Yes. In fact, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission recently secured a jury verdict of $1,675,000 against a major distribution company for violating the Americans with Disabilities Act based on its refusal to interview a qualified deaf applicant. This article identifies five ways employers can train their hiring personnel to ensure compliance.

March 8, 2024 Alen Samuel & Jenny Crutcher

McKool Smith Associate Gets Patent Issued For Study App

Intellectual property and business disputes lawyer Kyle Ryman was a top scorer on the July 2021 Texas Bar Exam thanks to his very own study app that he used to convert long outlines to flashcards. Now, he wants to donate the patent and code to a deserving school or nonprofit.

March 6, 2024 Krista Torralva