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Commercial Litigation

Transocean Raises Questions About Plaintiffs’ Healthcare Billing Schemes in Hurricane Zeta Litigation

The first of two-dozen workers aboard the Deepwater Asgard suing Transocean and other companies for ordering them to keep the giant rig operating even though it was in the direct path of Hurricane Zeta in October 2020 get to tell their harrowing stories to a Houston jury starting next week.

But lawyers for Transocean and the other defendants claim in new documents filed Sept. 5 that they have discovered a secret financial scheme involving the plaintiffs’ lawyers, their medical expert witnesses and a private equity firm that is allegedly providing funding for the litigation. The defense attorneys claim the scheme taints the medical testimony of the plaintiffs’ expert witnesses. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

Challenge to 15th COA Transfer is Filed

The jurisdiction of the state’s new Fifteenth Court of Appeals has been challenged by a party in a dispute that had been on appeal before the First Court of Appeals in Houston. A total of 88 cases have been transferred to the Fifteenth Court of Appeals.

Texas Biz Courts are Open, But Filings Trickle In

In the four days since the Texas business courts opened for, well, business, only four cases have been filed. The high-dollar disputes will be adjudicated by new judges in the divisions covering Houston, Dallas and Austin. Attorneys from Bell Nunnally & Martin earned the title of first to file in the new courts.

Houston Jury Finds HCA Healthcare Owes Doctors $25.6M

The group of doctors, Fondren Orthopedic, and HCA, a Nashville for-profit operator of healthcare facilities across the country, were in a limited partnership that owns and operates Texas Orthopedic Hospital. Fondren filed suit in October 2021, accusing HCA of violating a noncompete agreement by allowing 10 competing hospitals in the Houston area to offer similar services.

Susman Scores $65.7M Patent Infringement Verdict

A federal jury in Waco listened to four days of testimony and oral arguments last week before finding that New Jersey-based Paltalk Holdings’ patents regarding audio server technology are valid and that Cisco Systems infringed on those patents with its Webex conferencing service. The jury awarded Paltalk $65.7 million in damages. In a press release, Paltalk said it plans to seek legal fees.

Hicks Thomas Adds 14 Trial Lawyers from Hunton AK

As business law firms battle for talent with trial and courtroom experience at a time when the litigation practice is booming in Texas, Hicks Thomas made a move this weekend that instantly placed the Houston-based firm among the larger litigation boutiques in the state.

Calling it “a match made in heaven,” John Thomas told The Texas Lawbook that 14 lawyers — nine partners and five associates — from Hunton Andrews Kurth joined Hicks Thomas on Monday. This boosts the firm’s lawyer headcount 50 percent — from 28 to 42 — and means Hicks Thomas will add an additional office space at TC Energy Center in downtown Houston.

Judge Schedules Deposition of Ex-Judge Jones, Sorts Out Discovery Dispute Between Jackson Walker, U.S. Trustee

During a hearing Tuesday Chief U.S. bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez brushed aside scheduling concerns the parties raised and ordered that Albert Alonzo, who served as case manager to former Judge David Jones for more than a decade, be deposed on Sept. 18. Jones, who resigned his office after public revelations that he had a secret romantic relationship with a Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner, will be deposed in the same courtroom, under the supervision of Chief Judge Rodriguez, the following day.

Litigation Roundup: Delta Passengers Target CrowdStrike in Proposed Class Action

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.

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