Houston Judge Orders Ethics Training, $525K Sanction Against 2 Attorneys

Harris County District Judge Elaine Palmer has ordered attorneys Michael D. Sydow and Chidi D. Anunobi to take 10 hours of legal ethics education classes each year for the next five years after finding they filed for a lawsuit for an improper purpose on behalf of their litigation management company client, Iron Oak. The lawsuit was brought in an attempt to collect $10 million from inventors Michael E. Porter and John T. Preston and their company Continuum Energy Technologies.

September 22, 2023 Michelle Casady

The Use of Scattergrams to Challenge Extreme Verdicts: A Case Study

How trial and appellate courts should review challenges to outsize noneconomic damages awards has been the talk of the Texas bar. With the Texas Supreme Court indicating openness to verdict comparisons, defense counsel should consider, when the facts permit, using visuals such as scattergrams to show that a verdict lies so far outside the norm.

September 19, 2023 Mark Trachtenberg, Kent Rutter & Ryan Pitts

Litigation Roundup: Texas Co. Gets $37.5M in Patent Trial, Southwest Airlines Beats Back 2 Class Actions

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a jury in the Eastern District of Texas finds a Chinese company infringed eight patents held by Texas-based Atlas Global Technologies, the Fifth Circuit rejects the University of North Texas’ bid to end a professor’s First Amendment retaliation claim and a fired Texas prison guard who represented himself on appeal prevails in a discrimination case.

September 18, 2023 Michelle Casady

Paul Genender Jumps from Weil to Paul Hastings

Prominent Dallas trial lawyer Paul Genender joined Paul Hastings as a partner Monday to be the firm’s head of litigation in Texas and co-chair of its Houston office. Genender, who had been a partner at Weil Gotshal in Dallas for the past seven years, will split his time between Houston and Dallas.

September 18, 2023 Mark Curriden

‘Ticket’ Denied TRO Against Ex-hosts’ Sports Podcast

After a daylong evidentiary hearing, U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer said the radio station’s owners failed to show they would suffer irreparable harm if the new podcast by Dan McDowell and Jake Kemp continues until December, when a civil trial is scheduled to determine whether the two violated their noncompete agreements with KTCK "The Ticket."

September 16, 2023 Bruce Tomaso

La Michoacana Meat Market’s Quest to See Biz Partner’s Books Continues in Arbitration

The dispute between the largest Hispanic grocery store chain in Texas and the business partner that supplies its meat will be settled through arbitration after a failed attempt by La Michoacana to get a district court to grant it access to the books and records of Amigos Meat Distributors. Judge Tanya Garrison, who sent the case to arbitration, told the parties at a hearing last month "I feel like this is a fight between my kids in the backseat. ‘He touched me first.’ And they’re saying ‘nuh-uh.’”

September 13, 2023 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Dallas Luxury Apartment Co. Sued over Mistaken Eviction, Fifth Circuit Revives False Arrest Claim Against Texas Police Chief

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the University of Houston gets a retaliation lawsuit tossed on appeal, a group of investors in a Dallas-area chain of hot chicken restaurants settles its suit with a hospitality group and the Fifth Circuit sides with the National Labor Relations Board in a suit involving fired plant workers.

September 11, 2023 Michelle Casady

Energy Companies Racking Up Hundreds of Millions in Legal Bills in Winter Storm Uri Litigation

More than 400 lawyers at more than 30 elite corporate law firms in Texas have made a total of more than $280 million in legal fees related to disputes involving Winter Storm Uri — a tab that legal industry insiders estimate will easily top a half-billion dollars before the litigation is over — even though not a single case has even been set for trial.

And those are only the lawyers representing energy companies and insurance firms. More than 80 plaintiffs’ attorneys — most of them from Houston — have filed lawsuits on behalf of tens of thousands of individuals and businesses claiming they were harmed by the actions — or lack of actions — of the energy companies during Winter Storm Uri. If successful, those lawyers could earn upwards of a billion dollars.

September 10, 2023 Mark Curriden