Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In the face of varied and robust opposition to the proposal to create a new, statewide appellate court with exclusive jurisdiction over disputes involving the state or a state agency, lawmakers last week voted to send the bill to the full senate for a vote. Texas for Lawsuit Reform has championed the bill as an opportunity to establish a court with specialized expertise to hear matters of statewide importance.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Texas Supreme Court upholds Texas A&M’s governmental immunity in a crash suit, and Cinemark loses a Covid business interruption claim against an insurer while Baylor University beats back a Covid-related breach of contract claim brought by two students.
I was recently asked about which women in my life helped to shape my career. It was an idea I was drawn to because it is something naturally prevalent in most women lawyers’ lives, but it really doesn’t come to mind until someone sits down to take note of it. From these four women I learned resiliency, how to balance relationships in the workplace and politics, client service and the power of your personal brand.
The state’s high court will have to decide if the filing of an allegedly deficient motion for default judgment is a “communication” as Winstead argues, which would end USA Lending’s lawsuit, or if USA Lending is correct that the basis of its suit is the failure to communicate. The case implicates the Texas Citizens Participation Act and asks whether it applies in legal malpractice suits.
When Andy Segovia was voted to be San Antonio's chief legal officer in 2016, Councilman Joe Krier told him he was about to "take up the business of professional cat herding." The Lawbook interviewed Segovia, a former in-house lawyer for GM, about how it's going, the current Texas legislative session and his establishment of the city's department of diversity, equity and inclusion. Photo credit: John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News
In late August 2021, several top executives for toy giant Hasbro flew from the company’s headquarters in Rhode Island to Austin to attend a backyard party that erupted into a water-gun battle. The weapons involved would become one of the hottest new toys to hit the market since the Super Soaker. The good times, however, didn't last. A year later, the backyard fun had become a full-fledged David-versus-Goliath legal battle.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Fifth Circuit judge urges the court to join the 21st Century, a Houston college sues a business partner in a recruiting spat and a one-time candidate for president of Mexico goes to prison.
The Texas Public Utility Commission emergency rules in February 2021 that increased electric rates to $9,000 per megawatt-hour in response to the demand for power because of Winter Storm Uri were “invalid” and must be reexamined, a Texas appeals court ruled Friday. The Austin Court of Appeals ruled that PUC board members issued two unlawful rules — an “operation of executive fiat” — that allowed ERCOT to increase the emergency price of electricity 650 percent for five days. The decision, according to legal experts, could be a multibillion-dollar victory for some retail power companies.
© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
