In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Justice Evan Young, in a concurrence, says the services of a pro bono lawyer sure would help a pro se litigant trying to amend her son’s inaccurate death certificate and American Airlines will have to face some claims arising from a 14-year-old’s in-flight death after the Fifth Circuit partially reversed a summary judgment win.
The Litigation Roundup is a weekly feature highlighting the work Texas lawyers are doing inside and outside the state. Have a development we should include next week? Please let us know at tlblitigation@texaslawbook.net.
Tarrant County District Court
ActBlue Hires Lynn Pinker, Wilmer Cutler to Fight AG’s Suit
On Sunday, political fundraising platform ActBlue filed a special appearance, arguing courts in Texas have no jurisdiction over it in a lawsuit filed by the Texas attorney general last month accusing the company of misleading consumers and allowing “fraudulent and foreign donations.”
“Stripped of its inflammatory rhetoric, the petition alleges that ActBlue received political donations made through an online platform that accepts gift cards and prepaid debit cards (among other forms of payment),” the special appearance reads. “The State’s theory is that this violated Texas’s Deceptive Trade Practices Act because ActBlue made statements to Congress and on its website about its processing of donor transactions that, the State claims, were untrue. These allegations (even if true) concern conduct that occurred solely outside of Texas, and thus provide no basis to hale ActBlue into court here.”
Texas filed its lawsuit against the platform April 20, seeking a court order that would permanently bar the website from implementing “unlawful, deceptive and misleading fundraising practices” and from facilitating “donor fraud.” Texas is also asking for more than $1 million in damages.
ActBlue told the court it isn’t incorporated in Texas, has no continuous or systemic presence there and doesn’t maintain its principal place of business there, either.
‘In short, because the State has not met its burden to establish personal jurisdiction, the
Court should sustain ActBlue’s special appearance and dismiss the claims against ActBlue,” the pleading reads.
ActBlue is represented by Michael P. Lynn and Yaman Desai of Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann and Felicia H. Ellsworth, Ronald C. Machen and Matthew T. Jones of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr.
Texas is represented by David Bizar and Jonathan Stone of the Texas attorney general’s office.
The case number is 096-376890-26.
Travis County District Court
Camp Mystic Lawsuit Defendant Freed from Suit
Last week a member of the Eastland family was dismissed from a lawsuit over the fatal flooding at Camp Mystic.
Stacy Eastland is the older brother of former Camp Mystic director and owner Dick Eastland, who also died in the flooding, and was named as a defendant in the lawsuit filed by the parents of Ellen Getten. Stacy Eastland argued he had no ownership interest, operational role, control or involvement with Camp Mystic for more than a decade preceding the July 2025 flooding.
His lawyer, Dan Bitting of FBFK Law, moved for sanctions against the plaintiffs in December after an initial refusal to remove Stacy Eastland as a defendant, but the plaintiffs then agreed to dismiss him from the lawsuit before a hearing on the motion took place.
“Stacy Eastland should never have been named in this lawsuit,” Bitting said in a statement. “The record was clear: he had no ownership interest, no operational role, no control and no involvement with Camp Mystic for more than a decade before this tragedy. We are pleased that he has been dismissed and that the allegations against him will be removed.”
The plaintiffs are represented by Kurt Arnold and Jonathan Findley of Arnold & Itkin and Alyssa McDaniel and Russell Post of Beck Redden.
The case number is D-1-GN-25-009976.
Bell County District Court
LG, Texas Reach Settlement in Data Privacy Lawsuit
About five months after filing suit against LG Electronics USA, accusing it of unlawfully collecting consumers’ viewing data without consent, a settlement between Texas and the technology company has been reached.
Under the terms of the deal, announced May 11, LG has agreed not to use Automated Content Recognition technology without informed consent. In addition, it will update its TVs and websites to display a disclosure to viewers about how their data may be used and collected, and will offer an opt out.
LG did not admit any fault, wrongdoing or liability under the agreement that includes a five-year injunction.
Attorney General Ken Paxton praised the settlement in a statement.
“I am pleased to see that after my office took action, smart TV companies are doing what is necessary to protect Texans,” he said. “I will continue to work to aggressively hold other smart TV companies accountable for unlawfully using ACR technology to put consumers at risk.”
LG is represented by Eugene Temchenko and Clark Pierce of Kirkland & Ellis and Travis LeBlanc and Claire M. Gibbs of Cooley LLP.
Texas is represented by John C. Hernandez, Jonathan Stone, Jerry Bergman, Hina Halepota, Tisha James and Jake A. Evinger of the Texas attorney general’s office.
The case number is 25DCV358507.
Collin County District Court
Netflix Draws AG Suit Over Alleged Spying
Netflix is facing a lawsuit alleging it has been spying on Texans and collecting their behavioral data for years without viewers’ knowledge or consent.
The lawsuit, filed May 11, brings claims for violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, stemming from Netflix’s alleged misrepresentations about how it collects and shares users’ data. Texas is seeking civil penalties of $10,000 for each DTPA violation.
As of Monday, counsel for Netflix had not filed an appearance in the case that’s been assigned to Collin County District Judge Jennifer Edgeworth.
The valuable data Netflix collects is then shared with commercial data brokers and advertising technology companies, where it is then used to build detailed consumer profiles, Texas alleges.
“Netflix has built a surveillance program designed to illegally collect and profit from Texans’ personal data without their consent, and my office will do everything in our power to stop it,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a statement. “Netflix is not the ad-free and kid-friendly platform it claims to be.”
Texas is represented by Benjamin Hook of the Texas attorney general’s office.
The case number is 219-03228-2026.
Texas Supreme Court
Justice Young Says a Pro Bono Lawyer in Pro Se Case Could Accomplish Two Goals
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday denied a petition for writ of mandamus filed by a pro se plaintiff, a grieving mother who encountered “Kafkaesque” roadblocks in her quest to amend inaccurate information on her son’s death certificate.
Nelda Johnson discovered the body of her son in March 2025 and reported his death to police. But when she received his death certificate, someone else was listed as the informant.
“What followed was Kafkaesque, eventually driving a grieving mother to seek the aid of her state’s highest court,” Justice Evan Young wrote in a four-page concurrence, agreeing with the decision to deny her petition.
The funeral home refused to return her phone calls, the state’s Vital Statistics Unit told her she’d need a court order to make any changes, and so from there she contacted “her representatives and every court” trying to figure out how to get the death certificate amended. Johnson also got the governor’s office involved.
“In short, Johnson recounts, she ‘exhausted every avenue and had no alternative, but to seek relief from this court,’” Justice Young wrote.
The Texas Supreme Court ordered the Vital Statistics Unit to respond to Johnson’s petition. In its response, the agency didn’t challenge any of Johnson’s factual allegations but also did not “assure the court that it is looking into the matter and will do what it can to help,” Justice Young wrote.
“The response does, however, provide a roadmap for Johnson to follow: ‘file an action in probate court, a justice of the peace, or district court’ and obtain a court order to amend the certificate, then ‘submit a VS-172 form and provide a certified copy of that court order,’” the concurrence reads.
Making it clear that he was not “assigning blame for Johnson’s troubles,” Justice Young wrote that the government should not “lose sight of its purpose: serving the people, including people untrained in the law with everyday needs caused by the law.”
“This case likewise illustrates the continuing problem of access to the civil-justice system for those with seemingly minor problems,” Justice Young wrote. “A pro bono attorney willing to assist Johnson’s currently pro se efforts would contribute not just to solving her specific problems but to illustrating how the legal profession — and not just the government as a whole — can be one that exists, at least in part, to be of service ‘for the people.’”
Johnson represents herself.
The state is represented by Denver Burris of the Texas attorney general’s office.
The case number is 25-0977.
Justice Sullivan: Court Should ‘Be Prepared’ to Oust Quorum-Breakers
Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock on Friday authored an opinion for the unanimous Texas Supreme Court declining to exercise discretionary jurisdiction over a case where the state’s conservative lawmakers were seeking to remove from office 13 Democrats who temporarily broke quorum last session.
In a five-page opinion, Chief Justice Blacklock explained the framers of the Texas Constitution “anticipated the situation” that resulted in this lawsuit and empowered “not the Supreme Court,” but the lawmakers themselves to expel members in certain circumstances.
“Whatever wrong may have been committed by the absent House members, the Texas Constitution’s internal political remedies, none of which involve the judicial branch, were sufficient to the task of restoring the House’s ability to do business,” he wrote.
But in a 17-page concurrence, Justice James P. Sullivan gave a warning.
“Were it to happen yet again, I believe the next set of quorum-breakers had better be ready to pay us a visit,” he wrote. “Our original jurisdiction to issue writs of quo warranto will empower us to inquire whether they’ve abandoned their legislative offices and, if we so find, to throw them out.”
Because the “constitutional crisis” the quorum-breaking lawmakers caused “passed too quickly,” Justice Sullivan wrote he concurred with the court’s decision not to wade into the matter.
“But we should be prepared to perform this grave task if legislators refuse to do their jobs again in the future,” he wrote.
Justice Hawkins did not participate in the decision.
Texas is represented by Meagan Corser, William F. Cole and William R. Peterson of the Texas attorney general’s office.
The 13 lawmakers are represented by Amy Warr, Alexandra W. Albright, Rebecca A. Gonzalez-Rivas, Kirsten M. Castañeda and Hannah L. Roblyer of Alexander Dubose & Jefferson, Chad W. Dunn of Brazil & Dunn and Mimi Marziani, Joaquin Gonzalez and Rebecca “Beth” Stevens of Marziani, Stevens & Gonzalez.
The case number is 25-0674.
Home Depot Won’t Face Claims in Fatal Truck Crash Case
Texas law imposes no duty on a “passive shipper,” the unanimous Texas Supreme Court determined Friday, freeing Home Depot from a lawsuit over a fatal crash between a motorcyclist and a commercial motor carrier.
According to the underlying suit, motorcyclist Natalio Garcia died after colliding with a Werner Enterprises tractor-trailer that allegedly ran a red light. Garcia’s family sued Werner and the driver for negligence but later amended the lawsuit to add Home Depot USA as a defendant because the goods Werner was shipping at the time of the crash belonged to Home Depot.
“The plaintiffs claim the customer is liable for the fatal accident — not because the customer created the risk, supplied a dangerous or defective instrumentality, or had control over the driver, the truck, or the premises, but because it engaged in a commercial transaction with the truck driver’s employer,” Justice John P. Devine wrote for the court. “Texas law does not impose a duty of care on a passive shipper under the facts alleged. The plaintiffs’ liability theory is not viable because it transforms the commonplace act of shipping goods into a basis for sweeping tort liability untethered from control, conduct, and risk.”
Harris County District Judge Beau Miller denied Home Depot’s motion to dismiss the claims against it, so the company filed a petition for writ of mandamus with the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in November 2024. That court determined Home Depot “has not established that it is entitled to mandamus relief” in a per curiam order issued March 25, 2025.
Home Depot took the case to the Texas Supreme Court in April 2025.
“Home Depot’s goods were but a passenger: onboard but uninvolved in the accident. … It follows then that a customer with ordinary cargo does not undertake a duty to prevent the independent motor carrier’s torts simply by engaging it to transport that freight,” Justice Devine wrote. “Because that is all that happened here, the trial court must vacate its order denying the Rule 91a motion and dismiss the claims against Home Depot.”
Home Depot is represented by Daniel M. Karp and Sonia E. Washington of Fee, Smith & Sharp and Michael W. Eady and Elizabeth Z. Brabb of Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons.
The family is represented by Juan C. Garcia, Daniel Johnson, Samantha Demuren and Leticia Hernandez of Johnson Garcia and Daryl L. Moore and Emily M. Adler of Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing.
The case number is 25-0317.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit
Google gets $12M Infringement Verdict Undone
A Waco jury’s $12 million patent infringement award handed down in February 2024 against Google has been overturned.
In a two-page per curiam opinion issued May 13, a three-judge panel affirmed a ruling from the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board that found the five patents underpinning the lawsuit brought by Flypsi Inc., which does business as Flyp, were unpatentable as obvious.
Flyp filed suit against Google in January 2022, seeking more than $100 million in damages for infringement of five patents covering technology that allows users to use the internet to connect multiple phone numbers to a single mobile phone.
At trial, Google argued it invented the technology first and presented evidence to the jury that its Google Voice technology dated back to 2009, while Flyp filed its patent application in 2013.
Judges Jimmie V. Reyna, Haldane Robert Mayer and Todd M. Hughes sat on the panel
Flypsi is represented by Benjamin S. Richard and Eimeric Reig-Plessis of Winston & Strawn.
Google is represented by Daniel Zeilberger, Naveen Modi, Joseph Palys and Michael Wolfe of Paul Hastings.
The case number is 25-1010.
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
American Airlines Will Face Some Claims Over 14-Year-Old’s In-Flight Death
A panel of judges trimmed a lawsuit accusing American Airlines of liability for the in-air death of a 14-year-old boy but allowed his family to proceed with a claim based on the airline’s allegedly malfunctioning automatic external defibrillator.
After Kevin Greenridge’s heart stopped while on board a flight from Honduras to Florida in June 2022, his aunt Melissa Arzu filed suit, bringing a claim against American Airlines under the Montreal Convention and for breach of contract under Texas law. She alleged the crew’s response to her nephew’s medical emergency violated its own policy and that the AED on board wasn’t functioning properly.
“Compliance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations informs whether an event is unexpected or unusual,” the panel wrote. “And the FAA required American to equip Kevin’s flight with a functional AED. Because a reasonable jury could find that the aircraft’s AED malfunctioned, we reverse summary judgment on Arzu’s Article 17 and derivative loss of consortium claims to the extent they rely on her AED-malfunction theory.”
But the panel rejected Arzu’s other argument. While there was “some evidence” that the crew could have responded faster, alerted the pilots sooner or contacted the on-call physician, the panel wrote that “[t]here is no evidence that the flight crew’s response was unusually slow or chaotic compared to other crew’s responses to similar emergencies.”
Judges James E. Graves Jr., Jennifer Walker Elrod and Patrick E. Higginbotham sat on the panel.
The family is represented by Darren Nicholson, Hannah Crowe and Clayton Mahaffey of Burns Charest.
American Airlines is represented by Caitlyn Hubbard, Jacob Dekeratry, Meredith Knudsen and Shauna J. Wright of Kelly, Hart & Hallman.
The case number is 25-10606.
Craving more Texas Lawbook litigation coverage? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Take a look at these stories you may have missed in the past few days.
Texas Instruments, Intel and two other semiconductor and technology companies are asking a Dallas federal judge to dismiss lawsuits brought by five Ukrainian citizens who claim that microchips, processors and programmable devices made by the four companies are being used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine. A star-studded crew of trial lawyers on both sides of the litigation will present arguments Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater.
Houston personal injury lawyer Michelle Teresa Acosta had sued San Antonio divorce lawyer Allan Roy Manka after she said he “grabbed” and “squeezed” her butt in the lobby of the Wilson County Courthouse in Floresville in June 2019. A jury agreed, and awarded her $5 million in compensatory damages. This week, that award was left intact by the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio.
A Dallas jury deliberated for more than three hours after a 14-day trial in U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade’s courtroom before finding ExxonMobil did not have any intent to commit the fraud it was accused of. The lawsuit was filed nearly a decade ago.
In this story, we detail the outcome in parallel lawsuits in state district court in Houston and federal court in San Francisco in a dispute between Houston lawyer Robert Roach and California vintner Frederick Schrader. In March, Harris County District Judge Tanya Garrison entered final judgment, in accordance with a jury’s verdict, in favor of Schrader. And on April 30, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim in California entered findings of fact siding with Schrader Cellars, too. Roach has already filed notice he’d be appealing the Harris County judgment.
Following a two-week trial, a Travis County jury unanimously found a brother had breached his fiduciary duty to the business he and his sibling cofounded. Texas Disposal Systems CEO Bob Gregory and his brother Jimmy Gregory started the company in 1977 with split ownership.
Federal courts cannot review President Donald Trump’s executive orders denying security clearance to anyone or any group of people, even if those orders target all Asians or Hispanics, Catholics or Jews, a lawyer for the Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday. But the attorney for the four law firms argued that President Trump’s EOs targeting them last year had nothing to do with national security, but instead were motivated by viewpoint discrimination.
Two auto insurance companies operating in Texas are facing a putative class action lawsuit accusing them of targeting low-income residents, collecting premiums and then “disappearing” when insureds make a claim.
Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice James Blacklock has told a Dallas trial judge that she needs to reconsider her standing order requiring mask mandates and disclosure of personal health information before entering her courtroom.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson shared stories from her early years at the Southern Methodist University Tate Lecture Series Tuesday evening. Justice Jackson is the third U.S. Supreme Court justice to visit the university campus in the last week.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch visited the George W. Bush Presidential Center on Southern Methodist University’s campus Saturday afternoon for a talk and reading of his children’s book Heroes of 1776. Young children gathered to hear who the justice’s favorite heroes were.
A lawyer for Samsung argued during a hearing last week that the injunction Collision Communications seeks in the patent infringement case would prevent his client from importing “well above 75 percent of products” the electronics giant produces, including all phones and tablets. U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap took the motion under advisement and told the parties he would issue his decision as soon as practicable.
The Texas Supreme Court dealt a blow to the maker of a nicotine pouch product, finding that the company’s VELO pouches are subject to the same duty levied on cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff. But the court did leave one door open for RJR Vapor.
The chief engineer of the Singaporean container ship MV Dali has hired prominent Houston criminal defense attorney David Gerger to represent him against federal charges filed Tuesday involving the ship’s March 2024 crash into the Francis Scott Key Bridge that killed six people and caused billions of dollars in damages.