The Texas Supreme Court reviewed 96 cases from the state’s 14 intermediate appellate courts this past term. Overall, the distribution of outcomes varied, with some courts experiencing a higher rate of affirmations while others saw more reversals or mixed decisions. The Lawbook examined the performance of the appeals courts by the state’s highest judicial authority.
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How One Word in TCPA Puts Pro Bono Litigants at a Disadvantage
One little word within the text of the Texas Citizens Participation Act effectively disincentivizes First Amendment lawyers from taking libel and defamation cases on a pro bono basis. Two lawyers who have won dismissal of such lawsuits brought against their pro bono clients spoke to The Lawbook about prospects for a legislative fix this upcoming session.
Houston Real Estate Partners Join Sheppard Mullin
The duo of Douglas Yeager and Jeffrey M. Smith have practiced together for more than two decades. They were most recently at Winston & Strawn.
Dallas Lawyer Obtains DOJ Case Closure for Armenian Businessmen
Armenian brothers Artyom Khachatryan and Gurgen Khachatryan faced accusations that their multimillion-dollar Beverly Hills mansion was purchased with bribes. Following a two-year investigation, the government announced it had closed the case and reached a settlement with the family to share proceeds from the sale of the luxury estate. The resolution is touted as a significant victory by the brothers’ Dallas lawyer, Ephraim “Fry” Wernick.
Hurricane Beryl: How to Maximize Your Company’s Insurance for a Faster Recovery
A key step in recovering from a hurricane involves accessing insurance. Many insureds have questions such as: Are we covered? How do we prepare our claim? What if we suffered because our customers or suppliers were impacted? Are governmental funds available to aid our recovery? These and other issues are crucial to accelerating and maximizing the recovery process.
SDTX Bankruptcy Judge Jones Seeks Dismissal of Romance-Related Lawsuit
A lawsuit against former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones claiming that he conspired with lawyers at corporate law firms should be dismissed because “well-established judicial immunity doctrine … provides absolute immunity from suits for damages” for judges, lawyers for Judge Jones argued in court documents filed Thursday.
“This immunity applies even when the judge is accused of acting maliciously and corruptly, and the immunity extends to allegations of intentional misconduct,” David Boies, lawyer for Judge Jones, wrote in the motion to dismiss.
Update: Judge Tosses Breach of Contract Suit Against Fort Worth Oil and Gas Company
State District Judge Megan Fahey granted summary judgment to Fort Worth-based Tug Hill Inc. in a lawsuit brought by a former executive. The ex-exec argued a verbal agreement was reached with the company’s president that entitled him to management incentive units that should have been paid out to him in an amount over $10 million.
Enagás Exits Tallgrass in $1.1B Deal with Blackstone
The deal follows Blackstone’s purchase last month of Phillips 66’s interest in REX, and further consolidates Blackstone control of more than 7,000 miles of midwest oil and gas pipeline.
CDT Roundup: 11 Deals, 11 Firms, 95 Lawyers, $3.9B
Deals are deals, unless they turn out not to be. The proposed $4 billion acquisition of Houston-based Mattress Firm by rival Tempur Sealy seemed like a deal. But the Federal Trade Commission last week voted 5-0 to stop the negotiations and sought to do so in a Houston federal court. The FTC complaint contains the usual language about protecting the U.S. consumer, but it also features allegations of retail bullying by Tempur Sealy along with 182-redactions to back that up. A discussion of that, and the usual fare of Texas-related deal summaries and the firms and lawyers involved, is in this week’s CDT Roundup.
On Winter Storm Uri, the Texas Supreme Court and the Public Utilities Commission’s Power to Address Statewide Emergencies
Earlier this summer, the Texas Supreme Court decided two highly publicized, high-stakes cases arising out of Winter Storm Uri. The upshot of Luminant and RWE appear three-fold for the Texas electricity industry.