Six women and two men are currently hearing opening statements in a trial that began today in Las Vegas between Blackstone-owned ER physician staffing company TeamHealth and UnitedHealthcare over reimbursement rates of ER physicians. It’s the first trial in a series of TeamHealth cases to involve a major insurer that provides health plans through employers. Litigation writer Natalie Posgate is tuning into opening statements and will report back later.
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Evan Young Appointed to Texas Supreme Court
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced Monday that he is appointing Baker Botts partner Evan Young to the Texas Supreme Court. An appellate partner who lives in Austin, Young, who is 45 and grew up in San Antonio, replaces former Justice Eva Guzman, who resigned in June to be a candidate for Texas attorney general.
Opinion: Proposing a Better Path Forward for the Texas Bar after McDonald
The State Bar of Texas’ request proposal to settle the mandatory membership litigation is not pennywise, but it is certainly pound-foolish. To have our executive director spending time fighting refunds is not a justifiable use of the job’s $300,000 salary and benefits package. The battle will cost us incredibly more in dollars than the $100 refund. Even worse, it will further alienate conservative lawyers and others for exercising their beliefs. The State Bar of Texas is going in the wrong direction. We need to do our best to assist each of our 107,000 lawyers and make them feel valuable.
Randy Sorrels: $352M Houston Jury Verdict ‘Could Have Been More’
If anything, the noted Houston plaintiffs’ lawyer claims, jurors should have given Ulysses Cruz, a paralyzed airport service worker, more for the lifetime of pain and anguish he faces after being hit by a van on a tarmac at George Bush Intercontinental Airport. And Sorrels believes the verdict exceeding one-third of a billion dollars will survive appeal.
It’s Texas Week at SCOTUS
The Supreme Court is hearing five oral arguments this week, and all five of them have a Texas connection. Two of them were scheduled to be argued 10 days after the court agreed to take up the cases – an extraordinarily fast track for the advocates. Lawyers involved in the SCOTUS cases are from Haynes and Boone, Beck Redden and Rogers, Morris & Grover. Texas Lawbook correspondent Tony Mauro has the rundown of Texas lawyers playing a role in each case.
Tarrant County Court Denies Injunction in American-Sabre Courtroom Fight
A Fort Worth state judge this week denied a temporary injunction sought by American Airlines that would have enjoined ticket distribution vendor Sabre Holdings Corp. from utilizing its New Airline Storefront display product and paying travel agents incentives to book higher-priced Delta Airlines tickets over American tickets.
Stinson Picks Up Dallas Real Estate Finance Partner
John Tucker was most recently at Frost Brown Todd. He said he was drawn to Stinson’s “reputable and robust” finance practice.
Talent Wars in Texas Expand to White Collar/Investigations
The rash of hiring of federal prosecutors by corporate law firms clearly indicates that leaders believe the white-collar regulatory practice is about to boom in Texas. The latest is Gibson Dunn hiring of former NDTX acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah.
Shearman & Sterling Snags Litigation Pair from Haynes and Boone
The securities and class action defense experts are notable additions for Shearman, which has focused most of its growth in Texas on the corporate transactional side to date.
Encompass Health Sues DFW-Based Founder for Violating Noncompete & Trade Secrets Theft
A new lawsuit in Dallas County District Court pits Alabama-rooted Bradley Arant and Encompass Health Corp. against former Encompass CEO April Anthony, a Dallas millionaire and large figure in the at-home health world who left the company she founded this summer for a competitor.