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Patent agents who provide authorized legal services may invoke attorney-client privilege to withhold client communications, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday. The ruling supports Andrew Silver, the inventor of tablet technology for ordering and paying the tab at a restaurant. Silver claims Tabletop Media failed to pay him for his patent and is fighting a Dallas trial court’s order compelling the production of emails between Silver and his non-attorney patent agent. The Texas Lawbook has complete details.

Mental anguish damages might be available in a case alleging negligent mishandling of a corpse, the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday, sending a recently argued case back to a Brown County court for trial. The justices upheld a ruling by the 11th Court of Appeals in Eastland that Nelson, Lobban’s only adult child, had common law and statutory rights as next of kin to determine the disposition of his mother’s remains.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is famously reluctant to grant a mandamus petition. The court recently invoked authority from 1881 as the reason for denial. But last week, a Fifth Circuit panel in a case that received little attention granted mandamus relief as to a finding of an extensive waiver of attorney-client privilege. This Texas Lawbook article explains the case and why it matters.