Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Katten’s Brandon N. McCarthy said he was perplexed when his client, retired Dr. David Wolf of Houston, was indicted on an alleged kickback scheme that was ultimately dismissed against 10 doctors.
“This was perplexing as my client was 81 years old and had retired from medicine over half a decade ago,” McCarthy said. “He had a 50-year career as a doctor with a perfect record. No medical board issues. No criminal record. My first thought was, ‘What in the world are they doing?’”
A Texas federal judge tossed a superseding indictment accusing 10 doctors, two pharmaceutical executives and two business entities of a kickback scheme involving prescriptions that spanned six years from 2013 to 2019.
The defendants had moved to dismiss the superseding indictment on several grounds, including statute-of-limitations issues.
Rather than respond to that motion, the prosecutors moved to dismiss the case “in the interests of justice.”
For the week ended Feb. 21, the CDT Roundup saw 10 deals reported with a total value of about $7.1 billion. That’s down from both the prior week’s 14 for $20.5 billion and the 17 deals this time last year for $12.1 billion. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Marking a milestone for the state judiciary, a Harris County jury late Friday night delivered the historic inaugural verdict in the Texas Business Court.
U.S. District Judge Wes Hendrix granted summary judgment and found House Bill 1696 violates the First Amendment. The court found little had changed since the Fifth Circuit’s November ruling.
In this edition of P.S., several attorneys are among the competitors in this year’s Dancing with the Ellis County Stars benefitting TBHC Foster Care and Adoption, which places children who are removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.
Readers may remember The Texas Lawbook’s feature last year on Matt Maupin, an associate in Dykema’s San Antonio office, who rushed to join the frontline recovery efforts in the Texas Hill Country following the deadly July Fourth weekend flooding. This month, The Baylor Line is honoring Maupin with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award at its 61st Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony.
And the Houston Bar Foundation recognized law firms, legal departments and individual attorneys for their pro bono and community service during the organization’s annual luncheon, where a new chair stepped into the helm.
In this Q&A, Foster discusses the challenges of talent attraction and integration in the super competitive Texas legal market, offers a glimpse into what he is seeing in his private equity practice, and shares career advice for young lawyers.
CAM Industrial Solutions failed to convince the jury in its trade secrets lawsuit against Brown & Root. The Chambers County jury trial lasted three weeks with the jury deliberating for nearly two days.
Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker has been ordered to pay sanctions for failing to comply with court orders. While the firm is ordered to pay over $102,000 to compensate the plaintiffs for their attorney fees, the Harris County District Court warned further violations will result in more severe sanctions.
In an opinion released Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit sanctioned a lawyer $2,500 for filing a reply brief with several “hallucinated” case citations and then providing evasive responses to the court when it asked the lawyer about those references. Chief Judge Jennifer Elrod wrote the opinion and was joined by Judges Jerry Smith and Cory Wilson. The opinion provides a strong statement about the Fifth Circuit’s view of this highly relevant topic, as well as practical pointers to avoid this kind of problem going forward.
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