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An eight-person jury heard a preview of the measures that a group of football fans took to get to the 2011 Super Bowl in Dallas, such as two diehard Green Bay Packers fans from Madison, Wisconsin, only to have their Super Bowl experience ruined by the infamous seat fiasco at the Cowboys Stadium.

“[Their trek] will remind you of Planes, Trains and Automobiles,” said Michael Avenatti, the lead attorney for seven disgruntled ticketholders who are finally getting their day in court against the National Football League in a federal trial that began Monday in Dallas. “It was needless to say, an odyssey.”

Check here for updates throughout the trial from The Texas Lawbook.

When does an employer “know” that a job applicant has a need for a reasonable religious accommodation (such that refusal to accommodate imputes liability onto the employer)? In a case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices are deciding whether actual notice to the employer is required to trigger an accommodation obligation, or is something less than actual notice sufficient to trigger the duty to consider accommodations? This case is important to every business owner and general counsel in Texas.

In a highly watched oil and gas case, the state’s highest court issued a mixed decision in a case in which royalty owners allege self-dealing by executive mineral right-holders who negotiate drilling agreements. Experts say the ruling will likely lead to greater scrutiny by trial courts. The plaintiff’s lawyer says his client is disappointed that oil and gas operators will not be held responsible in these kind of mineral rights disputes.

A federal jury in Plano found that a California company owes $48.7 million in actual damages and $10 million in punitive damages to Texas Advanced Optoelectronic Solutions [TAOS] for breach of contract, patent infringement and misappropriation of trade secrets.