Appellate tease Archives - Page 11 of 47

Justices to Review Landfill’s Property Valuation Dispute

After Texas Disposal System successfully persuaded the Travis Appraisal Review Board to lower the valuation of its landfill by more than 80 percent, the Travis Central Appraisal District sought a district court’s review. TDS successfully argued that the trial court did not have subject matter jurisdiction over the appraisal district’s claim that the property was below market value because it had brought only an unequal-appraisal protest. SCOTX will review a court of appeals decision to allow the appraisal district to proceed with its case. Business taxpayers are weighing in as the dispute presents major questions for the handling of appraisal protests.

January 29, 2024 Janet Elliott

Fifth Circuit: Police Immune for Arresting Journalist Just for Asking Questions

Laredo officials who arrested a citizen-journalist in 2017 for asking for information deemed nonpublic cannot be sued for violating the First Amendment rights of the reporter because the officers have qualified immunity because they believed they were following a Texas law — even though the law had never been successfully used in a prosecution and has been declared unconstitutional, a hotly divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled late Tuesday. The en banc court of the Fifth Circuit ruled 9-7 that police and prosecutors should not be required to know whether a state law is constitutional or not when enforcing laws.

But seven Fifth Circuit judges in four different dissents blasted the majority’s decision because it turns routine questioning by news reporters into probable cause for committing criminal activity and shows how screwed up the Fifth Circuit is when it comes to granting immunity to government officials who abuse their power.

(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article states that the en banc vote was 10-7 instead of 9-7. The Lawbook regrets the error.)

January 24, 2024 Mark Curriden

Takings Fight Between Texas, Landowners Now in SCOTUS’ Hands

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments this week in a case where a group of about 75 Texas landowners are fighting to revive their lawsuit against the state seeking compensation for the repeated flooding of their property that they say is the result of a public highway project. The case came to the high court after a Fifth Circuit panel sided with the state and the court declined to rehear the case en banc over the dissent of five judges. The question the justices are tasked with answering in this case is:
“May a person whose property is taken without compensation seek redress under the self-executing Takings Clause even if the legislature has not affirmatively provided them with a cause of action?”

January 19, 2024 Michelle Casady

Fifth Circuit Hands Book Stores, Haynes Boone’s Laura Prather Victory in Book Rating Law Case

The decision is a high-profile win for Prather, who represents several bookstores and publishers who challenged the law. The case was Prather’s first appearance before the New Orleans-based appeals court.

The Texas Lawbook profiled Prather, who leads Haynes Boone’s media law practice group, in an in-depth article last week. In the article, Prather discussed the bookstore law case and other First Amendment matters that she is championing.

January 18, 2024 Janet Elliott

Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Asks SCOTX 2 Questions; Ex-SBA Head Goes to Prison

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Fifth Circuit determines 2-1 that the city of Mineral Wells can’t be sued for breaching an “illegal” contract, the Texas Supreme Court is asked to answer two certified questions in a royalty dispute involving Hilcorp Energy, and an Austin company agrees to forfeit $4.5 million for misbranding dietary supplements.

January 16, 2024 Michelle Casady

Texas Supreme Court Hears UT Regents’ $51M Royalty Dispute

For 13 years, the University of Texas Board of Regents and IDEXX Laboratories seemed pleased with a royalty deal they inked for certain diagnostic tests used by veterinarians. Then an auditor told UT IDEXX had been underpaying what it owed under the structure of the deal. That finding led to litigation and a $51 million award for UT that was later undone by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston. The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to determine whether the contract binding the parties is ambiguous.

January 11, 2024 Michelle Casady

Expert Voices: Fifth Circuit’s Proposed Generative AI Rule — A Rule Without a Cause?

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is considering a new certification requirement about the use of generative artificial intelligence. While the proposed rule is thoughtful and well-intentioned, it is largely redundant of existing rules and may invite satellite litigation that interferes with legitimate use of AI to provide quality client service.

January 2, 2024 David Coale & Tvisha Jindal

Justice O’Connor’s Former Clerks, Texas Attorneys Share Remembrances of Her Life, Legacy

Two former clerks for Justice Sandra Day O’Connor — Justin Nelson of Susman Godfrey and Allyson Ho of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — spoke to The Lawbook about lasting memories and lessons learned from their time working alongside her at the U.S. Supreme Court. Justice O’Connor, who inspired many women to pursue careers in the law after becoming the first woman appointed to the high court, died Dec. 1 of complications related to dementia and a respiratory illness. Today, her funeral will take place.

December 18, 2023 Michelle Casady

Fifth Circuit Panel: En Banc Court Needs to Change ‘Favorable Termination’ Rule Precedent

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has developed a reputation for divisiveness among its members. But Thursday, Judge Don Willett, Judge Carolyn King and Judge Dana Douglas — three jurists with widely differing judicial leanings — issued a unanimous opinion that highlighted a major injustice, publicly sought a reversal of precedent by the full Fifth Circuit and demonstrated judicial restraint. The case is the story of Erma Wilson, who was falsely accused and wrongly convicted of cocaine possession 22 years ago in Midland.

“Erma Wilson placed her faith in the justice system, trusting she would get due process and a fair trial,” Judge Willett wrote. “Wilson’s faith was misplaced. In Wilson’s trial — and in hundreds of others in Midland County spanning decades — bedrock judicial norms were dishonored.”

December 15, 2023 Mark Curriden

Houston Appeals Court: Power Generators Had ’No Legal Duty’ To Retail Customers During Winter Storm Uri

In a significant legal blow to victims of Winter Storm Uri, large power generators in Texas scored a decisive multibillion-dollar defense victory Thursday when a Houston appeals court ruled that wrongful death, personal injury and property damage claims against the generators have “no basis in law or fact.”A three-judge panel of the First Court of Appeals in Houston ruled that “Texas does not currently recognize a legal duty owed by wholesale power generators to retail customer s to provide continuous electricity to the electric grid, and ultimately to the retail customers.”

December 14, 2023 Mark Curriden