Appellate tease Archives - Page 16 of 47

‘Call Your First Witness’ – Fifth Circuit to Lawyers in Final Stanford Ponzi Scheme Trial

A three-judge panel of a federal appellate court has rejected a last-ditch effort by three banks to postpone an upcoming trial in which victims in the R. Allen Stanford Ponzi scheme are seeking billions of dollars in damages. The four most powerful words from the lips of a United States district judge are simply, ‘Call your first witness,’ and the veteran presiding judge will so state in a few short days,” the Fifth Circuit stated in the three-page decision.

February 14, 2023 Mark Curriden

Texas Supreme Court Weighs Noneconomic Damages Cap

The state’s high court, minus three justices who recused themselves from the case, heard oral arguments Tuesday in a case that’s being closely watched by the insurance industry, economic and trial lawyer interest groups and law professors. The case presents the court with an opportunity to clarify the proper standard of review for noneconomic damages awards.

February 1, 2023 Michelle Casady

Parties Nearing Settlement in $352M Injury Case

Allied Aviation and Ulysses Cruz filed a brief this week with the First Court of Appeals in Houston explaining they are close to finalizing a mediated settlement in the personal injury lawsuit and seeking an abatement of the appeal.

January 24, 2023 Michelle Casady

Appellate 2022 Year in Review: SCOTX and the Fifth Circuit

The Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court.issued important precedents in 2022. The Fifth Circuit clarified the standard for a conditional-refusal-to-deal theory under Section 2 of the Sherman Act, established that arbitration rules incorporated into an arbitration agreement control the question of whether arbitration happened and sent a clear signal that the Seventh Amendment attaches to traditionally common-law prosecutions. The Texas Supreme Court provided guidance on the scope of a waiver of claims in a settlement agreement, clarified substantial compliance with contractual notice provisions, rejected informal fiduciary duties to an individual shareholder in a closely held corporation and narrowed the availability of consequential damages. This article examines those and other rulings of significance by the appellate courts.

January 23, 2023 Ben Mesches & Chance Fletcher

Comcast, NBC Dropped From $332M Astros Sale Lawsuit

In orders issued Friday morning, the Texas Supreme Court granted a request from Houston Baseball Partners to drop its claims against Comcast and NBC. That means the case now pits current owner Jim Crane against the man who sold him the team, Drayton McLane.

December 2, 2022 Michelle Casady

SCOTX: Tort Claim Act Again Under Scrutiny in Roadway Conversion Case

Justices consider Texas A&M University’s governmental immunity claim in case involving single-vehicle crash by a deputy sheriff at a recently altered intersection. The deputy wants an opportunity to replead his premises liability case.

November 29, 2022 Janet Elliott

Governor’s Justice Appointments in Volkswagen, Audi Case Stand

The German car manufacturers had argued that Gov. Greg Abbott shouldn’t be allowed to hand-pick two justices from lower courts to replace the two Texas Supreme Court justices who recused themselves from deciding the lawsuit Texas is bringing against them.

November 18, 2022 Michelle Casady

Check That Off My Bucket List: SMU Dedman Law Alumni at SCOTUS

Eleven SMU Dedman School of Law alumni and the school’s new dean were sworn in before the nation’s high court in a live ceremony before all nine justices this month. The group also heard oral arguments in two related administrative law cases.

“It was like being on the 50-yard line at the Super Bowl. But better,” Amy Osteen, a 2000 graduate of the law school, said.

November 16, 2022 Ashley Ellis

Night of the Living Lochner: Did the Constitution End Economics in 1791?

In 1985’s classic film, The Return of the Living Dead, a rainstorm spreads a zombie-creating chemical throughout a city. In 2022, the Supreme Court’s relentless focus on originalism has also awakened long-dead legal doctrines. One such resurrection appears in the concurrence from Golden Glow Tanning Salon v. City of Columbus, which advocates examination of a constitutional “right to earn a living” in light of how such economic matters were understood in the late 1700s.

November 14, 2022 David Coale

Long-running Legal Malpractice Suit Again Revived

The Fourth Court of Appeals said the case should not have been dismissed last year for want of prosecution at a time when civil jury trials were not available in Kerr County. The case involves Utopia lawyer Patricia Skelton’s claim against her criminal defense lawyer, which previously survived a dismissal when the Texas Supreme Court allowed Skelton to prove her innocence in the malpractice case.

November 4, 2022 Janet Elliott