Cheryl Butler, a former Southern Methodist University law professor, sued the university and several former colleagues in 2016, bringing claims for defamation, fraud and conspiracy to defame. She appealed to the Fifth Circuit in January 2023, the same month U.S. District Judge Ada Brown dismissed her case with prejudice after agreeing that the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act preempted the claims. The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in the case that will determine whether Butler will be allowed to proceed with a defamation claim against her former coworkers, who she alleges played a role in her being denied tenure in 2016.
Hecht, Yes! Longest-serving SCOTX Member Had Unparalleled Impact on Business Litigation, Legal Aid
Not since the frontier days when Texas jurisprudence was being developed from Spanish law has there been a Supreme Court justice as influential as Nathan Hecht. While serving on the court for 35 years as a justice and chief justice, Hecht was a leader in the court’s transition from a plaintiffs-oriented body to one that pleased the business community with skepticism about large jury verdicts in tort cases. He played key roles in writing procedural rules that make litigation more efficient and vigorously advocated for civil legal services funding. As the longest-serving judge in Texas history hangs up his judicial robe due to state-mandated retirement, he recalls elections past and decisions that helped shaped the current court.
Fifth Circuit Affirms Dismissal Of ‘Anti-Woke’ Hiring Bias Suit
The case implicated issues at the forefront of the American social, political and legal consciousness. Practically speaking, the decision has implications and reminders for employers in the education sector and beyond.
Democratic Judge Tina Clinton Claims Late Victory in Dallas Court of Appeals Election
The news of an all-Republican sweep of the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas last week was premature.
Citing mail-in ballots and provisional voting from Dallas County and Collin County, multiple sources have told The Texas Lawbook that Dallas County Criminal Court Judge Tina Clinton, a Democrat, appears to have flipped the election results and won her race for the Dallas appeals court against Thompson Coe commercial litigator Matthew Kolodoski.