Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A Fifth Circuit panel including Judge Jerry Smith unleashed scathing comments toward a party that appealed an $18 million arbitration award. Then the panel ruled the same day. This is the story.
An appeals court in Houston has ruled a lawyer who threatens to file a grievance against opposing counsel during a trial in order to get an advantage in the litigation is committing an ethics violation.
A three-judge Fifth Circuit panel on Wednesday considered whether to reverse the ruling by a Fort Worth judge that struck down a decades-old law designed to protect the interests of Native American children in custody proceedings. The arguments had deep roots in the nation's uneven relationship with its native forebears. Natalie Posgate reviews the issues.
Twice in two weeks, a Republican-appointed Fifth Circuit appellate judge directly dressed down a Houston trial court judge in opinion. But this time, the trial judge is fighting back. U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison and Judge Jerry Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit have gotten into a nasty public feud that Texas legal experts describe as astonishing. The Lawbook has complete details.
No president in U.S. history is having as much impact on the federal courts in Texas as President Trump. On Friday, President Trump nominated Texas Supreme Court Justice Jeff Brown and Texas Deputy First Assistant Attorney General Brantley Starr to the district court bench. The Texas Lawbook has details.
Saying a lower court misconstrued its 2015 decision in Chesapeake Exploration v. Hyder, the Texas Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the deductibility of production costs from energy company royalties is a matter commanded by contractual language. Janet Elliott, who has followed the controversy, explains.
Former Houston Court of Appeals Justice Bill Boyce has joined an appellate law boutique and ex-Dallas Court of Appeals Justice Jason Boatright has signed as a partner at a Fort Worth law firm.
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a written contract between Mercedes-Benz and a South Texas car dealer exempts the automaker from being held financially responsible for the economic losses it caused by its false oral promises and misleading comments - conduct a jury described as criminal.
The Texas Supreme Court has recently been shooting holes in the basic principle that any evidence forming the basis of a decision must have been admitted in a trial court – particularly in contract disputes. Chrysta Castañeda of The Castañeda Firm explains the potential impact on cases going forward.
AUSTIN – When a navigation district leased out underwater acreage to an oyster farming business, the State of Texas took exception. Now their argument over leasing authority and oyster regulation has reached the Texas Supreme Court. Janet Elliott explains.
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