Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
2023 confirmed that, in some ways, trade secret litigation remains the Wild West for litigants. Large verdicts and unsettled law have made this a popular venue for plaintiffs. 2023 did little to disrupt the status quo.
A Dallas jury who heard a wrongful death case last year for the same crane collapse awarded $860 million — the second-largest Texas jury verdict in 2023 — to the parents of a woman killed. This week, companies Greystar and Bigge Crane & Rigging Co. avoided a second trial in a lawsuit brought by a man who was pinned in his car when the crane toppled onto the apartment building and parking garage.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the dispute between ExxonMobil and two activist shareholders could be over, the battle between Yelp and Texas over pregnancy crisis center disclaimers continues and the Fifth Circuit agrees that a discrimination lawsuit against Lockheed Martin was rightfully tossed.
Twenty lawyers, including several former Texas appellate and trial court judges, have applied for appointment to the newly created business courts and intermediate appellate court. They include prominent figures such as former Texas Supreme Court Justice Scott Brister, appellate specialist David Gunn and Houston MDL Judge Sylvia Matthews. Five candidates from the Texas AG’s office also are seeking positions. Gov. Abbott will appoint the judges and justices, who begin hearing cases in September. The Texas Lawbook obtained the applications through a public information request.
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, the Dallas appellate court undoes a $20.8 million award in a fight between a landlord and a grocery company after finding “red flags” during the negotiation process were ignored, a federal jury convicts a software company CEO of bilking investors out of at least $25 million and prosecutors go after a business mogul who they say hasn’t paid taxes since 1992.
A lawyer walks into a courtroom, puts on a Santa hat and reads a Christmas poem to the jury. That’s no one-liner, but rather a factual account of something that happened in San Diego the week before Christmas. And I know that because I’m the lawyer who did it.
Now, of course, this whole thing was not without risk. But a favorable verdict in the trial last week proves the spirited move didn't hurt either.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Exxon Mobil sues two activist investors, a propane company draws a $150 million lawsuit over a fatal crash and the Texas Supreme Court issues an opinion clarifying premises liability law.
The types of cases that topped the list of damages awards in Texas this year were varied, but some of the usual suspects, like patent cases in the state’s Eastern and Western districts, occupy four of the Top 10 spots. Jurors in Harris County awarded damages totaling nearly $2 billion in three cases on the Top 10 list, and Jurors in the Western District doled out awards taking three of the Top 10 spots, totaling $857.7 million.
Nearly every headline-gripping news item we read last year had a legal tie, from the mysterious missing animals at the Dallas Zoo to the historical impeachment trial of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Many of the stories that made this list will be drawn out in 2024. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, for example, could still be compelled to submit DNA testing to determine if he is the biological father of a woman who works as an aide to U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson of Amarillo. And the criminal case for the Houston man accused of killing Migos rapper Takeoff is scheduled to go to trial this year.
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In this article, The Texas Lawbook looks back at some of the most significant litigation Texas lawyers handled in 2023, as well as a rundown of major changes to civil litigation practice in the state wrought by lawmakers who this session created a new system of business courts and a new appellate court.
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