Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories about Lawyers and the Law

The Insider is not a movie about the law per se. Like most Michael Mann movies, it’s about men engaged in an operatic, high-stakes dance with each other and with their fates, coming together and splitting apart in a flurry of paradoxically macho sensitivity. It’s about the sacred bond between a journalist and his source, and the troubling divide between the noble work journalists do and the corporate interests of their employers. As such it’s one of the great journalism thrillers; there’s no heresy in mentioning The Insider in the same breath as All the President’s Men. But there is, in fact, a lot of law in The Insider, and a fair number of lawyers.

October 26, 2023 Chris Vognar

Litigation Roundup: Ernst & Young Beats Fraud Claims, Sandy Hook Families Prevail in Alex Jones Bankruptcy

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a massage company pays $1 million to end the sex assault claims lodged by two female customers, a lawsuit between the parent company of Ace Cash Express and a former business partner seeks as much as nine-figure damages, and American Airlines wins an appeal in a discrimination lawsuit venue fight.

October 23, 2023 Michelle Casady

Jury Says No Breach, No Bad Faith, No $30M

A Harris County jury recently heard three weeks of evidence in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit stemming from the $90 million sale of a business that rents pumps used in the oil and gas industry. Jurors had to answer two questions: Did GR Energy Services breach a noncompete agreement by communicating with SpaceX about the possible purchase of pumps after it sold its Flex Flow pump business? And did Odessa Pumps act in bad faith in managing Flex Flow after the purchase from GR to keep profits artificially low in order to avoid paying GR a $30 million earnout? No, and no, the jury said.

October 20, 2023 Michelle Casady

Dallas Rental Owners are Latest to Challenge Restrictions Aimed at Airbnb, VRBO Hosts

Owners of Dallas properties available for rent on platforms such as Airbnb and VRBO have lodged a suit seeking to stop enforcement of a city ordinance that would largely ban short-term rentals in the city. It’s the latest in a long line of lawsuits challenging the ability of cities to regulate the short-term rental market, an issue the Texas Supreme Court has yet to weigh in on.

October 11, 2023 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Katten to Defend $170M Healthcare Fraud Case, Fatal Crash Draws $100M Suit

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin sees his retaliation lawsuit revived while a finance professor at the university sees his discrimination lawsuit tossed, a judge in the valley awards a man who had his leg amputated in a workplace injury $10.5 million, and a team of lawyers at Foley & Lardner get a win for their direct-selling client against the Federal Trade Commission.

October 9, 2023 Michelle Casady

Yetter Coleman Wins $25.7M Winter Storm Uri Contract Dispute for DC Transco

U.S. District Judge Robert Pitman last week ordered Rainbow Energy Marketing Corporation to pay $25.7 million to DC Transco as part of dispute over a series of derivative financial transactions related to Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.

October 5, 2023 Mark Curriden

Houston Judge Beats the Buzzer on Facing Contempt Proceedings

According to a time-stamped copy of a letter Harris County District Judge Ursula Hall sent to the First Court of Appeals Monday, she avoided by one hour and 44 minutes what the justices had threatened would be the “immediate initiation” of contempt proceedings for her lengthy delay in ruling on two pending motions in a foreclosure dispute. When the court issued a writ of mandamus to Judge Hall Sept. 25, she had failed to rule on a motion for summary judgment for three years, five months and 18 days.

October 3, 2023 Michelle Casady

Be Careful 😳: A Texted Emoji 👍 Might Create an Enforceable Contract

A recent ruling by a Canadian court declared that an emoji can confirm the acceptance of a contract. This article addresses how this opinion might be applied under U.S./Texas law, implications beyond contract law and other emerging digital contracting issues.

October 2, 2023 Aimee Fagan

Litigation Over Dallas Co. Juvenile Department Heats Up

Dallas County Commissioner Andrew Sommerman said he was being a "hammer" when he made the motion to withhold pay increases from top juvenile probation officials last month for their refusal to turn over records of youth detainees. But Sommerman and his fellow Dallas County Commissioners could end up being the nail, according to a new lawsuit filed over the weekend by the Dallas County Juvenile Department. The legal battle between the Dallas County Juvenile officials and the Dallas County Commissioners Court escalated Friday night when lawyers for the juvenile care officials filed an amended complaint calling the commissioners’ decision three weeks ago to withhold their pay increases illegal and seeking to have it immediately voided.

October 2, 2023 Mark Curriden

Energy Transfer Claims Fraud in $93M Contract Over Sale of West Texas Gas Gathering Company

The sellers of a gas gathering company in far West Texas seek more than $100 million from Energy Transfer for a breach of contract. Energy Transfer says the agreement was a scheme to collect a $93 million check and should be nullified.

September 28, 2023 Krista Torralva