Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In the five years since Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston region, courts have been wrangling the massive amount of litigation spawned by the storm, brought by property owners seeking damages for the flooding that in many instances took everything they had. Storm cleanup and later the COVID-19 pandemic caused some roadblocks to resolution, but time hasn’t run out for those still waiting to make a claim.
A lender that recently emerged from bankruptcy sues its insurance company. An out-of-state bank defeats a Dallas-based homebuilder in a dispute over an airplane. Patent infringement litigation begins against two giants in the smartphone and beverage industries. This week's Litigation Roundup details it all.
Charleen McCrory Hill, the late bassist’s wife of nearly 20 years, says in court documents that she never authorized the June memorabilia sale in Houston and didn’t even know about it until she saw press coverage of the event.
This article explores whether ESG is a trade secret or at least confidential information that could lead to a lawsuit when an ESG executive leaves a company for a similar position at a competitor.
Since Judge Alan Albright took the federal bench in 2018, businesses and individuals have filed 2,622 lawsuits in Waco accusing others of patent infringement. New statistics show he handles 24 percent of patent disputes in the U.S. – more than any other judge. His cases proceed quickly from filing to finish. Empirical data shows plaintiffs and defendants each win about half of their trials. Judge Albright rules for defendants 90 percent of the time on summary judgment.
This week, the federal judiciary shut down Judge Albright’s patent docket and has started sending his patent cases to other judges. In an in-depth report, The Texas Lawbook looks at the allegations by some tech companies against Judge Albright, reveals new data about his caseload and provides feedback from 19 patent lawyers in Texas. FYI: They are pissed.A Dallas County jury deliberated less than two hours before finding that the cable giant was liable for the exemplary damages on top of an earlier verdict of $375 million in actual damages.
This week of the Litigation Roundup features a settlement, an attorney's fees award and three new lawsuits. The litigation features a deceased Houston Rockets scout, a disabled NFL player, a Houston DEA agent who won awards for putting pill-pushing doctors in jail, the founder of a well-known Dallas hedge fund and a Houston litigation boutique’s role in a Freedom of Information Act request involving the clinical use of magic mushrooms in Washington state.
Did you just get hired on an interesting case or have a new development you’d like to report? Email us the update to tlblitigation@texaslawbook.net to be considered for inclusion in the next Litigation Roundup.
A hearing on a motion to modify the protective order governing an MDL in which Salesforce is accused of facilitating sex trafficking ended Friday with the presiding judge deciding he would review on a case-by-case basis the discovery the plaintiffs' lawyers are seeking to use in other related litigation nationwide. Salesforce's attorney Michael Raiff of Gibson Dunn said at one point in the hearing he felt he was being accused of committing fraud on the court, but the plaintiffs' lawyers said that wasn't the case.
Two jury verdicts that exceed $1 billion, including abortion issues involving Southwest Airlines and the adjudication of long-anticipated Dallas Police and Fire Pension dispute. Two new lawsuits against two major North Texas corporations — one involving alleged illegal horizontal drilling and another involving boiling water poured on customers. Two Ukrainian nationals accused of money laundering strike plea deals with federal prosecutors. All that and more in this week's Litigation Roundup.
Experts at a Texas Lawbook CLE say even top litigators struggle with the lightning pace of suits to stop departing workers from stealing customers and trade secrets.
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