Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Federal wage-and-hour suits have been steadily declining since the first half of 2020, when suits rose 19% from pre-pandemic days. And federal employment-discrimination lawsuits filed in Texas under Title VII were also down. Many factors may be at work, including the pandemic, recent U.S. Supreme Court decisions and the backlog of government agencies that oversee the litigation.
For 11 months, hundreds of wrongful-death, personal-injury and property-damage lawsuits seeking billions of dollars in damages related to Winter Storm Uri edged along at a snail’s pace. But a Houston judge appointed to oversee the litigation has put strict new deadlines on the lawyers who suddenly find themselves in the midst of a make-or-break few months that could determine the legitimacy and survival of their lawsuits. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Randy Sorrels, the lawyer for Ulysses Cruz, his wife, and their 2 children, said they’ll consent to the $117.5 million remittitur – but will seek the full jury verdict if the other side appeals.
Tellurian co-founder Charif Souki went on the record with The Texas Lawbook in response to a lawsuit filed against him a couple weeks ago by a Tellurian investor that claims he lost tens-of-millions after Souki reneged on a promise to pay back the shareholder’s losses. Souki has retained Yetter Coleman in Houston to defend him in the litigation.
As the first month of 2022 comes to a close, in-person civil jury trials in Texas remain few and far between due to Covid. Natalie Posgate has updates on the status of civil jury trials in Dallas, Austin and San Antonio state courts.
Judge Ashley Wysocki defers ruling on sanctions motion in assault case against former NFL player, but cautions lawyers on both sides that personal attacks must cease.
After more than a dozen years of motions, objections, petitions and appeals, the multibillion-dollar civil fraud case against five banks that provided financial services to Ponzi scheme perpetrator R. Allen Stanford and his investment firm will finally go to trial later this year in Houston.
A federal judge, who has overseen the massive litigation brought by thousands of investors who claim they were defrauded more than $5 billion in hard money by Stanford and the Stanford Financial Group between 1999 and 2008, said the biggest and final of all the lawsuits is ready to be sent back to Houston to be decided by a judge and jury in the town where the scheme took place.
During a 90-minute webinar over Tuesday’s lunch hour, Northern District Chief Judge Barbara Lynn and Southern District Chief Judge Lee Rosenthal talked retirement plans (or lack thereof) and courtroom trends from the pandemic and when jury trials (currently paused by Omicron) in their jurisdictions are likely to resume
A Las Vegas judge on Wednesday preserved a majority of the public record in a case between TeamHealth and UnitedHealthcare that recently rendered a $63 million jury verdict for three groups of ER physicians over reimbursement rates. The ruling reflects the vast public interest the case has garnered from doctors in Texas and beyond as they consider their own legal rights against insurers.
Civil jury trials in Dallas County were halted Monday until Jan. 28 in light of the “high number of Covid cases and the wildfire spread” of the Omicron variant and other Texas courts were proceeding with restraint.
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