Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Two competitors in software programming have almost tied up a complex copyright infringement lawsuit in East Texas. For the prevailing side, World Programming Limited, hopes the development is the final destination of what’s involved multiple layovers of legal disputes elsewhere in the U.S. and across the pond.
A federal court in Waco on Friday dismissed Lewis Hamilton and Charles LeClerc from a patent infringement suit brought against the Formula One drivers and several other major players in the world of professional racing. Some may hail from Monaco, but that hasn't stopped a legal who's who of Texas lawyers from already appearing in the litigation.
The nine-figure judgment is a bittersweet win for a team of Porter Hedges lawyers, whose client did not live to see the result. But opposing counsel at three Houston firms assured an appeal is coming — one that is sure to catch the attention of Texas employers and boards alike as important issues surrounding for cause termination play out.
Doubling down on a ruling earlier this year that intent governs whether employee lawsuits are excepted from the restrictions of the Texas Workman’s Compensation Act, a unanimous SCOTX tossed a $43.5 million jury verdict for a worker who lost a leg in what the court itself described as “an avoidable, unjustifiable, and grossly negligent accident.” Janet Elliott explains.
The Fourteenth Court’s two sitting Republican justices — Tracy Christopher and Ken Wise — have won their races, while two Democratic challengers — Veronica Rivas-Molloy and Amparo Monique Guerra — have defeated their incumbent opponents in the First Court of Appeals.
The Marshall Division of the EDTX is the latest federal court to shut down jury trials due to the coronavirus. Federal courthouses in Texarkana and Sherman have been closed through Dec. 4. Judges in the Northern, Southern and Western Districts of Texas have postponed most or even all in-person jury trials for the remainder of 2020. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Don't expect federal civil jury trials in Texas to increase for the next few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, three federal judges told 200 Texas general counsel Thursday. The judges have some other pet peeves, too.
A federal judge in the Eastern District of Texas on Tuesday declared a mistrial in a commercial case after a COVID-19 outbreak among participants of the jury trial temporarily closed the Sherman federal courthouse and left the parties with less than six jurors.
In 2020, and for the first time in more than two decades, there were no FIDs made in LNG projects in the US. Blame that on the pandemic. But not to worry, there are enough projects on the boards to make LNG increasingly relevant, even under a Biden administration. The CDT Roundup explains.
The firms announced Tuesday that their two shops are merging to create a 10-lawyer plaintiff’s practice that will have offices in Austin, Dallas and Fort Worth.
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