Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In weeks when good news looks good by simply not being apocalyptic — slower coronavirus death rates, modest reopening of public spaces, oil prices above zero — you're just going to have to lower your standards. Keep that in mind when you're hunting for good news in this week's CDT Roundup.
Fourteen North Texans filed into the 15th floor courtroom of Judge Barbara Lynn this morning to begin the first jury trial to be conducted in Texas – and only the third federal jury trial in the entire U.S. – since courts shutdown at the end of March due to the COVID-19 crisis. But it is not like any jury trial Texas has ever seen before.
An Austin lawyer stole a client's 401(K) funds. A lawyer from Tyler bounced checks from his IOLTA settlement account. A Waxahachie lawyer failed to fully account for funds from a family's estate. In all, 13 lawyers were disciplined. Here are the details.
U.S. Judge Lee Yeakel has rejected a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of mandatory bar dues charged by the State Bar of Texas. The Austin jurist ruled that the mandatory dues and the activities they pay for are well within the official responsibilities authorized by the Texas Legislature and do not violate the First Amendment. Allen Pusey has the details.
Semyon Narasov, 55, pleaded guilty in 2018 to conspiracy to commit money laundering at NextHealth and conspiracy to pay and receive bribes and kickbacks while at Forest Park Medical Center.
More law firms in Texas scored revenues per lawyer of $1 million or more in 2019 than ever before. In fact, The Texas Lawbook 50 averaged seven-digits for the first time ever last year. Twenty-three law firms operating in Texas achieved the lofty standard demonstrating success. The Lawbook has the data and the details.
Lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright representing a Spanish tether chain maker have asked the Fifth Circuit to force a federal judge in Houston to postpone a civil jury trial until early next year. The business, Vicinay Cadenas, argues that the judge's order that the $165 million contract dispute go to trial in July violates their constitutional rights and puts the defense at a tactical disadvantage against the plaintiff, Petrobras.
A Tulsa, Oklahoma-based shale driller and a Houston-based provider of drilling fluids are the latest companies in the energy industry to file for bankruptcy protection in South Texas federal courts.
Word this week that a $5.5 billion bank merger was scrubbed in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic may only be the beginning of the bad news from the Corporate Deal Tracker. 'Buckle up' is the lesson gleaned from this week's belated report. Be sure to see a note about that and the absence — for the moment — of our friend and colleague, Claire Poole.
Some lawyers argue against the constitutionality of executive “stay-at-home” orders closing certain businesses. But that misapprehends the nature of rights guaranteed by the Constitution. Indeed, a century of American law suggests that executive officials enjoy broad discretion to impose limits on business activity during a public health crisis.
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