Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In an unusual move, an established trade organization is waging a battle against former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and his company. Smith alleges patent infringement, while the trade organization alleges Smith is attacking small businesses. Natalie Posgate explains.
U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary ruled Monday that requests by Forest Park Medical Center doctors and officials for a new trial are "meritless." The seven defendants were convicted last year of taking part in a massive insurance fraud scheme. The judge also criticized trial tactics employed by one of the prominent lawyers during the trial as "dirty and nasty" and a "cheap stunt." The Texas Lawbook has complete details.
Two big transactions involving Texas lawyers helped move the value needle last week, despite shaky-looking deals in the rest of the M&A world thanks to the coronavirus.
Every business leader, from a Fortune 500 CEO to a sole proprietor of a neighborhood business, is looking out on a business landscape utterly transformed by events beyond their—or anyone’s—control. As a result, the next three or four years will not bring “normal” litigation. What is coming will be tough and brutal, as it was at the height of the 1980s banking crisis. Mike Lynn explains.
Texas Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins' name on behalf of Texas turns up on the Supreme Court’s online docket 50 times, many representing multi-state amicus briefs, others involving other cases brought for or against Texas. At age 39, he has waded into almost all of the headline-making cases the high court is handling these days. This is Tony Mauro's first article as a Texas Lawbook correspondent.
The government is closing in on a $50 billion infusion of emergency aid to the airline industry in light of the extraordinary decrease in demand for air travel following the onset of COVID-19. While well-intended, the proposed package is insufficient to ward off catastrophic airline failures.
When a brown recluse spider bit Henry McCall, no one could have anticipated that the aftermath would shape the future of tort litigation. But that may well have happened in the recent Texas Supreme Court case of Hillis v. McCall. In addressing McCall’s spider bite, the court’s opinion sets legal rules that will likely control future cases involving novel coronavirus exposure.
Just two weeks ago, a deeply splintered en banc Fifth Court of Appeals made the unusual decision to withdraw a panel opinion in a case that settled after the panel’s decision. This case involves interesting questions about the Texas Election Code, judicial power and the public interest in stare decisis.
As we endure the COVID-19 epidemic and become an increasingly virtual society, we must realize that cancellations, workplace disruptions, business interruptions and civil authority will be more prevalent. Here are some basic legal issues all business leaders need to know.
Corporate law firms in Texas are going to take a financial hit as a result of the one-two punch of the coronavirus and plunging oil prices, according to a law firm management expert. The crisis is also an opportunity for firm leaders to make significant changes, including giving underperforming partners the boot.
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