Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A defamation lawsuit against Rep. Jeff Leach took center stage during a Texas House committee hearing on the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Lawmakers are struggling to address abuses of the popular law while still maintaining its protections for Texans exercising their First Amendment rights.
Google, which was recently found by a federal judge in Virginia to be operating a monopoly over advertising technology, is trying to convince a federal judge in Texas that it should not have to face a similar trial — albeit one that includes state law claims — in that state. In an interview this week with The Texas Lawbook, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Mark Lanier of Lanier Law Firm, said the states are “absolutely entitled to a jury trial.”
Senators broke along party lines in advancing legislation to stop “nuclear verdicts.” Senate Bill 30 would limit recoverable medical expenses to 300 percent of Medicare rates, adjusted for inflation. Supporters said the bill is needed to bring down insurance rates, while critics said it would remove discretion from judges and juries to make decisions on facts in individual cases.
The longtime prosecutor is reuniting with former U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton to form what Dykema calls ‘a potent tag team’ in healthcare litigation and other white-collar fields.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the widow of an oilfield worker sues Apache Corp. over her husband’s heat-related death, lawyers for the driver of a vandalized Tesla tout a first-of-its-kind civil suit, and Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan takes aim at the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act in a concurring opinion where the court wiped out a $28.7 million jury award.
The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, who is being asked to declare that eight federal agencies have authority to terminate the collective bargaining agreements with their employees. The lawsuit was filed one day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order exempting employees of the eight federal agencies bringing this lawsuit from federal labor law requirements, purportedly in an effort to “enhance the national security of the United States.” The Office of Personnel Management subsequently instructed those agencies “to take appropriate steps toward terminating their previously negotiated CBAs,” according to the lawsuit.
In June, a New Jersey jury hit Janssen Products with a $150 million verdict. The final judgment trebled damages and assessed a whopping $1.27 billion civil penalty but did ax about $30 million in damages to the states under the False Claims Act after the judge agreed with Janssen that not enough evidence was presented to sustain that portion of the award. Dallas boutique Reese Marketos was brought into the case two years ago to take it to trial.
The current enforcement landscape is a new and complicated playing field in which both Republican and Democratic AGs are eyeing business as prime enforcement targets. Business leaders and general counsel, particularly those with business operations in multiple states, would do well to pay attention to the competing enforcement priorities.
On its third day of deliberations, a Dallas County jury awarded Bernard Tubeileh about $7.7 million in damages and rejected claims that he was fired because he’d stole millions from his employers.
Amid uncertainty about the new administration, top Texas litigators who specialize in white-collar criminal law and securities enforcement say healthcare fraud will continue to be a top priority for federal prosecutors, though immigration cases will likely see a surge. The Texas Lawbook asked eight leading white-collar specialists what they see as the most important legal trends in the state and what they predict regarding white-collar prosecutions this year. Cybersecurity, foreign bribery, elderly abuse and privacy law violation offenses are best bets. But then again, it is President Trump, so who knows?
© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
