Steve Korris News
Texas SC tackles definition of 'prevailing party'
Hecht AUSTIN � Contracts that provide legal fees for prevailing parties don't necessarily apply when plaintiffs nonsuit without prejudice, six Supreme Court Justices decided on Aug. 26.
Car owner not liable for borrower's drunk driving crash, Texas SC rules
AUSTIN � Tugboat owners whose workers borrowed each other's cars share no liability for a fatal crash one of them caused, the Supreme Court of Texas decided on Aug. 26.
Texas Supreme Court reverses decisions two state agency permits; Removes Denbury Green Pipeline common carrier status
The Texas Supreme Court reversed the common carrier status of the Denbury Green Pipeline on Aug. 26. AUSTIN � Appellate judges in Beaumont invested too much power in state agency permits in two cases the Supreme Court of Texas decided on Aug. 26.
Texas 'stripper tax' is constitutional, high court rules
AUSTIN � The $5 cover charge at Texas nude bars is constitutional, the state Supreme Court ruled on Aug. 26.
Link between asbestos trusts, courts hard to pinpoint
Dixon SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Researchers who set out to explore connections between asbestos trusts and asbestos courts returned with guesswork because of a lack of factual evidence.
***FOR PRINT*** Link between asbestos trusts, courts hard to pinpoint
Dixon SANTA MONICA, Calif. (Legal Newsline) - Researchers who set out to explore connections between asbestos trusts and asbestos courts returned with guesswork because of a lack of factual evidence.
Texas Supreme Court allows dad to regain custody of son
AUSTIN � Ron LaFond, a father who lost parental privileges in a Jefferson County divorce 10 years ago, regained custody of a teenage son with Texas Supreme Court approval.
Jefferson County claimants have received $17M in oil spill funds
NEW ORLEANS � BP's Gulf Coast Claims Facility has paid almost $17 million on Jefferson County damage claims from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
Judge should redo punishment due to incorrect indictment, appeals court decides
Jefferson County District Judge Layne Walker punished thief John Patrick Rager too severely, Ninth District appellate judges ruled in July.
Insurer not liable for TB exposure on tour bus, Texas high court rules
Medina AUSTIN � Catching tuberculosis from a bus driver doesn't qualify as an accident under the bus company's insurance policy, the Supreme Court of Texas decided.
High court abates rehearing of Open Beaches case
AUSTIN � As the Supreme Court of Texas struggled for a second time to draw a line between private property and public beach on Galveston Island, money from Washington relieved them of the decision.
Case over dead woman's organs goes to state Supreme Court
AUSTIN � Grieving daughter Debra Alvarez didn't force court decisions on her property rights in her deceased mother's tissues or the kind of injury she suffered when a dealer sold them, but an insurance dispute forces those decisions on the Supreme Court of Texas.
High court to decide if Entergy responsible for house mover's injuries
AUSTIN � State Supreme Court justices must decide whether to hold Entergy Gulf States responsible for injuries house mover Nicholas Traxler suffered when he brushed a live wire while riding atop a house on a street in Bridge City.
Floyd's decision for new trial in United Scaffolding case to be considered by Supreme Court
Texas Supreme Court AUSTIN � In a case that will settle two cases, the Supreme Court of Texas must decide whether Jefferson County District Judge Donald Floyd fully explained why he overturned a verdict from jurors who rejected an injury claim after watching victim James Levine wash a red Corvette.
Texas lawyer Watts represents 44,510 clients in BP litigation
Watts NEW ORLEANS - Mikal Watts of Corpus Christi represents an astonishing total of 44,510 clients preparing for the first trial over the Deepwater Horizon explosion, according to a report U.S. District Judge Barbier received on July 6.
Anadarko must arbitrate claims against BP, says MDL judge
NEW ORLEANS � Splitting a double header in federal court, Deepwater Horizon rig investor Anadarko Petroleum lost a contest against joint operator BP and won a contest in writing the plan for the first trial over last year's explosion and oil spill.
DPS does not have to release Perry travel vouchers, Texas Supreme Court rules
Jefferson AUSTIN � Newspapers might expose Gov. Rick Perry to physical harm if they track his travels too closely, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled on July 1.