HOUSTON - Southern District Chief Justice Lee H. Rosenthal recently issued a landmark ruling allowing a wrongful death lawsuit against a Houston probate judge to proceed in an adult guardianship claim.
In mid-April, a 4-year-old boy was summoned to jury duty in Pennsylvania but was unable to go because “he has preschool that day.” The situation was a light-hearted reminder that 1) errors do happen and 2) some potential jurors do have legitimate reasons they can’t serve. On the whole, however, jury service is a critical component of our justice system and depends on everyday citizens—those us well beyond our preschool years—showing up and to do our duty.
SAN ANTONIO - A Manhattan woman who worked as an actress in an NBC TV pilot directed by Spike Lee and a Macy’s commercial last year has filed a breach of fiduciary duty lawsuit against her San Antonio-based mother over the alleged abuse of and isolation from her legally blind father who is a 22 year veteran of the U.S. Air Force and currently guardianized under a Bexar County court order.
AUSTIN - The Texas Judicial Council recently announced to the House of Representatives last week in Washington, D.C. that 43 percent of adult guardianship cases in the state of Texas are out of compliance with reporting requirements.
AUSTIN - A new study by the Spectrum Institute has determined that the Supreme Court of Texas is allowing the adult guardianship system throughout the to operate in violation of the mandates of the ADA and Section 504.
Texas’s employment discrimination statute (the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act, codified in the Texas Labor Code at section 21.001 et seq.), like its federal counterpart (Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. section 2000e et seq.), prohibits discrimination on the basis of enumerated characteristics, including “sex.” Accordingly, an employer is forbidden to treat an applicant or employee differently because of that person’s sex. Without a sex-based nexus, the employer’s conduct may be rude, unfair, obnoxious, boorish, or insensitive, but will not constitute illegal sex discrimination.
The principle of subsidiarity—the belief that decision-making should occur at the lowest level appropriate to its purpose—is a staple of conservative thought. In fact, it is sometimes asserted that subsidiarity “is a bulwark of limited government and personal freedom.” In general, local control is usually preferable to a decision-making process based on larger political units, in which the responsible officials are far-removed from the affected population. Local government officials are typically more responsive to individual citizens than are federal officials; local decision-making enables regional preferences and variations in lieu of stultifying uniformity; and voters can more easily replace an unresponsive local elected official than his state or federal counterparts.
AUSTIN – The Texas Supreme Court reversed and remanded a decision from the 1st District Court of Appeals that dismissed an appeal filed by AC Interests LP against a ruling by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) after the service deadline required by the Texas Clean Air Act passed.
The Americans With Disabilities Act may be the most widely-abused law in our history, spawning frivolous litigation against employers, retail businesses, and—most recently—spurious claims against websites that allegedly aren’t sufficiently compliant with the ADA. Nationwide, a cottage industry has developed among a bottom-feeding element of the plaintiffs’ bar that specializes in bringing a high volume of cookie-cutter lawsuits against small businesses for technical violations of the ADA, and extorting quick settlements of several thousand dollars each.
AUSTIN – In a dispute between insurance agency The Altman and Jody James Farms (JJF), the Texas Supreme Court has decided to grant JJF’s petition for review.
AUSTIN – Oncor Electric Delivery Co. LLC was dealt a significant loss earlier this month as the Texas Supreme Court overturned a ruling from a lower appellate court exempting the utility company from paying the relocation costs of equipment in the city of Richardson.
AUSTIN – In an opinion delivered Feb. 2, the Texas Supreme Court overturned the dismissal of a woman’s medical malpractice lawsuit after it was dismissed by a court of appeals on the grounds that her expert report was deficient.
HOUSTON – A recent appeals court opinion in a trade secret case is being touted as a victory for the impacted company and a watershed ruling in the state of Texas.
BEAUMONT – Not being an attorney shouldn’t exclude someone from running for district attorney, according to an appeal made by Michael David Bellow Jr. to the Texas Supreme Court.
HOUSTON – The 14th Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a ruling from the 212th District Court of Galveston County in an appeal involving whether a Canadian woman was properly served.
AUSTIN – On Jan. 3, Gov. Greg Abbott appointed and swore in Jimmy Blacklock to the Texas Supreme Court following Justice Don Willett’s confirmation to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
HOUSTON – On Dec. 21, Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC endorsed Katy Boatman of Houston in her campaign for Place 7 on the First Court of Appeals in Harris County and nine surrounding counties.
AUSTIN – Gov. Greg Abbott has announced his general counsel, Jimmy Blacklock, will fill the vacancy on the Texas Supreme Court Justice Don R. Willett will create if confirmed by the Senate for the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.
