AUSTIN – The Texas Supreme Court has rejected a request to review a breach of contract dispute between two nearby hospitals where a lower court reversed a $7.9 million verdict in favor of Lake Travis Transitional LTCH LLC.
HOUSTON – The Texas Supreme Court will not review the top aviation verdict for all of Texas in 2013. The Houston-based law firm Arnold & Itkin secured the judgment, totaling nearly $1.7 million, on behalf of Derek LeBlanc, who was injured in a helicopter crash while on route to work on an oil platform in the Gulf.
HOUSTON – Two attempts to seek a new trial from a couple who alleged their insurer had failed to provide adequate payments for their home after it was damaged by Hurricane Ike has been turned back by the Court of Appeals for the First District of Texas.
The Texas Supreme Court has a unique structure, reflecting the state’s stubbornly independent-minded culture. Most state supreme courts have jurisdiction over civil and criminal cases and have seven (or fewer) members, who are appointed by the governor and face the voters — if at all — only for periodic “retention” elections. The Texas Supreme Court, in contrast, hears only civil appeals (criminal cases are decided by the co-equal Texas Court of Criminal Appeals) and has nine members, all of whom are subject to statewide partisan elections. The last feature is quite unusual; only seven states select judges in this manner. Despite this distinctive design, the Texas Supreme Court succeeds at steering a steady jurisprudential course in a cautious, low-key style.
BEAUMONT – In June 2015, the Ninth Court of Appeals reversed and remanded a now-retired district judge’s decision denying the South East Texas Regional Planning Commission governmental immunity.
Two years later, on May 17, the Texas Supreme Court issued a mandate stating that its ruling reversing the Ninth Court is final, confirming Judge Gary Sanderson, formerly of the 60th District Court, was ultimately right in his decision to waive the commission’s immunity.
HOUSTON – Earlier this year, a Montgomery County judge was sued by a nonprofit secularist foundation for having prayers during the beginning of his courtroom sessions.
AUSTIN – Trial courts need to be balanced when it comes to their rulings in electronic discovery disputes, as the Texas Supreme Court recently found judges must recognize “proportionality is the polestar.”
GALVESTON COUNTY, TX – On May 19, the Texas Supreme Court issued a unanimous opinion siding with Galveston County Judge Mark Henry in a long-running legal battle with 56th District Court Judge Lonnie Cox.
AUSTIN – A reversal of opinion in a verdict set by a court of appeals has allowed British Petroleum (BP) to hold on to the lease of a natural gas well in Texas.
AUSTIN – The Supreme Court of Texas has overturned two lower court rulings and ordered that a new trial take place in an $11,350 Galveston Island insurance case.
AUSTIN – Texans for Lawsuit Reform sent out an email Tuesday, updating readers on bills of importance the group is following as the 85th Texas Legislature Session continues to unfold.
BEAUMONT – While the trial of the last remaining Hurricane Rita lawsuit may be in books, the case is far from over – as Mostyn Law and the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association recently filed contrasting motions for entry of final judgment.
AUSTIN – The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled in favor of M&F Worldwide Corp. and others in their jurisdictional claim against a subsidiary of Pepsi-Cola Metropolitan Bottling Co. Inc., which relates to a previously settled covert asbestos case in New York.
In a prior post, I discussed the Pidgeon v. Turner case, now pending before the Texas Supreme Court, involving a taxpayer challenge to same-sex spousal benefits. Oral argument was held on March 1. The taxpayers challenging the city of Houston’s policy of granting same-sex spousal benefits to city employees were represented at oral argument by Jonathan Mitchell, a former Scalia clerk, former Texas solicitor general, and now a visiting professor at Stanford law school. The city of Houston was represented by Douglas Alexander, a leading appellate practitioner in an Austin law firm whose partners include former Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson. The oral argument was superb, and both counsel fielded numerous questions from the fully-engaged justices.
BEAUMONT – The Texas Supreme Court has ruled a local church has a claim against a defendant who was previously awarded summary judgment in litigation brought over the theft of funds from a $1 million Hurricane Rita settlement.
BEAUMONT – One of the last remaining Hurricane Rita lawsuits was recently tried in Jefferson County, with the trial ending with a much larger payday for Mostyn Law than the firm’s clients.
&&& AUSTIN – The Texas Supreme Court in January ruled that it will decide whether the husbands and wives of gay city employees in Houston deserve spousal benefits, a rare reversal reportedly driven by pressure from Gov. Greg Abbott and dozens of other top Republicans.
