Appellate Courts News
Appellate Courts
Fifth Circuit OKs Corpus Christi dredging project over Native Americans' objections
NEW ORLEANS - A federal appeals court has approved the expansion of a major oil terminal in the Port of Corpus Christi over complaints the project would cause environmental harm and complicate the spiritual journeys of Native Americans.
Appellate Courts
$25M goes up in flames for Exxon in lawsuits over fatal 2013 explosion
BEAUMONT - Exxon lost $25 million in one court ruling this month after a Texas appeals court found a contractor's insurance policy didn't extend to the oil and gas giant's settlement of lawsuits over a deadly 2013 explosion in Beaumont.
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Appellate Courts
Houston still fighting blame for speeding cop's crash kills other driver
NEW ORLEANS - Houston can't claim it is immune from liability for the death of a motorist struck and killed by one of its police officers who had just arrested someone for driving while intoxicated.
Appellate Courts
How can an investment firm be liable for a plane crash?
HOUSTON - An employee of the financial services firm Raymond James & Associates who crashed his plane and killed five others was working at the time, a Texas appeals court has ruled in the ensuing wrongful death litigation.
Appellate Courts
Texas not a 'good neighbor' under ozone law
NEW ORLEANS - Texas and Louisiana will have to come up with better plans for handling ozone, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Appellate Courts
Get out of this court, Fifth Circuit tells insurer trying to avoid paying millions to men attacked by bouncer
NEW ORLEANS - An insurance company that made a bad bet on a Harris County personal injury lawsuit can't block the victorious plaintiffs from seeking the missing $2.2 million from a jury's verdict.
Appellate Courts
Contractor wins the case of the flying rebar
HOUSTON - A state appeals court has ruled against a driver who tried to sue a contractor for a 100-pound piece of rebar that fell off an overpass and onto his truck.
Appellate Courts
Houston beats lawsuit over fire at airport
HOUSTON - A taxi driver injured during an airport fire in Houston shouldn't be able to the City, a state appeals court has ruled.
Appellate Courts
Texas school district not liable for sexual assault on special-needs child by her bus driver
NEW ORLEANS - The mother of a special-needs child molested by her bus driver can't sue a Texas school district, a federal appeals court has ruled.
Appellate Courts
Biden had power to issue minimum wage standards, Fifth Circuit says
NEW ORLEANS - As new executive orders come flying out of President Donald Trump's office, a federal appeals court has rejected the challenge of Texas and other states to his predecessor's federal minimum wage standards, rejecting arguments to not "lose sight of common sense."
Appellate Courts
Protestor struck by police horse can't sue Houston; Civil disobedience has limits, court says
HOUSTON - A state appeals court has ruled against a woman who tried to sue the City of Houston after she was hit by a police horse during a George Floyd protest.
Appellate Courts
Regulation without representation: How far should a city's power extend?
AUSTIN - Those who don't believe cities they don't live in should be able to tell them what to do with their property are taking their case to the Texas Supreme Court.
Appellate Courts
Pipeline plaintiffs fail to specify who did what, lose claims against CenterPoint and Enterprise
HOUSTON - More than 100 property owners in Channelview have lost two targets they'd hoped to blame for damage allegedly caused by two crude pipelines.
Appellate Courts
Facebook avoids sex-trafficking MDL, as Texas Supreme Court steps in for first time
AUSTIN - It's taken more than six years for a woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted at a Houston hotel to figure out where her case will be heard.
Appellate Courts
Big pollution penalty over Exxon's Baytown emissions affirmed
NEW ORLEANS - Exxon is ordered to pay a $14.25 million pollution penalty, a federal appeal court recently held in a case over the company's Baytown refinery.
Appellate Courts
Hinting at sexual abuse doesn't rise to defamation by dentist
HOUSTON - A Texas family who went to court to punish their dentist for suggesting their teenaged daughter had possibly been the victim of sexual abuse has again seen their case tossed.
Appellate Courts
Doctors defeat collection effort after colleague hit with big verdict in brain damage case
HOUSTON - A man who once scored an eight-figure medical malpractice verdict in Harris County has struck out on his effort to collect the full amount.
Appellate Courts
Evidence suggests sniper, not Metro officer, shot policeman, court says
HOUSTON - A trial judge improperly denied the Houston metropolitan transit authority a chance to blame a police officer’s shooting on a sniper instead of one of its own employees, a Texas appeals court ruled.
Appellate Courts
Devon Energy not 'at home' in Texas, can't be sued there for New Mexico accident
HOUSTON - An Oklahoma company can't be sued in Texas for injuries to a Louisiana man working in New Mexico, a Texas appeals court has found.
Appellate Courts
Baytown cop beats lawsuit after traffic stop turns ugly
NEW ORLEANS - A federal appeals court has ruled for a Baytown cop who had his dog go after a suspect in a traffic stop on Valentine's Day.
NEW ORLEANS - A federal appeals court has ruled for a Baytown cop who had his dog go after a suspect in a traffic stop on Valentine's Day.