Appellate Courts News
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.
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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.
Appellate Courts
Fifth Circuit rules telehealth veterinarian’s constitutional rights were violated by Texas state law
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has decreed that a requirement from the Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners for those conducting such exams of pets do so in person, does in fact violate the constitutional rights of a telehealth veterinarian.
Appellate Courts
First District appeals court affirms decision of Consumer Credit Commissioner to fire examiner
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to concur with the Texas Office of Consumer Credit Commissioner’s decision to fire one of its examiners for using a business credit card for personal use, and to reject the plaintiff’s allegations of discrimination and retaliation.
Appellate Courts
Fourteenth Court of Appeals affirms dismissal of claims against engineering firms, connected to rail yard contamination
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has affirmed the dismissal without prejudice of claims lodged against two professional engineering firms, stemming from environmental contamination at the Union Pacific Englewood Rail Yard near residential neighborhoods in Houston.
Appellate Courts
Trampoline injury case has one defendant in arbitration, others in court
HOUSTON - Part of a case of a young girl hurt at a Beaumont trampoline park must proceed in arbitration, an appeals court has ruled, despite the girl not signing away her right to sue in open court.
Appellate Courts
Fifth Circuit affirms lower federal court ruling on Department of Labor’s authority on “White Collar Exemption”
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has upheld a Texas federal court’s ruling to grant summary judgment to the U.S. Department of Labor, in response to litigation which had challenged the Department’s authority to define the so-called “White Collar Exemption” in the Fair Labor Standards Act to include a minimum-salary requirement.
Appellate Courts
Fifth Circuit appeals court finds constitutional rights of minor parties in Texas were not violated
NEW ORLEANS – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has joined a lower federal court in finding that the constitutional rights of minor political parties and their candidates in Texas were not violated by numerous provisions of the Texas Election Code.
Appellate Courts
Fifth Circuit laments federal government's failure to respond to citizens
NEW ORLEANS - It's not her fault the federal government dragged its heels, an appeals court has ruled in reviving a white woman's discrimination lawsuit against a Houston hospital.
Appellate Courts
Fifth Circuit remands lone excessive force claim against Harris County law enforcement, to trial court
NEW ORLEANS – A majority component of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has reversed a Texas lower court’s granting of qualified immunity-related summary judgment, in an excessive force and false arrest action against Harris County and members of its law enforcement.
Appellate Courts
Supreme Court of Texas finds defendant hit with $21.6M judgment is instead entitled to new trial
AUSTIN – A defendant who was hit with a $21.6 million verdict at a one hour-long bench trial has successfully appealed that result to the Supreme Court of Texas, which found proper notice procedures were not followed and thus, the defendant is entitled to a new trial.
Appellate Courts
First District appeals court affirms dispute between employee and petroleum company belonged in arbitration
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has upheld a lower court’s decision to refer to arbitration a dispute between a woman who alleged her employer violated settlement terms when it targeted her with adverse employment actions, after it investigated her sexual assault claim, and the company itself.
Appellate Courts
Fourteenth Court of Appeals dismisses wrongful death suit from daughters of man struck by police car
HOUSTON – A Texas appeals court has reversed the denial of summary judgment to the City of Houston and, on jurisdictional grounds, instead dismissed a case brought by plaintiffs whose father was struck and killed by a Houston police officer while crossing the street, in the vicinity of a nearby police action.