The New “Loser Pays”

jeffTH

A lot of my friends have asked me about the new “loser pays” law and how I expect it to affect litigation in Texas.  For years, Texas and most other states followed the so-called, “American Rule” whereby litigants pay their own attorneys’ fees.  There were exceptions, such as certain statutory provisions that allowed recovery of attorneys fees in breach of contract, declaratory judgments, and other types of lawsuits.  The new law is a departure from our historical approach, and represents a Texas version of the “English Rule,” allowing the prevailing party to recoup … [Read more...]

Emotional Distress without Physical Damages – Supreme Court to Review

supremeCt

With a hat-tip to the blog, “How Appealing,” the ABA Journal is reporting that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has asked the Washington Supreme Court whether its product liability laws will allow a recovery emotional distress damages without evidence of any other injury. The case is based upon “glob of spit” found by a sheriff’s deputy on a Whopper. The deputy reportedly got an “uneasy feeling” about two of the Burger King’s employees, so he opened his burger before taking a bite. When he looked under the bun, Thomson Reuters News & Insight and SeattlePI.com report that he … [Read more...]

New Rules Require Lawyers to be Nice

jeffTH

by Jeff Springer, SpringerLyle ••• Texas adopted the “Texas Lawyers’ Creed” several years ago in response to the rising incivility among opposing trial lawyers. Now other states are apparently following suit. The Florida Supreme Court issued an order (PDF) on Monday adopting a civility pledge as part of the oath, the Legal Profession Blog reports. The new language reads: “To opposing parties and their counsel, I pledge fairness, integrity, and civility, not only in court, but also in all written and oral communications.” South Carolina adopted a similar pledge in 2003, the … [Read more...]

ginsburg

from the ABA Journal - Jul 26, 2011 By Debra Cassens Weiss U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, in a speech (PDF) to the Otsego County Bar Association in Cooperstown, N.Y., listed some of the Court’s recent questions during oral arguments. The Wall Street Journal’s Jess Bravin and How Appealing linked to the speech, and JoshBlackman.com has published the list online. Notable questions on the list include: • “What [did] James Madison th[ink] about video games?” (Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. in Brown v. Entertainment Merchants Association, which struck down a … [Read more...]

John Grisham Wins First Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction

courtesy of Random House

The American Bar Association announced today that John Grisham's The Confession, which chronicles the gut-wrenching politics of a Texas death penalty appeal, won the inaugural Harper Lee Prize for Legal Fiction. The prize, created by the University of Alabama School of Law and the ABA Journal, honors Lee for the extraordinary and enduring influence her novel has had in the public perception of the legal profession. It will be awarded annually to the published, book-length work of fiction that best exemplifies the role of lawyers in society. Grisham's novel was selected by a panel that … [Read more...]

What’s Fair Is Fair: Rise in FDCPA Cases Offers Opportunities for Lawyers

kimTH

From The Texas Lawyer, July 18, 2011 With the economic downturn, the number of consumer credit-related suits filed in U.S. District Courts in Texas has steadily increased over the past five years. In 2005, 81 such cases were filed in Texas, according to PACER, the federal courts' online filing system. But in 2010, that number rose to 390. The trend is on track to continue this year. From Jan. 1 to June 30, 2011, the number of consumer credit-related cases filed in Texas' U.S. District Courts totaled 263, compared to 190 for the same period in 2010, PACER shows. The numbers include … [Read more...]

5th Circuit to Decide If Judge Correctly Appointed Receiver

furgeson_royal

From The Texas Lawyer, July 25, 2011 Can a federal judge put what he calls a "vexatious litigant" into receivership after the litigant allegedly fails to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees to more than 20 lawyers and law firms? That is one of the questions the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is considering in an appeal brought by a businessman and his company. On May 28, 2009, Netsphere filed its original complaint in Netsphere, et al. v. Jeffrey Baron and Ondova Limited Co. in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas. Netsphere sued Baron and his company, … [Read more...]

Texas Wesleyan Grad Tops on February Bar Exam

jeffTH

For the first time in its 21-year history, Texas Wesleyan University School of Law can brag that one of its graduates, Daniel Denton, took the top score on the Texas bar exam. Denton not only earned the top score among the 1,150 people who sat for the February bar exam, he also graduated first in his class of 68 students in December 2010. … [Read more...]