Texas

Patent holders rush to beat new pleading standards; record number of suits filed Monday

Patent holders apparently eager to file suit in advance of new pleading standards filed more than 200 lawsuits on Monday, setting what is believed to be a one-day record for patent suits. The final weeks of November were also popular for patent suits, report the Recorder (sub. req.) and Ars…

Dec 2, 2015 12:16 PM CST

Following layoffs, 60-attorney law firm says it will close its doors by end of 2015

Hard hit by the downturn in the oil and gas industry, a 60-attorney Houston-based law firm is closing its doors at the end of the year. Founded nearly a decade ago with two attorneys, the fast-growing Burleson firm at one point had over 140 lawyers on its roster. However, the…

Nov 24, 2015 10:10 AM CST

Law firm participated in FBI sting of Texas school board members

Allegedly asked for $20,000 by two members of a Texas school board in order to retain its contract, a law firm representing the district reportedly cooperated with the FBI, resulting in the federal indictment (PDF) of two trustees and a city employee. The firm, Perdue Brandon Fielder Collins & Mott,…

Nov 18, 2015 4:10 PM CST

Lawyer is accused of trading sex for legal work; scales of justice tattoo helped corroborate claim

A San Antonio lawyer has been charged with compelling prostitution for allegedly pressuring three clients to have sex with him in exchange for legal work. The lawyer, 46-year-old Mark Benavides, was arrested on Tuesday, report MySanAntonio.com and KSAT. Benavides was accused of taping several of the sexual encounters and of…

Nov 18, 2015 9:45 AM CST

This BigLaw firm is found liable for nearly $200M in malpractice trial

A jury in Harris County, Texas, has found Andrews Kurth liable for $196 million in a malpractice suit filed by a former client. The damages assessed by jurors on Nov. 11 do not include interest, Above the Law reports. The plaintiffs’ motion for entry of judgment (PDF) is pending. The…

Nov 18, 2015 7:31 AM CST

As execution looms, appellate lawyers fight client’s effort to get new counsel and seek clemency

Scheduled to be executed on Wednesday for setting a house fire that killed three children almost 15 years ago, a 36-year-old death row inmate in Texas has effectively been abandoned by his court-appointed appellate counsel, some observers say. Raphael Deon Holiday sent letter after letter from prison seeking to find…

Nov 17, 2015 2:00 PM CST

10 lawyers follow Lewis Brisbois leader to Wilson Elser; he is now in charge of two Texas offices

The head of the Houston and Beaumont, Texas, offices of Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith has led 10 other lawyers from his now-former firm to Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker. Kent Adams now holds the same role at Wilson Elser, which just opened a new office in Beaumont, reports…

Nov 17, 2015 11:55 AM CST

Man mistakes courthouse for Hilton hotel, winds up at county jail

An Oklahoma man who said he somehow managed to confuse a Texas courthouse with a Hilton hotel in Waco over the weekend wound up with a bed at the county jail. Harold Anthony Schroeder, 35, was charged with misdemeanor criminal trespass after he was found asleep in a third-floor courtroom…

Nov 17, 2015 11:05 AM CST

‘Novel legal theory’ is used to charge 106 people in biker shootout, lawyer says

A lawyer representing a biker charged in the May 16 shootout at a Twin Peaks restaurant in Waco, Texas, says the prosecution is using an “identical novel legal theory” to charge 106 people. Lawyer Paul Looney, who represents Cody Ledbetter, says in a motion that the prosecution of his client…

Nov 17, 2015 9:42 AM CST

Should judge dismiss case because DA didn’t know about FBI witness payments? Court battle continues

Accused by attorney Paul Morgan of withholding exculpatory information, a Texas prosecutor said she had known nothing about a total of $5,000 in relocation assistance arranged by a FBI agent for three witnesses in a murder trial against a co-defendant of Morgan’s client. And on Thursday a state-court judge agreed…

Nov 12, 2015 5:00 PM CST

Free courthouse ‘boutique’ helps defendants look their best at trial

A little-known room in a Texas criminal courthouse helps defendants put their best-dressed foot forward at trial. Stocked with donated clothes, some with designer labels, the so-called “boutique” has been run by the Dallas County Public Defender’s office for about 12 years. It outfits those who don’t have family to…

Nov 11, 2015 12:50 PM CST

Person of interest in attack on judge is charged with murder in unrelated case

A Houston man identified as a person of interest in a shooting that injured a Texas judge has been charged with murder in an unrelated case. Police charged 28-year-old Chimene Hamilton Onyeri with murder on Tuesday, report the Austin American-Statesman (sub. req.), KEYE-TV, the Associated Press and the Houston Chronicle.…

Nov 11, 2015 10:25 AM CST

5th Circuit upholds injunction blocking Obama’s executive action on immigration

Updated: In a 2-1 opinion, a federal appeals court on Monday upheld a federal judge’s injunction blocking President Barack Obama’s executive action that would block deportation for up to 5 million immigrants. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Andrew…

Nov 10, 2015 11:52 AM CST

Person of interest in shooting that injured judge is arrested on unrelated charges

Houston police have arrested a person of interest in the Nov. 6 shooting that injured Judge Julie Kocurek of Austin, Texas. Austin police confirmed in a statement that they are aware of the arrest of the person of interest on unrelated charges, report CNN, the Austin American-Statesman, the Houston Chronicle,…

Nov 10, 2015 7:07 AM CST

Lawyer challenges Dallas Zoo’s gun ban

A Houston lawyer has filed a complaint with the Texas Attorney General’s office that claims the Dallas Zoo is violating state law by posting a sign banning guns on the property. Lawyer T. Edwin Walker maintains the zoo doesn’t qualify for an exemption under the law that generally allows guns…

Nov 10, 2015 6:15 AM CST