Texas

Settlement Stops Trial of Lawyer’s Claim That Insurer Set Him Up for Prosecution, Ruining His Career

A trial of a Texas lawyer’s tortious interference lawsuit seeking $25 million in damages from an insurer that he claimed ruined his career by setting him up for criminal prosecution came to a sudden halt Tuesday after the parties reached a settlement. Attorney John Flood, who represents plaintiff Todd Hoeffner,…

Oct 18, 2012 5:40 PM CDT

Ex-Client Awarded $867K Against Lawyer Who Stole $75K and Law Firm That Referred Her to Him

A woman whose lawyer misappropriated most of the $100,000 she was supposed to get in a probate case has had her day in court and was teary-eyed after a $867,000 jury verdict Monday in Bexar County, Texas. “I am very pleased. The jury believed in me,” Isabel Sloan told the…

Oct 16, 2012 6:30 PM CDT

Legal Representation Pays Off for Landowners Along US-Mexico Border Fence

Some 400 owners of residential and commercial property in Texas and some other states, are affected by an ongoing plan to build a 670-mile fence along the Mexican border. Initial offers for their land were just a starting point, according to U.S. government officials. But for those who lack the…

Oct 15, 2012 9:43 PM CDT

As 6 Connolly Bove Partners Exit for BigLaw Firms, IP ‘Super-Boutique’ Merger with Novak on Track

Although Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz has lost at least six partners to major general practice law firms since announcing an expected merger with Novak Druce + Quigg a month ago, that has not affected the two law firms’ plan to merge into an intellectual property “super-boutique” that would be…

Oct 15, 2012 4:00 PM CDT

Lawyer Seeks $25M From Insurer, Says He Was Set Up in Criminal Case That Destroyed His Legal Career

A jury trial is beginning this week for a Texas lawyer seeking $25 million in a tortious interference suit against an insurance company with which he formerly had dealings while representing plaintiffs in asbestos cases. Warren Todd Hoeffner, 48, contends that Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. set him up to…

Oct 11, 2012 4:25 PM CDT

Family Court Judge Who Hit Teen Daughter with Belt in Viral YouTube Video Might Go Back on Bench

A Texas family court judge who made international headlines last year and was suspended, with pay, after his now-adult daughter posted on YouTube a video she secretly took of her father whipping her with a belt in 2004, when she was a teenager, could be headed back to the bench.…

Oct 3, 2012 9:33 PM CDT

2 Investigators Sue Church of Scientology Over Halt of $32K Monthly Payments

Two former California police officers say they spent almost 25 years working as private investigators for the Church of Scientology, getting paid $32,000 per month most of that time for their time and expenses only to have the checks suddenly stop arriving in the mail over the summer for unknown…

Oct 1, 2012 5:15 PM CDT

Prison Guard Reinstated After Investigation Shows Other Guards Were Friends with Inmate on Facebook

After being fired in May for violating Texas prison policy by friending an inmate on Facebook, a Huntsville corrections officer has been reinstated. The reinstatement comes after an investigation showed several others at the prison, including the prison’s chief financial officer, were associated on Facebook with the same convicted murderer.…

Oct 1, 2012 10:30 AM CDT

Texas Lawyer Gets 6 Months in Jail for ‘Misapplication” of Trust Funds

A Texas lawyer has been sentenced to six months in jail for misappropriating nearly $700,000 in funds he was supposed to be holding in trust on behalf of 138 children. As part of a plea agreement with prosecutors, Austin attorney John Williams “Will” Coates agreed to give up his law…

Sep 27, 2012 9:45 PM CDT

Texas Man Who Received Three Stays of Execution Is Executed

Cleve Foster’s luck ran out Tuesday. Foster, 48, who had received three stays of execution, was executed after the U.S. Supreme Court turned down his fourth request for a stay, ThomsonReuters reports. The former Army recruiter was pronounced dead at 6:43 p.m. local time at the Texas state penitentiary in…

Sep 27, 2012 7:58 PM CDT

5th Circuit Upholds Criminal Penalties Under Texas Open Meeting Law

In a decision hailed as a victory by open government advocates, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld Texas’ open meetings law and the use of criminal penalties for public officials if they conduct government business in secret. A group of government officials from 15 Texas cities challenged…

Sep 26, 2012 3:46 PM CDT

After Complaint, School Relaxes Rule on Opposite-Sex Student Spankings

After complaints, including from a parent who said her daughter suffered “welts, blisters and bruises” from a male administrator’s paddle, a north Texas school board relaxed its rules on corporal punishment. Before the complaints, the Springtown Independent School District policy only allowed male administrators to paddle male students and female…

Sep 26, 2012 11:18 AM CDT

Texas Judge Temporarily Lifts Ban on Religious Banners at School Football Games

A Texas state judge has issued a temporary restraining order preventing a small town school district from enforcing a ban on religious displays at high school football games and other school-sponsored events. District Court Judge Steven Thomas set a hearing for Oct. 4 to hear arguments from the two sides,…

Sep 21, 2012 10:14 PM CDT

Texas Lawyers Warned: Ignore That Email from ‘Barthelemy William’

The Texas Supreme Court is warning lawyers that it does not have an employee named Barthelemy William who is seeking property information. Emails purporting to be from this person are apparently a scam or a “phishing” attempt to get personal information, according to the state supreme court website. Texas Lawyer’s…

Sep 19, 2012 3:22 PM CDT

Former Texas Judge Agrees to Pay $250K Restitution in School Health Care Fraud Case

Sentenced last month to 63 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to a fraud involving the Ysleta Independent School District while he working for a health care provider, a former Texas judge has now agreed to pay $250,000 restitution. Luther Jones, 66, who once sat on the bench in…

Sep 13, 2012 2:51 PM CDT