Texas

Dallas lawyer may have been spied on before his suspicious death, affidavit reveals

Police investigating the death of Dallas lawyer Ira Tobolowsky seized a drill and drill bits from an apartment after learning about drilled holes in the lawyer’s fence. The search warrant affidavit released on Wednesday reveals that detectives believed someone may have been spying on Tobolowsky through the holes, report the…

Oct 13, 2016 11:55 AM CDT

Law firm says it’s downsizing because of ‘unfair allegations’ in barratry suit

A Texas insurance-coverage law firm is blaming a barratry class action for a decision to “significantly downsize.” The law firm Speights & Worrich says it’s downsizing because of the “false and unfair allegations” in the suit, Forbes reports in an article by a reporter who writes for the Southeast Texas…

Oct 7, 2016 2:04 PM CDT

Lawyer sends $1,000 to jury duty scammers who are refining their craft

Jury duty scammers are growing so sophisticated that a Houston lawyer believed their claim that he would be arrested if he didn’t pay up. Lawyer Keith Woods paid $1,000 to the scammers, report the Houston Chronicle and Click2Houston. The scammers left a message on Woods’ phone when he wasn’t home,…

Sep 28, 2016 10:09 AM CDT

Houston gunman was a good lawyer, former law partner says

The Houston lawyer identified as the gunman who shot and wounded nine people on Monday had practiced law for 12 years with Kenneth McDaniel, who says the dissolution of their partnership was “a matter of economics.” Alleged gunman Nathan DeSai was a “good, competent lawyer” in good standing with the…

Sep 27, 2016 8:51 AM CDT

Officers fatally shoot lawyer who opened fire at strip mall; he had law firm ‘issues,’ police say

Updated: Police on Monday shot and killed a lawyer who had opened fire at a Houston strip mall, sending six people to the hospital, according to Houston police. Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo said the suspect is a lawyer with “issues concerning his law firm,” report the Dallas Morning News,…

Sep 26, 2016 9:47 AM CDT

Federal judge retires amid investigation into alleged sexual harassment

A federal judge in Texas who faces an investigation into possible sexual harassment has retired. U.S. District Judge Walter Smith Jr. began cleaning out his chambers on Monday and told co-workers that he had retired, the Waco Tribune-Herald reports. The newspaper and KWTX obtained copies of Smith’s resignation letter, which…

Sep 20, 2016 10:00 AM CDT

Startup seeks to bring bail bond process online

When Sandra Bland died in a Texas jail cell in 2015, Galen Weber got to thinking about bail. Bland was being held on $5,000 bail. Her family and friends might have been able to raise it, but she was hundreds of miles away from her home in Illinois. Three days…

Sep 15, 2016 3:00 PM CDT

Evidence dumped in room cleanup could affect more than a thousand cases

More than 20,000 pieces of evidence were destroyed—potentially endangering more than a thousand criminal cases—when deputies cleaned out a property room in January, a Texas district attorney said on Friday. Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson said prosecutors are being asked “to try to resurrect these cases as best they…

Sep 7, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Texas AG sues county that banned guns at building with courthouse, county offices

Corrected: Waller County, Texas, must allow guns in areas of a courthouse building where county offices are located, according to a lawsuit filed this week by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. The suit (PDF) says Waller County’s policy conflicts with the state’s open carry law, which has an exemption for…

Sep 1, 2016 11:24 AM CDT

DA in San Antonio gives interview saying that vaccines can cause autism and CDC study is false

The district attorney in San Antonio, Texas, asserts that vaccines “can and do cause autism” in a video promoting a documentary that claims the government has covered up the link. Bexar County District Attorney Nico LaHood claims his children were “vaccine injured”—one has autism and the other a skin condition—and…

Sep 1, 2016 7:00 AM CDT

Lawyer’s death is ruled a homicide; he died from fire and blunt force

The May 13 death of Dallas lawyer Ira Tobolowsky was a homicide, according to the Dallas County medical examiner. Tobolowsky was found dead in a suspicious garage fire. The medical examiner said the cause of death was blunt-force injuries, smoke inhalation and burns, the Dallas Morning News and CBS News…

Aug 25, 2016 3:50 PM CDT

Spurned recruiter sues BigLaw partner who used competitor; was recorded phone call a contract?

A legal recruiting firm in Dallas claims a recorded phone call will show a law firm partner agreed to work with the company exclusively if he pursued an opportunity at Holland & Knight. The partner, Dean Schaner of Haynes and Boone, used another recruiting firm before jumping to Holland &…

Aug 24, 2016 9:35 AM CDT

Lawyer accuses US of ‘ridiculousness’ after acquittal in Gulf oil spill fraud case

A Texas lawyer who once claimed to represent more than 44,000 victims in the BP Gulf oil spill has been acquitted of charges that he falsified claims. Federal jurors in Gulfport, Mississippi, acquitted lawyer Mikal Watts on Thursday, report Reuters, the Sun Herald and the Associated Press. Jurors also acquitted…

Aug 19, 2016 9:16 AM CDT

Courtroom prayer program led by volunteer chaplains is likely constitutional, says Texas AG opinion

A justice of the peace’s volunteer chaplain program that is open to religious leaders of any faith is probably constitutional, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton says in a legal opinion. Paxton said there is probably no establishment clause violation when the chaplains lead prayers at the beginning of courtroom proceedings…

Aug 18, 2016 10:19 AM CDT

Did defense lawyer’s Facebook prayers disclose too much trial information? He objects to gag orders

A criminal defense lawyer in Texas says two judges have issued orders banning his Facebook prayers, a violation of his First Amendment rights to freedom of religion and speech. Lawyer Mark Griffith blames District Attorney Patrick Wilson of Ellis County for requesting the gag orders, report the Dallas Morning News…

Aug 18, 2016 7:00 AM CDT