Texas

Federal judge nixes big-game hunter’s suit over airline’s refusal to transport trophy rhinoceros

A Texan who made the winning bid of $350,000 at a Dallas Safari Club auction for a permitted trip to kill an African rhinoceros wound up suing Delta Airlines last year for refusing to transport his dead trophy. But a federal judge on Monday dismissed the suit filed by Corey…

Jun 8, 2016 1:15 PM CDT

Judge who required ethics training for possibly 3,000 DOJ lawyers stays his order

A federal judge in Texas who required ethics training for as many as 3,000 Justice Department lawyers has stayed his May 19 order and invited the department to propose its own sanction for alleged misrepresentations. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen of Brownsville agreed on Tuesday to stay the sanction until…

Jun 8, 2016 8:58 AM CDT

Supreme Court to consider standard used to evaluate death-row inmate’s intellectual disability

Revised and corrected: The U.S. Supreme Court agreed on Monday to consider the case of a Texas death-row inmate who claims the outdated medical standards used to evaluate his claim of mental disability violate the Eighth Amendment. The court granted cert in the case of Bobby James Moore, who was…

Jun 6, 2016 11:25 AM CDT

Appeals court rejects bid to throw out fraud indictment against Texas AG

A Texas appellate court refused to throw out a felony indictment against the state’s Attorney General Ken Paxton. The Dallas Morning News Trail Blazers Blog reported Thursday that the Fifth District Court of Appeals in Dallas, sitting en banc, ruled unanimously that Paxton must stand trial on three felony fraud…

Jun 3, 2016 1:18 PM CDT

How do state supreme courts deal with tie votes?

Only 16 states follow the U.S. Supreme Court’s “ties happen” approach when vacancies leave high courts evenly divided, according to a tally by a Texas Supreme Court justice on Donald Trump’s Supreme Court shortlist. The other 34 states use temporary judges to avert deadlocks, though the details vary, Texas Justice…

Jun 1, 2016 6:15 AM CDT

A ‘seismic shift’ in Texas: BigLaw shops raid local firms for top talent and big bucks follow

Until recent years, attorneys at top Texas corporate law firms routinely followed the standard of a bygone era in refusing to jump ship to accept a competitor’s higher offer. No more. In what the Texas Lawbook (sub. req.) describes as a “seismic shift” in the business of law in the…

May 31, 2016 4:15 PM CDT

Baylor demotes Ken Starr, will fire football coach over school’s handling of sex-assault allegations

After initially denying rumors that Ken Starr was on the way out as president of Baylor University in Waco, Texas, officials announced Thursday that he is being demoted, and the school’s football coach is being fired. The actions follow a report by Pepper Hamilton, concerning an internal investigation of the…

May 26, 2016 2:17 PM CDT

Baylor denies rumored ouster of Ken Starr after report on school’s handling of campus sex assaults

Baylor University is denying reports that its board of regents has ousted Ken Starr from his job as school president. As of now, Starr is still at the helm as president and chancellor of the Waco, Texas-based school, university spokeswoman Lori Fogleman told the Associated Press in an email. “We…

May 25, 2016 12:35 PM CDT

Texas woman drops lawsuit against Church of Scientology, citing lack of resources

A Texas woman has moved to end her harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology, despite victories in trial court and on appeal, according to Texas Lawyer. Monique Rathbun, who is married to former Scientology official Marty Rathbun but was never part of the church, had sued the church for…

May 20, 2016 3:00 PM CDT

Barratry suit says law firm collaborates with contractors to target homeowners with storm damage

An intervention petition was filed this week in an ongoing Texas lawsuit over alleged mistreatment by contractors and public adjusters of homeowners who suffer storm damage. It alleges that a law firm specializing in insurance matters is also among the claimed wrongdoers. “This lawsuit involves an elaborate web of fraud,…

May 20, 2016 1:30 PM CDT

Federal judge imposes sweeping sanctions on DOJ, requires ethics classes for litigators in 26 states

Blasting the U.S. Department of Justice for its earlier conduct in a major immigration case that is currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, a federal judge in Brownsville, Texas, on Thursday imposed sweeping sanctions on the department’s litigators and demanded a remedial response from U.S. attorney general Loretta Lynch. “[T]he…

May 20, 2016 9:35 AM CDT

Ex-lawyer is sentenced for soliciting murder of his law-office manager

A former Texas lawyer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Thursday based on accusations that he solicited a client to kill his law-office manager. Former lawyer Paul Andrews of San Antonio pleaded no contest to the solicitation charge before his sentencing, the San Antonio Express-News reports. Andrews spoke…

May 20, 2016 8:23 AM CDT

Judge refers to alleged link between defamation case and lawyer’s suspicious death

A Dallas judge assigned extra security after a lawyer’s suspicious death recused himself on Wednesday in a defamation suit filed by the lawyer against a litigant in a previous matter. Judge Eric Moye said in court that he was stepping aside because one of the defamation defendants had “implications in…

May 19, 2016 8:38 AM CDT

Jury convicts 2 men who tracked down a cartel chief’s lawyer, leading to his killing

A federal court jury in Texas found two Mexican men guilty on Friday of stalking and conspiracy charges for their part in a Dallas-area lawyer’s assassination. The victim, attorney Juan Jesus Guerrero Chapa, 43, was fatally shot by an unknown assailant in front of his wife in the parking lot…

May 16, 2016 4:55 PM CDT

Lawyer who killed client last year is arrested in shooting outside bar

An Oklahoma City lawyer who shot and killed a client last year was arrested early Friday in a shooting outside a bar. The client’s death last year was determined to be self-defense and the lawyer, Jay Silvernail, was never charged. Silvernail was arrested in the new incident on a charge…

May 16, 2016 7:23 AM CDT