We report after each month on interesting statistics from the data we generate from the daily opinion summaries from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and at the end of each court year (Oct.-Sept.) we will aggregate that–all of which provides useful insights into the inner workings of the Court, the relative … More January 2022 opinion statistics
Designated for publication Dotson v. Atlantic Specialty Insurance Co., 21-30314, appeal from E.D. La. Ho, J. (King, Graves, Ho), insurance, res judicata Affirming summary judgment dismissing plaintiff’s bad faith claims against insurer arising from insurer’s representations about policy limits in prior litigation arising from an auto accident, on grounds of the res judicata effect of … More January 31, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Gabriel Investment Group, Inc. v. Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission, 21-50322, appeal from W.D. Tex. Willett, J. (King, Costa, Willett), alcohol regulation Certifying to the Texas Supreme Court question regarding whether an exempt publicly-traded corporation owning a package store permit may retain that permit when it is sold to a non-exempt publicly-traded corporation … More January 28, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Danziger & De Llano, L.L.P. v. Morgan Verkamp, L.L.C., 21-20186, appeal from S.D. Tex. Higginson, J. (Davis, Higginson, Engelhardt), personal jurisdiction Affirming district court’s dismissal of suit against non-Texas LLC and two of its non-Texas-resident members on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction. In a case arising from a fee-splitting arrangement between … More January 27, 2022, opinions
Unpublished U.S. v. Viator, 20-11235, appeal from N.D. Tex. per curiam (Higginbotham, Higginson, Duncan), criminal, compassionate release Afirming district court’s denial of motion for compassionate release. Small v. Zarvona Energy, L.L.C., 20-20316, appeal from S.D. Tex. per curiam (Smith, Stewart, Graves), prisoner suit Affirming dismissal of former prisoner’s § 1983 suit for lack of subject … More January 26, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. Garrett, 17-10516, appeal from N.D. Tex. Jolly, J. (Jolly, Jones, Southwick), criminal, sentencing, Armed Career Criminal Act On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, reinstating prior judgment reversing imposition of a lesser sentence not enhanced under the ACCA and remanding for resentencing. The panel had previously held that a prior … More January 24-25, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Pennywell v. Hooper, 20-30045, appeal from W.D. La. Jolly, J. (Jolly, Higginson, Engelhardt), habeas corpus Reversing the district court’s dismissal of the petitioner’s petition for federal habeas relief, based on a holding of equitable tolling, and remanding for further proceedings. “Pennywell delivered his petition for direct review of his state conviction—which resulted … More January 21, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, Inc. v. Phillips, 18-30699, appeal from M.D. La. Elrod, J. (Higginbotham, Elrod, Ho), Ho, J., concurring; abortion law, sovereign immunity, Ex parte Young Granting petition for panel rehearing, withdrawing opinion issued July 15, 2021, which had reversed in part the denial of dismissal on sovereign immunity grounds the … More January 20, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication O’Brien’s Response Management, L.L.C. v. BP Exploration & Production, Inc., 20-30364, appeal from E.D. La. Jones, J. (Jones, Clement, Graves), Graves, J., dissenting in part; insurance Affirming in part, reversing in part, and remanding for further proceedings on claims for insurance coverage and indemnification regarding payment for BP’s liabilities for personal injury … More January 19, 2022, opinions
Designated for publication U.S. v. Gomez, 17-20526, appeal from S.D. Tex. per curiam (Smith, Elrod, Oldham), criminal, sentencing On remand from the U.S. Supreme Court, remanding to the district court to reform the judgment to impose sentence under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(1) (applicable to predicate non-aggravated felonies) rather than under 8 U.S.C. § 1326(b)(2) (applicable … More January 17-18, 2022, opinions
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