Another quick-blurb catch-up post (the briefing and arguing has been non-stop since mid-July–Take the Fifth may need to take on some more staff!). Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves), criminal, Sixth Amendment, sentencing Affirming conviction and sentence on fraud under the Paycheck Protection Program, upholding denial of motion to substitute counsel and district … More August 1-15, 2024, opinions
Take the Fifth’s resident opinion-aggregator was out of the country for the first two and a half weeks of July, so the following are just abbreviated accounts of dispositions without any summary. Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Smith, Southwick, Higginson), bankruptcy, contempt Affirming contempt order entered by bankruptcy court against defendant in adversary proceeding. Stewart, … More July 1-17, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Southwick, J. (Richman, Southwick, Oldham), election law, sovereign immunity Reversing district court’s denial of District Attorney’s motion to dismiss constitutional claims of voters and others challenging recent amendments to Texas election laws, holding that District Attorney is entitled to sovereign immunity; vacating denial of motion to dismiss for lack of standing; and … More June 20-21, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Stewart, J. (Stewart, Duncan, Engelhardt), attorney-client privilege Reversing order compelling depositions and production related to law firm reports prepared for public university arising from alleged incidents of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and racial discrimination, and remanding for further proceedings. Court held that it had jurisdiction over the appeal of the court’s discovery … More June 17-18, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (Jolly, Higginson, Duncan), employment discrimination Affirming dismissal of employment discrimination claims. per curiam (Barksdale, Southwick, Graves), insurance Affirming summary judgment for insurer in coverage dispute.
Designated for publication per curiam (Richman, Higginbotham, Willett), Richman, C.J., dissenting in part; securities law, fraud, breach of contract Affirming summary judgment dismissal of extracontractual and Texas Securities Act fraud claims; but reversing summary judgment on federal securities law and Delaware common law fraud claims; and remanding for further proceedings. Claims arose from an agreement … More May 23-29, 2024, opinions
Unpublished per curiam (King, Haynes, Graves), criminal Granting Anders motion to withdraw, and dismissing appeal. per curiam (Jones, Clement, Wilson), Title VII, employment discrimination Vacating district court’s summary judgment dismissal of claims for failure to pay bonuses, and affirming summary judgment dismissal of all remaining discrimination claims, and remanding for further proceedings. per curiam (Willett, … More May 14, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Elrod, J. (Elrod, Ho, Wilson), timeliness After receiving response from Texas Supreme Court on certified question, reversing district court’s dismissal of claims as barred by the statute of limitations, and remanding for further proceedings. Oldham, J. (Jolly, Engelhardt, Oldham), qualified immunity Affirming denial of qualified immunity. To quote from the Court’s introduction: … More May 1-7, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication Jones, J. (Jones, Stewart, Duncan), breach of contract, fraudulent inducement Reversing judgment and $1.6 billion in combined compensatory and punitive damages in favor of plaintiff on breach of contract and fraudulent inducement claims, holding that liability determination was in error. The Court held that IBM’s actions in replacing BMC mainframe software on … More April 30, 2024, opinions
Designated for publication per curiam (Elrod, Willett, Duncan), criminal, restitution Vacating $6,000 restitution award issued as part of sentence on conviction of production of child pornography, on holding that PSR cited inapplicable statutes and failed to conduct a proximate-cause analysis; and remanding for further proceedings. Smith, J. (Higginbotham, Smith, Higginson), criminal, competence, sentencing Affirming conviction … More April 25-26, 2024, opinions
