In today’s legal landscape, jury awards to personal injury plaintiffs are trending upwards. Studies show that “nuclear verdicts” are increasing in prevalence as jurors grow more critical of corporate defendants and are increasingly persuaded by provocative trial tactics from plaintiff attorneys. However, recent decisions from Louisiana and Texas show that some courts are bucking the
I. Introduction
Attorneys experienced in defending depositions know the importance of witness preparation. A key component of this process requires counsel to sift through large amounts of produced discovery to identify specific documents ripe for examination by opposing counsel. An interesting issue unfolds when an examining attorney asks a witness during the deposition to recount
I. INTRODUCTION
Premises owners of commercial establishments have relied on Chapter 95 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code (“Chapter 95”) to defend against negligence actions brought by independent contractors since its advent in 1996. Chapter 95 affords premises owners complete immunity against claims (1) based on the personal injury, death, or property damage
The exception swallowed the rule. The Fifth Circuit essentially overruled the judicially-created voluntary-involuntary limitation to remove a case post-suit based on federal diversity jurisdiction in Advanced Indicator and Manufacturing, Inc. v. Acadia, 50 F.4th 469, 474 (5th Cir. 2022). Accordingly, this means that if you represent a diverse defendant in a state court case,
Kean Miller obtained the dismissal of a suit filed against its client, a foreign manufacturer of an industrial product who was sued by the Texas purchaser of the product, because the Texas court did not have personal jurisdiction over the manufacturer. A Texas court of appeals recently affirmed this dismissal.
After the foreign manufacturer filed
The Texas Supreme Court has ruled that Chapter 95, a statute that protects property owners from personal injury suits by employees of contractors and subcontractors, applies to claims against property owners for the negligent hiring of the contractor or subcontractor.
In certain circumstances, Chapter 95 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code protects property