In the News

It is unfortunate to report that, in fact, some predatory plaintiff attorneys are working with some area school districts to file lawsuits against contractors, architects, engineers and the many subcontractors who work with them in the construction of campuses across the Rio Grande Valley.

We need commercial vehicles for our communities to function. A professional driver for Atlas Delivery Services in Houston undertook a perilous, 197-mile trip to San Antonio in the height of the storm to deliver life-saving medication to an 18-month-old heart transplant patient. Without it, her body would have rejected her new heart.

Last week, Gov. Greg Abbott in his State of the State address said he wanted to shield Texas businesses that have remained open during the pandemic and followed state COVID-19 protocols from customer and employee lawsuits. He made that one of his five emergency priorities this legislative session, and several groups that represent small businesses applauded the decision.

Facing tough questions from state senators, embattled Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defended his office’s failed effort to overturn presidential election results in key battleground states and its decision to spend millions of dollars on a lawsuit against Google.

Plaintiff-side law firms have funneled millions of dollars into advertisements aimed at attracting clients impacted by COVID-19, with Morgan & Morgan as the top-spender, according to a Tuesday report from the American Tort Reform Association.

Money-grubbing attorneys? Tradesman guilty of shoddy workmanship? Multiple PSJA ISD school campuses currently suffering from some sort of construction defect even if they’re nearly 10 years old? Where does the truth really lie in the huge litigious wave of legal filings currently washing over PSJA ISD?

Lawsuits filed by the Pharr-San Juan-Alamo Independent School District against architects, engineers and construction companies have come under scrutiny as representatives of those companies have called upon the school board to drop the allegedly frivolous lawsuits.

One paper by the Texans for Lawsuit Reform Foundation said that if Texas had new appellate court districts, it could reduce the number of conflicting legal rulings that come from the courts. None of Texas’ counties should be in more than one appellate district, said the paper. Some courts are too busy and others are not, and the judiciary uses docket equalization by transferring cases, which “is unpopular with litigants, lawyers and judges.” Texas would save money if there were fewer appellate courts, said the paper.

“Texas businesses that have operated in good faith shouldn’t have their livelihoods destroyed by frivolous lawsuits. I am asking the Legislature to quickly get a bill to my desk that provides civil liability protections for individuals, businesses, and healthcare providers that operated safely during the pandemic.”

We applaud the governor for highlighting the very real threat abusive and unnecessary COVID-19-related litigation presents for the well-being of Texas families and our economy. Abusive lawsuits make the goods and services we need more expensive and harder to get. They kill job growth and they slow investment in our communities.