In the News

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.

During the pandemic, we have all become keenly aware of the importance of delivery and service vehicles to our daily lives. And, so have personal injury lawyers. Searching for another big payoff, some personal injury lawyers have set their sights on commercial or company vehicle owners and operators. And it’s not just big trucks like 18-wheelers that are at risk. It’s any truck or car with a company logo on it, no matter the size or industry, and no matter how minor the accident or who was at fault.

The Biden administration is moving forward with the creation of a bipartisan commission to study reforms to the Supreme Court and the federal judiciary.

Their party survived the 2020 election. Now, Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick are trying to outrun the coronavirus pandemic and set themselves up for reelection to third terms next year. But first, they must manage a session of the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature beginning Tuesday. It’ll be held amid the most dire public health threat in at least a century.

Some prominent business defense lawyers, reacting to a recent Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report about the relatively paltry number of Covid-19 exposure lawsuits to date, say we are merely at the starting gate for virus-related injury claims.

The Florida Supreme Court on Thursday revamped a key legal standard as its conservative majority continued to show a willingness to undo previous decisions that have guided the state’s courts. “Our goals are simply to improve the fairness and efficiency of Florida’s civil justice system, to relieve parties from the expense and burdens of meritless litigation, and to save the work of juries for cases where there are real factual disputes that need resolution.”