When I was a kid I watched Sesame Street and The Electric Company. One of the shows had this bit where there would be four items on the screen. Three were alike, and one was not. The point was to identify which of the four was not like the others. There was a catchy jingle
Business Litigation
American employees get paid for answering after hours emails; French employees can ignore them altogether
Over the weekend the Washington Post reported that France has enacted a new law that allows employees to ignore work emails outside typical working hours. According to the Washington Post, the purpose behind the new French law is to reduce the impact of the stress of work on people’s personal time. While the new French…
Handbooks, offer letters, and the employment at-will doctrine in Texas
Texas case law is clear. Employment is at will, terminable at any time by either party, with or without cause, absent an express agreement to the contrary. Fed. Exp. Corp. v. Dutschmann, 846 S.W.2d 282, 283 (Tex. 1993). This means that unless there is an agreement limiting an employer’s right to terminate, an employer…
Why do juries matter?
I have been writing on this blog about how Dallas County juries have shifted over the years from pro-defense to pro-plaintiff, or at least to a point where most prospective jurors in Dallas County don’t necessarily consider lawsuits a bad thing. In the era of tort reform, this attitude among prospective jurors in Dallas…
Dallas County Juries, part III
Previously I posted about Dallas County juries here and here. Last week a federal jury ordered Johnson & Johnson to pay $1.041 billion to six plaintiffs who received defectively-designed hip implants. Of the total verdict, $32 million was for compensatory damages, and the rest was for punitive damages. The federal jury that ordered Johnson…
“Do It Yourself” Contracts Do Not Necessarily Save You Money
Contracts are important and “the devil is in the details.” Too often I see business owners and experienced entrepreneurs come to me as first time clients with a serious problem. But when we go to review the contract that is at the heart of the issue, I often find that the contract was not professionally…
What is the best evidence at trial?
I recently had a trial that caused me to think long and hard about what is the best evidence at trial. I concluded that documents, photos and videos beat witness testimony hands down. I believe that a case built around documentary evidence is stronger than a case build on witness testimony.
I think the reason…
Dallas County juries, Part II
I recently posted about the recent survey of prospective Dallas County jurors’ opinions and beliefs here. Based on the survey’s results and my own observations, I felt that Dallas County had changed from neutral to plaintiff-friendly in terms of likely jury panels. Assuming that blue leans more plaintiff-friendly, the recent election results support my…
Cannabis Legalization and Professional Conduct in Texas
Election 2016
Marijuana ballot initiatives won big on election night 2016. As recently reported in the Washington Post, voters in California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational marijuana initiatives. And, voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas just approved new medical marijuana initiatives. Washington…
Loose Lips Sink Ships
Loose lips sink ships!
The Texas Fifth Court of Appeals at Dallas recently held that a settlement party’s loose talk about settlement terms violated the confidentiality provision of a settlement agreement and excused the other party from making the remaining settlement payments. Opinion
The…