Newsroom
Dallas Court of Appeals Rules That One-Size-Fits-All Liquidated Damages Clause in Employment Contract Constitutes an Unenforceable Penalty
The Dallas Court of Appeals has ruled that an employment contract between a hospital and a nurse that stipulated the term of employment and contained a liquidated damages provision if the employee left before the end of the term constitutes an unenforceable...
Houston [1st] Court of Appeals Reverses Trial Court Denial of Defense Motions to Dismiss for Defective Certificates of Merit in Channelview Flooding MDL
In re Channelview Flooding Litigation (No. 01-22-00946-CV; December 31, 2024) arose from lawsuit brought by 125 property owners who allege that the construction of two crude oil pipelines in a utility corridor caused their properties to flood. CenterPoint Energy...
TCJL Tracking Report 1-24-25
TCJL Tracked Bill List January 24, 2025 New bills are in red. This list is current through Thursday, January 23, 2025. New Causes of Action Tort Liability Construction Law Freedom to Contract Health Care Liability Judicial Matters/Practice of Law Eminent...
Corpus Christi Court of Appeals Affirms TC Denial of Motion to Dismiss Chapter 74 Health Care Liability Case
Neonatology Consultants of Corpus Christi, PLLC; Alfonso M. Prado, M.D.; Miguel A. DeLeon, M.D.; Euming Chong, M.D.; Jie Guo, M.D.; Vallier C. Ojadi, M.D. v. Felix Moya and Serena Lee Barragan, Individually and as Next Friends of XXXX, A Minor (No. 13-23-00300-CV;...
Corpus Christi Court of Appeals Affirms Judgment for Insurer in Hurricane Hanna Claim
Yolanda Gonzalez v. American National Lloyds Insurance Company (No. 13-23-00319-CV; December 19, 2024) arose from a claim for damage to an insured’s home resulting from Hurricane Hanna in July 2020. The insurer inspected the property shortly after the storm and...
Proposed Legislation Would Create Expansive New Liability Exposure for Health Care Providers
On April 5, 2023, we posted an analysis of several bills that expanded the liability of health care providers so significantly that we questioned whether the Legislature was undoing the immense progress Texas has made since 2003 in enhancing access to health care...
SCOTX Reverses Course, Grants Review in Federal Pre-emption Case Involving Railway Labor Act
The Texas Supreme Court has changed its mind and will review a case from the Dallas Court of Appeals concerning conflict pre-emption under the federal Railway Labor Act (RLA)(45 USC § 151a). The Boeing Company v. Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA) On...
TCJL to Support General Contractor’s Petition for Review in Appellate Decision Misapplying Express Negligence Rule
TCJL will file an amicus curiae brief in support of a general contractor’s petition for review of a Beaumont Court of Appeals decision that erroneously applied the express negligence rule to a narrow-form indemnity agreement. S&B Engineers & Constructors,...
New Cause of Action Tracker: 228 and Counting
As you may recall, last session we waited until the March deadline for filing bills had passed before we tallied up the proposed new causes of action. We’re not waiting that long this session because a truly astonishing number of such bills have already been filed,...
Houston [1st] Court of Appeals Holds That Prompt Payment Act Does Not Apply to Contract Dispute Over Construction of a Natural Gas Processing Plant
The Houston [1st] Court of Appeals has wiped out a more than $20 million judgment against a midstream company in a case stemming from a contract dispute over the construction of a natural gas processing plant. Arrow Field Services, LLC v. Linde Engineering North...
TCJL Tracking Report 1-17-2025
TCJL Tracked Bill List January 17, 2025 TCJL Priority Bills SB 779 by Middleton (R-Galveston): Adds Chapter 100C, Civil Practice & Remedies Code, to limit actions for damages or other relief based on common law public nuisance, whether asserted as a...
Texas Senate Committee Assignments
Patrick releases Texas Senate committee assignments