John Council

June 29, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

A federal prisoner convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death for killing another inmate has filed a motion for new trial after a U.S. district judge made an unusual decision to dismiss a juror during deliberations.

By JOHN COUNCIL

7 minute read

October 18, 2000 | Law.com

Franklin D. Walston, a convicted child molester who completed his prison term last March, was the first person to face residential restrictions under a law passed by the Texas legislature in 1999. The case reached a conclusion recently when Walston agreed to be placed under house arrest. But defense attorneys vow they will continue to challenge the constitutionality of the law permitting the state to supervise sex offenders past their prison terms.

By John Council

5 minute read

September 30, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

For years, lawyers who work for the State Counsel for Offenders -- the division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice charged with representing inmates who commit crimes while in prison -- have been allowed to maintain private practices, an unusual arrangement that state officials say they are examining. The issue arose in the wake of the Texas Board of Criminal Justice's Sept. 18 decision to terminate John Fant, the former director of the Huntsville-based State Counsel for Offenders.

By John Council

9 minute read

April 21, 2010 | Law.com

In what's shaping up to be a bruising trial, a Dallas County jury began hearing testimony last week in a suit in which former Baron & Budd lawyer Gary Cruciani alleges Russell Budd, a founder of the well-known asbestos litigation firm, made negligent and fraudulent misrepresentations about pay and other issues to induce him to join the firm in May 2006. But the firm, which is also a defendant, alleges in counterclaims that Cruciani breached a contract with the firm and "acted inappropriately" toward a junior lawyer.

By John Council and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

11 minute read

December 08, 2005 | The Legal Intelligencer

Employers would be wise not to prejudge a potential employee's medical condition and use that as a reason to rescind a job offer, according to a recent 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals opinion.

By John Council

6 minute read

December 19, 2001 | Law.com

James Douglas Waller served 11 years of a 30-year sentence for a rape he says he didn't commit. Even as he wins a second DNA test of evidence he hopes will clear his name, his case poses a stunningly obvious question that Texas' new DNA law doesn't address: What happens if a DNA test comes back favorable for the defendant? Waller's attorney Randy Schaffer says the law is weak, ineffective and full of holes.

By John Council

7 minute read

March 28, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

After a legal career that has included years of battles with the State Bar of Texas, several license suspensions and a trip to the county jail in connection with a contempt of court case, on March 18 a state district judge disbarred Dallas attorney Catherine Shelton.

By John Council

6 minute read

May 31, 2001 | Law.com

There hasn't been a wealth of case law dictating how far the media can go in cutting elected officials with the knife of satire. But, a Texas case may get to the heart of that issue, says Texas Lawyer's John Council. The libel suit filed against the Dallas Observer has a twist: Isaacks & Whitten v. New Times Inc., et al. involves an admittedly false article the defendants say was never meant to be taken seriously.

By John Council

9 minute read

February 19, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

A former Baron & Budd associate deliberately lied to clients about a settlement in an asbestos case, a Dallas federal jury has found. However, the jury found that Dallas-based Baron & Budd did not breach its fiduciary duty to its clients by abusing the powers of attorney in its employment agreements with the plaintiffs. Jeff Lynch (pictured) represents the plaintiffs in a suit over an asbestos settlement.

By John Council

9 minute read

September 27, 2011 | Texas Lawyer

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks of Austin is not usually one to keep his opinions to himself. So when a controversy ignited over his now famous Kindergarten Party order, Sparks was unusually silent, because he was on vacation in Rome. The judge says he has written worse things than that particular order and he doesn't think it was a big deal.

By John Council

5 minute read