John Council

September 05, 2011 | Texas Lawyer

Senior U.S. District Judge David Hittner has dismissed with prejudice the disciplinary and sanctions proceeding against a Fort Worth attorney, his former co-counsel and a former client. In January, U.S. District Judge John McBryde of Fort Worth sanctioned Brackett & Ellis partner Joseph F. Cleveland (pictured).

By JOHN COUNCIL

3 minute read

January 28, 2004 | Law.com

Affirming convictions in death penalty habeas corpus writs is a routine matter for federal courts in Texas, but a U.S. Supreme Court decision, Wiggins v. Smith, is giving added traction to ineffective-assistance claims in death penalty cases. Recently, the 5th Circuit granted a certificate of appealability, remanded a case to trial court for an evidentiary hearing and ordered an outright reversal of a death sentence due to Wiggins.

By John Council

9 minute read

January 02, 2001 | Law.com

The Texas Supreme Court dealt a blow to insurers last month in cases involving defamation of character and a diet pill manufacturer. Dissents to all or part of each ruling underscore the philosophical disagreements that exist between the two most conservative members of the court and the other justices.

By John Council and Mary Alice Robbins

10 minute read

April 12, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

�The fact of the matter is that sometimes juries get it wrong. And that�s why we have judges to fix it,� Ken Tapscott says.

By JOHN COUNCIL

7 minute read

July 24, 2006 | National Law Journal

The Texas legal community was saddened and shaken by the death last week of Michael Shelby, a respected former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Texas who, after years of public service, had recently left his post to become a litigation partner in Fulbright & Jaworski. "Mike Shelby could talk for an hour on any topic, and if he knew something about it, he could talk for two hours," says Harris County DA Chuck Rosenthal. Shelby suffered from bone cancer that had recently recurred, his friends say.

By John Council and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

October 07, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

White House counsel Alberto Gonzales -- a former justice on the Texas Supreme Court -- was in Dallas on Sept. 27 to speak at the Federal Bar Association convention and to students at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. He spoke with Texas Lawyer senior reporter John Council on a number of timely and important topics, including the rejection of Priscilla Owen's nomination to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and whether he may be a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court.

By John Council

8 minute read

October 08, 2007 | Law.com

In August, the Law Offices of Windle Turley felt the sting of a $1.4 million verdict -- the result of the Dallas plaintiffs firm attempting to recover a contingent fee from a former client. But last week a judge soothed that wound by erasing the damages portion of the verdict. The background of the complicated fee dispute stretches back to a medical malpractice suit filed in 1997 by a lawyer who worked for the Turley firm at the time but left in 2000.

By John Council

5 minute read

July 07, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

A divided Texas Supreme Court poured out a plaintiff's jury win against a church for emotional and psychological damages she suffered during an alleged exorcism. The 6-3 majority ruled that courts cannot consider such disputes, because they intrude on a ministry's First Amendment rights.

By John Council

6 minute read

September 17, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

Decisions in the cases that follow could result in millions of dollars changing hands and radical changes in the law. Most of the cases involve insurance-related issues. The Texas Supreme Court has held over one case for almost three terms. Another just arrived as a certified question from the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. If these cases have one thing in common, it's that they all involve complicated issues.

By John Council

4 minute read

August 27, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

The arbitration process is supposed to make short order of endless, messy litigation. But if Positive Software Solutions, et al. v. Susman Godfrey, et al. stands for anything, it's that a dispute can become endless and messy precisely because of arbitration.

By John Council

8 minute read