Houston lawyer Bill Luyties represents a small Chicago law firm that does no business in Texas ­— other than when it unwittingly attempted to deposit a huge counterfeit check drawn off an account in the Lone Star State as part of a bank scam.

And Luyties recently convinced Houston's First Court of Appeals that the mere act of depositing a phony check is not enough reason to allow a bank to sue the Illinois law firm in a Texas court. And that ruling will be a great relief to other out-of-state law firms who get used by crooks in illegal Texas financial schemes, he said.

“It has great ramifications for any lawyer who gets paid by a client in another location,” said Luyties, a member in Houston's Lorance & Thompson, of the First Court's recent decision.