NEWS

Congratulations to Lana Beverly who won an appeal in front of Houston’s First Court of Appeals this week.  The case involved a facility for young people with disabilities in which the Defendants filed a second Ch. 74 motion to dismiss claiming the case was a medical malpractice case and required an expert report.  Given that this was the second time Defendants had asserted this argument, Lana successfully convinced the Court of Appeals that the law of the case, as determined the first time Defendants made this argument, controlled the case and did not allow a second attempt to claim that the case was a medical malpractice case.  You can read Lana’s briefing here and read the opinion here.

Congratulations to firm client Parker Waichman LLP on securing a denial of a motion to dismiss filed by Defendant Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. in a case pending in the District of New Mexico alleging that Novartis hid serious side effects of its blood cancer drug Tasigna.  Novartis argued that the plaintiff failed to allege the exact date he was diagnosed with the side effects, and thus he should not be able to move forward with his negligence and product liability claims.  U.S. District Judge James A. Parker disagreed, finding that the plaintiff was not required to preemptively refute Novartis’ affirmative defenses, and that his lawsuit can proceed.  You can read the Court’s opinion here.  You can also read a Law360.com article about the case here.

Congratulations to Thad Spalding who, along with Kevin Parker, Richard LaGarde, and Manfred Sternberg, was successful in convincing the Texas Supreme Court to deny immunity to GTECH, a private contractor hired by the Texas Lottery Commission to design and manufacture instant scratch-off tickets.  You can see the Nettles briefing and argument here and here, and the Steele briefing and argument here and here, and you can read the Court’s majority opinion here.  You can also read a Law360.com article about the case here.

Congratulations to Dana Levy on her successful defense of medical malpractice expert reports before Houston’s Fourteenth Court of Appeals.  The court of appeals affirmed the trial court’s denial of Chapter 74 motions to dismiss filed by various health care providers, finding that the challenged experts were qualified and that their reports satisfied Chapter 74’s gate-keeping functions in all respects.  You can read Dana’s briefing here, and the court of appeals opinion here.

Congratulations to Dany Levy, DP&S’s newest partner!  Dana joined the firm in 2017 as Of Counsel and, since January 2019, has headed up the firm’s Houston office.  We are proud of all that Dana has accomplished and look forward to many more successes.

Congratulations to Tammy Holt and Thad Spalding who, along with trial counsel Kenneth Chaiken, successfully reversed a summary judgment in a dispute over the terms and requirements of a Cross Purchase Agreement, and whether that agreement required remaining shareholders in a closely-held corporation to purchase their client, a retiring shareholder’s shares.  The Court of Appeals also rendered judgment in their client’s favor and remanded the case for purposes of valuing the shares pursuant to the terms of the parties’ agreement.  You can read the opinion here.

Congratulations to DP&S attorney Tammy Holt who successfully reversed a summary judgment granted against the plaintiff in a dog bite case!  Tammy successfully convinced the court of appeals that the plaintiff’s claims of strict liability, negligent handling, and gross negligence were supported by deposition testimony that dog was “leery” around strangers, prone to nip at heels, and that owners considered putting the dog away when plaintiff visited, but decided not to.  The court of appeals also refused to hold that compliance with a local leash law negated an element of plaintiff’s claim when the plaintiff did not allege a violation of the leash law.  You can read the San Antonio Court of Appeals decision here.

Congratulations to Kirk Pittard and Thad Spalding  who have been named “best lawyers” by D Magazine in the Appellate category for 2020.

Congratulations to Dana Levy who successfully defended a $500,000 default judgment in Houston’s Fourteenth Court of Appeals!  Dana prevailed by arguing that the defendant’s 2019 appeal of a 2015 default judgment was untimely.  The court of appeals agreed, rejecting the defendants’ argument that the default judgment was interlocutory because an unserved defendant was never nonsuited.  You can see Dana’s briefing here, and read the opinion here.

DP&S, for the fourth year in a row, proudly sponsored the Ultimate Writer Program at Baylor Law School.  Students compete not only for a cash prize, but also the opportunity to interview for a possible internship with our firm.  Congratulations to this year’s winner, Christina Rosendahl, second place contestant, William de los Santos, and third place entry, Casey Cochran.  You can read more about the winners and the competition here.