Kelly, Durham & Pittard, LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Morgan A. McPheeters as a new associate in the Dallas office.  Morgan is a 2014 cum laude graduate of Baylor Law School, with a concentration in business litigation, is already licensed to practice law in New Mexico and just sat for the Texas Bar Exam last month.  Welcome to the firm Morgan.

On February 25, 2015, Peter Kelly defended a discovery order requiring the disclosure of peer-review committee documents before the Texas Supreme Court.  Peter presented argument on behalf of the Respondent, Dr. Miguel Gomez, in In re Hermann Hosp. Sys., No. 14-0171. The issue concerns whether (1) the statutory medical-committee privilege protects documents potentially discoverable under the “anticompetitive exception” to the statutory privilege and (2) the exception requires that an antitrust claim be pled.  A Law360.com article regarding the case can be viewed here (“Hospital Fights Privileged Docs“) and a summary of the issue and Peter’s argument can be viewed here.

Congratulations to Rachel Montes and Todd Tracy who, along with the support of Leighton Durham, obtained an $18,745,001 verdict in the 95th Judicial District Court in Dallas County on February 13, 2015.  The jury’s verdict was based on injuries Hope Crump suffered when she was ejected from a vehicle in which she was a passenger.  Hope was rendered a paraplegic as a result of the accident.  The jury found John Goin, the driver of the vehicle, to be the primary cause of the accident.  Goin, who lost control of the vehicle and caused it to roll over, was intoxicated at the time.   A Dallas Morning News article regarding the case can be found here.

Leighton Durham was interviewed by John Council of Texas Lawyer regarding opposing counsel’s unusual motion to dismiss filed in a case in which he and Dean Boyd represent a plaintiff injured when he ran into a cow that escaped from the defendant’s property.  Because the owner of the cow is a retired doctor, opposing counsel moved to declare the case a health care liability case and dismiss it for failing to comply with the expert report requirements of the health care liability statute.  You can read the Texas Lawyer article and Leighton’s comments here (“How is Hitting A Cow Med Mal“), and you can read the Dallas Court of Appeals opinion denying the opposing counsel mandamus relief here.

You can read about Peter Kelly’s win in Davis v. White on the front page of the January 12, 2015 Texas Lawyer (“Court Reinstates $2.8M Punitive Award“).

KD&P is delighted to report a significant victory earned on December 29, 2014 in the Fort Worth Court of Appeals. In a breach of fiduciary duty case (a lawyer suing his former partner), the jury awarded $2,800,000 in exemplary damages (10 times the actual damages). The trial court applied Texas’s statutory cap and cut the award to $564,000 (2 times the actual damages). On appeal, the Fort Worth court reinstated the full amount when it found that the defendant waived application of the cap. Brad Parker tried a great case in the court below, and it was a privilege to work with him as we vindicated our client’s rights. Firm partner Peter Kelly handled the briefing and oral argument. A Law360 article regarding the case can be found here and a link to the opinion in Davis v. White can be found here.

Congratulations to Leigh Prichard Bradford who, on November 21, 2014, defeated a Petition for Review filed in the Texas Supreme Court in a medical malpractice case.  The court of appeals opinion, Navarro v. Washington, No. 10-13-00248-CV, 2014 WL 1882763 (Tex. App.—Waco May 8, 2014, pet. denied) (mem. op.), upheld the qualifications and sufficiency of the patient’s expert doctor’s reports under Chapter 74.  A link to the supreme court briefing and order denying the hospital’s petition can be found here:   http://www.search.txcourts.gov/Case.aspx?cn=14-0499&coa=cossup

KDP is pleased to announce that Christy Wollin has been named a “Rising Star” in the Appellate category by Texas Monthly and Law & Politics Magazine.  Congratulations Christy!

On October 15, 2014, Leighton Durham traveled to Lubbock to speak to the South Plains Trial Lawyer’s Association regarding “Common Mistakes Even the Best Lawyers Make.”