Significant Victories
Archer v. Tunnell, No. 05-15-00549-CV, 2016 WL 519632 (Tex. App.—Dallas Feb. 9, 2016, no pet.) (mem. op.)
Dismissing interlocutory appeal, originating from claim that collision with cow owned by a former doctor was really a health care liability case that required a Chapter 74 expert report, and sanctioning doctor and his attorney for refusing to dismiss frivolous appeal.
Hancock v. Nicoley, 392 P.3d 175 (N.M. Ct. App. 2016)
Reversing error of district court in awarding windfall of parcel of land in boundary dispute between neighboring ranchers.
Ginn v. NCI Bldg. Sys., Inc., 472 S.W.3d 802 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] 2015, no pet.)
The court of appeals affirmed the trial court's judgment against Ginn, who NCI Building Systems had sued for theft of trade secrets.
William Marsh Rice Univ. v. Refaey, 459 S.W.3d 590 (Tex. 2015)
The Supreme Court concluded that the court of appeals erred in dismissing for want of jurisdiction Rice University's appeal. Pursuant to Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code section 51.014, Rice University sought interlocutory review of the trial court's denial of summary judgment based on official immunity.
Bay Area Healthcare Group, Ltd. v. Martinez, No. 13-15-00118-CV, 2015 WL 7352596 (Tex. App.—Corpus Christi Nov. 19, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.)
Successfully convinced court of appeals that housekeeper's claim for injuries suffered when medical center employer required her to lift very heavy items was not a health care liability claim to which Chapter 74 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code applied.
In re State Farm Lloyds, No. 13-14-00616-CV, 2015 WL 6520998 (Tex. App.--Corpus Christi Oct. 28, 2015, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.)
Denying mandamus relief and requiring the production of electronically stored information in native or near native format.
Katy Springs & Mfg. Inc. v. Favalora, 476 S.W.3d 579 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2015, pet. denied)
Affirming almost the entirety of a judgment in excess of $800,000 in a nonsubscriber case against a negligent employer. In addition to raising the usual factual and legal sufficiency arguments regarding the liability and damage findings, the defendant also raised points relating to the financing of the medical expenses, the exclusion of certain evidence, improper jury argument, and charge error, all of which were overruled by the court of appeals.
Okon v. Boldon, No. 02-14-00334-CV, 2015 WL 4652775 (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Aug. 6, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.)
Upholding a default judgment in favor of a personal injury plaintiff, where the defendant attempted to challenge the judgment through a bill of review more than four years after the judgment was entered, claiming extrinsic fraud in the manner in which substituted service was executed.
Kroger Co. v. Milanes, 474 S.W.3d 321 (Tex. App.—Houston [14th Dist.] 2015, no pet.)
Affirming a $1.1 million judgment in favor of injured Kroger employee following an incident in which he lost four fingers on his dominant hand, and in the process rejecting Kroger's arguments, among many others, that its duties should be limited to those owed by premises owners to invitees--meaning no duty to train or supervise, hire competent co-employees, provide appropriate instrumentalities, etc.--based on the Texas Supreme Court's recent opinion in Austin v. Kroger.
Mitchell v. Satyu, No. 05-14-00479-CV, 2015 WL 3765771 (Tex. App.—Dallas June 17, 2015, no pet.) (mem. op.)
Reversing trial court’s dismissal of a medical malpractice case, concluding that trial court abused its discretion in doing so and that the Chapter 74 expert report sufficiently demonstrated a causal relationship between the physician’s negligence and the death of Mr. Mitchell.
Brazos Presbyterian Homes, Inc. v. Rodriguez, 468 S.W. 3d 175 (Tex. App.--Houston [14th Dist.] 2015, no pet.)
A custodian employed by a cleaning company was injured when an elevator malfunctioned in a nursing home facility where she was working; following the recent decision in Ross v. St. Luke’s, the court held there was no“substantive nexus” between Rodriguez’s claims relating to the nursing home’s maintenance of its elevator and Brazos Manor’s provision of health care.
In re Memorial Herman Hosp. Sys., 464 S.W.3d 686 (Tex. 2015)
Dr. Gomez brought suit against Memorial Hermann, his former employer, seeking damages caused by the hospital’s defamatory “whisper campaign” against him. The hospital claimed that all the relevant documents were protected by the medical peer review privilege; on mandamus, the Texas Supreme Court held that the “anticompetitive action” exception to the privilege applies, and ordered the vast majority of the documents produced.
Brown & Gay Eng'g, Inc. v. Olivares, 461 S.W.3d 117 (Tex. 2015)
Private engineering firm retained by a governmental entity to design and build a toll road asserted “derivative sovereign immunity” protects it from liability for a three-fatality accident caused by negligent design. The Supreme Court declined to expand the doctrine of governmental immunity to include government contractors, allowed the suit against the engineering firm to proceed.
State v. Flores, 355 P.3d 81 (N.M. Ct. App. 2015)
Reversing reckless child abuse conviction and 18-year term of imprisonment of father whose baby died while in his care.
Williams v. BNSF Railway Co., 359 P.3d 158 (N.M. Ct. App. 2015)
Upholding judgment on jury verdict in favor of employee injured by railroad, rejecting railroad’s challenge to admission of evidence of subsequent remedial measures and of injuries to other railroad employees.
Nabors Well Services, Ltd. v. Romero, 456 S.W.3d 553 (Tex. 2015)
Though, as expected, the court modernized the law to allow evidence of non-use of seat belts, ensured that such evidence needs to be supported by expert testimony; case remanded to court of appeals, with judgment intact, to determine whether defense evidence met Daubert standards.
In re Equipment Depot, Ltd., No. 14-0981 (Tex. Jan. 21, 2015)
Denial of emergency motion to stay and mandamus relief in a case in which the trial court granted a new trial based on its finding that the jury's defense verdict was against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.
Navarro v. Washington, No. 14-0499 (Tex. Nov. 21, 2014)
Successfully defeated petition for review in a medical malpractice case in Navarro v. Washington, 10-13-00248-CV, 2014 WL 1882763 (Tex. App.—Waco May 8, 2014, pet. denied) (mem. op.), which upheld the sufficiency of the patient’s expert doctors’ reports under Chapter 74.
In re Fisher & Paykel Appliances, Inc., 420 S.W.3d 842 (Tex. App.—Dallas 2014, orig. proceeding)
Rejecting the self-critical analysis privilege and requiring the production of relevant reports in a products liability case.
In re Equipment Depot, No. 02-14-00154-CV (Tex. App.—Fort Worth Sept. 8, 2014, orig. proceeding) (mem. op.)
Denial of petition for mandamus when the defendant challenged the trial court’s new trial order which was based on the jury’s verdict being against the great weight and preponderance of the evidence.