A pro-defendant tort-reform provision can help plaintiffs in product-liability cases defeat removal to federal court. In 2003, House Bill 4 dramatically restricted the liability of “innocent retailers” — retailers who commit no independent, culpable act — in products liability suits.

Ken Anderson, judge of the 277th District Court in Georgetown, is set for trial on Sept. 30 in a disciplinary case about allegations that he committed misconduct as Williamson County district attorney when prosecuting Michael Morton’s murder case.

For years, Texas lawyers have tried every tactic imaginable to convince the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that binding arbitration should not resolve their clients’ fates, with little success. But John Crouch is adding a new argument to the debate: statistics.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has ruled that would-be whistleblowers are protected from retaliation only if they report their employer’s wrongdoing to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission — contradicting virtually every other court to consider the matter and the SEC’s own rules.

A decision on whether Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins should be held in contempt for refusing to testify during a criminal proceeding was delayed on July 15, after his lawyers won a ruling that the disciplinary order was not specific enough. Watkins also moved to recuse the judge who held him in contempt.