Seven elected officials in Galveston County and a Galveston citizen were not prevailing parties in a voting right case, so not entitled to attorney fees, a three judge panel of the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided on Dec. 17.

In politics, it never hurts if a candidate for office—appointed or elected—has a really good background story to tell the public at large. And that certainly is the case for Locke Lord senior counsel Nandita Berry whom Gov. Rick Perry appointed as Texas Secretary of State on Dec. 19.

Lest anyone think that hair-raising e-discovery sanctions opinions are a thing of the past, a federal judge in Illinois has issued a blistering opinion imposing nearly $1 million in punitive sanctions on the defendants, and indicated that more sanctions are almost certainly on the way.

The president of the Houston Bar Association is appealing contempt findings after trial courts ruled that he presided over a foreclosure sale of property without authority.

The State Commission on Judicial Conduct has disciplined a former Corpus Christi district judge for ordering a father to relinquish custody of his son during the Christmas holidays three years ago because she believed she was “being played with.”