Ernest “Big Daddy” Bux’s favorite old, majestic cypress tree “Cyrus” has a wide draping canopy near his property line adjoining his neighbor Sonny Gap. Gap recently complained that the roots and the canopy are growing into his property; that the roots have grown into his foundation and around the gas meter and pipes; and that some of the roots are growing into knees above-ground making walking in this area tricky. Plus, his wife thinks the…

Last month I talked about how litigation “wins” don’t always require a jury finding in your favor.  This month we continue talking about reaching litigation “wins” through early communication and objectivity. If I got $100 for every time a client told me during an initial consultation that they wanted to extract a pound of flesh from the other side, I’d probably living the island life right now.  These clients aren’t individuals looking to sue…

Last month, a gunman entered an El Paso Walmart, shot and killed 22 people and injured more than two dozen others. A local El Paso attorney filed suit against Walmart claiming that store had insufficient security. Besides the shooter “Malo,” is the retailer Walmart responsible? What about the property manager? The property owner? The architect who designed the retail store?…

Days ago, engineer Anthony Levandowski was indicted on criminal charges accusing him of stealing information from Google-owned Waymo and taking it to Uber. While the indictment alleges he downloaded 14,000 documents containing trade secrets before he left Google, Levandowski insists the downloads were his. An arbitration panel ordered Levandowski to pay Google $127 million. After firing Levandowski – who repeatedly asserted his constitutional right against self-incrimination before the trial – his new employer, Uber, paid…

Does a “win” in litigation require a final judgment in your favor?  Not necessarily.  Litigation “wins” are defined by the circumstances facing a party at the outset of litigation, and how those circumstances change as litigation progresses.  Over the next few months we will dive deeper into this topic, and talk about issues such as:…

Grant Bux, Big Daddy Bux’s nephew, owns Sparkle-Plenty Electrical Manufacturing in Dallas, and has a branch office in San Antonio. The Dallas office employs 13 family members and four non-family employees. San Antonio has 16 non-family employees. Grant learned that both the Cities of Dallas and San Antonio have mandatory sick leave ordinances becoming effective on August 1st. As a family business, will they impact Grant and Sparkle-Plenty?…

Now that the 86th Texas Legislative Session is over, it’s time to review what happened to proposed legislation we highlighted earlier this year related to civil litigation that may affect your business. …