There's no denying it. We're into the thick of another term at the SCOTX and next week is argument week again. Here's what the high nine have on their plate:
November 8, 2011
- Texas West Oaks Hospital, LP and Texas Hospital Holdings, LLC v. Frederick Williams, No. 10-0603--The expert report hits just keep on coming. If a health care worker is injured by a patient, is THAT a health care liability claim when he sues the hospital?
- In re the Commitment of Michael Bohannan, No. 10-0605--In a second expert case of the day, the Civil Commitment of Sexually Violent Predators Act requires "experts" to be used in making the determination to commit someone. Did the trial court err in finding that this witness was not qualified?
- Texas Electric Utility Construction, Ltd. v. Infrasource Underground Construction Services, LLC, No. 10-0628--Can you recover attorneys fees as damages when, for example, defense costs are caused by the tort of another?
November 9, 2011
- Kerry Heckman, et al. v. Williamson County, et al., No. 10-0671--Because class certification never goes out of style, how do the named plaintiff's standing and potential mootness impact the ability to seek certification of a class?
- In re Frank Kent Motor Co. d/b/a Frank Kent Cadillac, No. 10-0687--Can an employee avoid a signed jury waiver by claiming that he only signed the mutual waiver because he thought he would lose his job? (Parenthetically, if so, can there ever be a bench trial in an employment case?)
- Jack Edward Milner v. Vicki Ann Milner, No. 10-0776--In a relatively rare family law case, did the trial court correctly enforce a judgment based upon a Mediated Settlement Agreement over the wife's motion for new trial?
November 10, 2011
- Venkateswarlu Thota and North Texas Cardiology Center v. Margaret Young, No. 09‑0079--whether the jury was properly charged on contributory negligence in a med-mal case involving alleged post-operative complications, and whether the charge was reversible error.
- In re XL Specialty Insurance Co. and Cambridge Integrated Services Group, Inc., No. 10-0960--A potentially significant case for attorney client privilege: does the attorney client privilege extend to communications between counsel for the insurer and the insured made for purposes of rendering legal services to the insurer?
- Nicholas Traxler v. Entergy Gulf States, Inc., No. 10-0970--And from the department of statutory and regulatory minutiae department, was that a "transmission line" or a just an electrical line that zapped the crap out of me? Meaning, did negligence per se apply when a plaintiff got zapped by an electrical line 20 feet six inches above the road, or was that just a power line, which did not have to be 18 inches higher like "transmission lines" have to be?
And don't forget the popcorn, because you can watch the arguments online. I'm especially looking forward to the charge error case. Dinner and a movie anyone?