The Texas Fourth Court of Appeals has affirmed a jury award in favor of a Houston attorney, Michelle Acosta. Ms. Acosta accused an opposing attorney, Allan Manka, of extending his arm around Ms. Acosta and groping her bottom. They were opposing attorneys in a family law matter in the Wilson County Courthouse in Floresville, Texas.
To mark Memorial Day, let us recall two area San Antonio heroes. They were both friends of mine. They both died in war zones back in 2005 and 2006 when I was deployed myself.
SSGT Clinton Newman was a fine soldier. He was a bright young man in the 321st Civil Affairs Brigade during my
I have mentioend here a few times how remrkable it is that Donald Trump, as President and as John Q. Citizen, keeps finding lawyers willing to roll the dice with their law licenses. John Eastman is the latest version of the same story. In 2020, John Eastman, then a law school professor, was one of
Everyone likes Artificial Intelligence. A person can access deep information within just a couple minutes. But, in doing so, the person may sacrifice certain rights. In U.S. v. Heppner, 2026 WL 436479 (S.D. N.Y. Feb.17, 2026), Bradley Heppner was charged with securities fraud in Dallas. Like many persons, he then consulted with a lawyer
Arbitration agreements appear in several industries, automobile dealerships, online subscriptions and, of course, in many jobs. The employer will often ask a new employee to sign an arbitration agreement in their first few days of a new job. But, are all those arbitration agreements binding? In Mertens v. Benelux, the Fifth Circuit applied Texas
The act known as “bills of attainder” is old. It goes back to pre-1776 England. A bill of attainder occurred when Parliament would pass a bill that settled a legal dispute. A bill of attainder could find that certain creditors were not in fact owed money, or that certain heirs cannot in fact inherit. It
Bexar County Judge Rosie Speedlin Gonzalez has been indicted by the Bexar County District Attorney for placing a defense lawyer in handcuffs and ordering her restricted to the jury box. The incident occurred over a year ago. Elizabeth Russell appeared in court and asked for time to confer with her client in preparation for a
Judge Fred Biery has developed a reputation for humor and an insistence on courtroom courtesy. He once ordered a set of contrary lawyers to kiss on the lips in front of the Alamo with cameras present. He has ordered other mis-behaving lawyers to sit in timeout in the rotunda of the old Federal courthouse. I
Kate Rogers, the Alamo Trust CEO, was forced to resign last Fall by Lt-Gov. Dan Patrick. Lt-Gov. Patrick publicly criticized Ms. Rogers’ discussion in a dissertation regarding Critical Race Theory, “reproductive rights of women” and the like. Her dissertation also stated she did not believe politicians should decide what professional educators should teach in the
This really is the season of hunting free speech advocates. I just penned a post on Universities throttling a professor’s free speech rights, and here comes Gov. Abbott with more of the same. The Governor of the Great State of Texas shared a post about a University of Texas professor who had been fired from