Dallas Austin

Are umbrella insurance policies confidential documents that can be subject to protection from further disclosure through a protective order? The Dallas Court of Appeals recently answered this question, refusing to disturb a trial court’s ruling that umbrella policies are not confidential documents. In In re Lyft, Inc., No. 05-23-00079-CV, 2023 WL 3000565 (Tex. App.—Dallas, Apr. 19, 2023), three passengers sued Lyft and the Lyft driver for injuries allegedly sustained in a car crash involving the Lyft driver.  As part of routine discovery, plaintiffs requested copies of documents from Lyft

In April 2023, a Dallas County jury awarded over $860 million to the family of a woman killed when a crane collapsed on her apartment complex. The jury’s award against real estate developer, Greystar Development & Construction, LP (Greystar), was $160 million more than the Plaintiffs requested. How did this happen? During a severe thunderstorm on June 9, 2019, a tower crane collapsed on the Elan City Lights Apartment Community in Dallas. The collapse injured several residents of the Elan and killed Kiersten Smith. Shortly after the collapse, Smith’s family sued Greystar and two other e

Can an employer be justified in terminating an employee for violating the employer’s policies and at the same be liable for religious discrimination under Title VII?  Southwest Airlines recently learned that the answer is, “yes”, and faces a $5.1 million verdict in its former employee’s favor. Southwest Airlines terminated flight attendant Charlene Carter in 2017 after 20 years of service, determining that Carter’s behavior violated Southwest’s Social Media Policy, Workplace Bullying and Hazing Policy, and Harassment Policy.  Carter filed a grievance against Southwest pursuant to

What effect does limiting the amount of required insurance in a construction contract have on an insurer writing umbrella coverage?  The Texas Supreme Court recently considered this issue, answering that the limitation was not incorporated into the umbrella policy and was of no effect. The Court was very familiar with facts of the underlying dispute, ExxonMobil v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, PA, as it was the second coverage dispute the Court had heard and decided involving the same incident.  Exxon retained Savage Refinery Services (Savage) to perform work at Exxon&

How is evidence of a so-called white collar crime relevant to determining whether someone us guilty of an unrelated murder?  The trial judge in the South Carolina murder trial of Alex Murdaugh provided a roadmap. Murdaugh was on trial for the murder of his wife and son in June 2021.  However, a significant portion of the testimony concerned Murdaugh’s alleged financial crimes. Jurors heard days of testimony about Murdaugh, a former personal injury attorney, stealing settlement funds from clients and his former law firm. Prosecutors argued that Murdaugh’s financial crimes were coming to l