Greg Brassfield

You can avoid a criminal conviction through Deferred Adjudication. In Texas, this powerful legal tool can be leveraged to mitigate the personal and professional consequences of DWI.

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How to respond to a lawsuit: 1. Beware of critical deadlines. The answer deadline is triggered as soon as you get served. For a typical case in district court, the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure specifies that you have until the next Monday after the expiration of 20 days to file an answer to a lawsuit. 2. Preserve documents and records. Once you have been served, you have a duty to preserve evidence that may be relevant to the case. 3. Find an attorney with experience in the area of law related to your case as soon as possible. Business owners or executives facing a lawsuit should seek out a law firm that focuses on business or commercial litigation. Once retained, your attorney will create a calendar of deadlines and work with you to execute your defense strategy within that timeline. #businesslaw #commerciallitigation #Texaslawyer

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"The judicial branch of government, headed by the Florida Supreme Court, is responsible for implementing and enforcing the rules that regulate the professional conduct of lawyers. The Florida Bar, as an arm of the court, is responsible for investigating and prosecuting lawyers who are alleged to have violated the rules of professional conduct, and the court ultimately determines what discipline is warranted when rule violations have been established." If you've ever wondered about Florida's discipline system for lawyers, or if you need a refresher on the process, check out this comprehensive article in The Florida Bar Journal.

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FTC Non-Compete Rule Update - A Texas federal court has delayed the FTC’s non-compete rule for a few parties, with a final ruling expected by August 30. Another challenge may lead to a nationwide injunction. Employers should continue contingency planning. More updates will follow. #FTC #NonCompete #LegalUpdate #EmploymentLaw #BergerSingerman

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Curious about how courts decide if evidence is valid in class action lawsuits? Learn how the Eleventh Circuit's strict standards differ from other courts and why it matters. The University of Miami Law Review breaks down the debate and reveals how a tougher evidentiary rule could save time and resources in legal battles. Read more at https://ow.ly/G0T150Ss91y

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Lowenstein’s Julie Werner and Amy Schwind analyze the Texas court's limited preliminary injunction against the Federal Trade Commission's non-compete ban, affecting only specific parties. Discover what this means for employers and future legal challenges in our latest Employment client alert. Read the full alert: https://bit.ly/3Lcd6Y8 #employmentlaw #employers #noncompete #lawyers #employment

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This article, written by Deutsch Kerrigan attorney Jose R. Ruiz, outlines the Louisiana Supreme Court’s May 2024 ruling in Bennett vs. DEMCO Energy Services, LLC. The Court decided that a defendant’s contractual claim for defense and indemnity against a co-defendant or third-party defendant is not legally “premature” and can be asserted during ongoing litigation. This decision resolves a conflict among appellate courts, clarifying confusion from the 2005 Suire v. Lafayette City-Parish Consolidated Gov’t case. Previously, the First Circuit deferred such claims until liability was established, while other circuits allowed them during litigation. The Bennett ruling promotes judicial efficiency and will significantly impact future defense and indemnification claims. Read the article here: https://lnkd.in/g8JGaUSx #LouisianaSupremeCourt #FirstCircuit #LegalUpdate #IndemnityLaw #DefenseClaims #Litigation #PrematurityException #ThirdPartyClaims

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Over the last decade, class action filings have continued to rise and 2024 promises to be no different. Firms looking to win this business should consider how their use and promotion of legal technology can become a competitive differentiator. Check out this article from Texas Lawyer by Rachel Wenzel Bailey and Gary Schaye: https://opus2.co/3URxHqb #classaction #litigation #legaltech

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In A First for Law Practice Management Platforms, Clio Rolls Out An Integrated E-Filing Service in Texas https://lnkd.in/dsWWFszP #law #legaltech #lawtech #ltl

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Thanks for sharing the post and conclusions on the important judgment for the salutary advice to take arbitration agreements seriously. To my mind, there are many more reasons to carefully draft the arbitration agreements in today’s world of cross-border business transactions vis-à-vis court jurisdictional conflicts. The protracted litigation arose from sinking of the vessel M/T. Prestige in November, 2002. The vessel suffered damage from a storm surge and subsequently sank, leading to significant spillage and pollution damage to the Spanish and French coastlines. Both Spain and French State made claims.  London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Ltd (for short, Club) as owners’ liability insurer and the owners were sued. The Club position was that this was contrary to the obligation binding on them contained in the Club Rules to pursue their claims by arbitration in London. Accordingly, the Club had commenced separate arbitrations against Spain and the French State and appointed Arbitrator for declarations that they are bound by arbitration clause in the insurance contract. Arbitral Awards of 2013 confirmed the applicability of arbitration clause and the Club sought their awards as judgments. This was challenged on the grounds of State immunity and lack of jurisdiction. The English Courts upheld the awards. Spanish Court held otherwise. The club initiated fresh arbitration against both alleging breach of obligations. Spain challenged the jurisdiction of English Court. The Court ruled in favour of enforcing arbitration agreements. The judgment highlights importance of having well-drafted arbitration agreement in commercial contracts and as rightly said, in cross-border transactions. Arbitration Awards are enforceable internationally under the New York Convention and this facilitates cross-border transactions. It is, therefore, essential that such agreements are carefully drafted to streamline dispute resolution and protect their interests. #arbitration #insurance #enforcement #crossbordertransactions #jurisdictionofcourts #legaldeli

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Attention Appellate Lawyers. You know about "expressed and direct conflict jurisdiction," and how it can be a vehicle for the Florida Supreme Court to accept a case under its discretionary review authority, right? Of course you do. But what about "misapplication jurisdiction"? 🤔 Is it a thing? Does discretionary jurisdiction lie when a district court’s decision relies "on an inapplicable case or appl[ies] precedent to different facts"? Stated differently, can the FSC accept a case "when a [district] court relies on a decision that involves a situation materially at variance with the one under review”? The answer used to be yes. 🛑 But not anymore. 🛑 In Askew v. DCF, issued yesterday, the Court held that "'misapplication jurisdiction' is beyond the scope of our conflict jurisdiction under article V, section 3(b)(3) of the Florida Constitution. The Court explained that "m]isplaced reliance on a prior decision does not mean that the two decisions will always 'directly' conflict or reach different holdings based on 'the same question of law.'" (Quoting art. V, § 3(b)(3), Fla. Const.) The decision was 7-0, but Justice Labarga concurred only in the result. The opinion deserves a read because it is the latest pronouncement by the Court on expressed and direct conflict jurisdiction, which as most lawyers know, is a very difficult standard to meet. In sum, "[e]xpress and direct conflict is a strict standard that requires either the announcement of a conflicting rule of law or the application of a rule of law in a manner that results in a conflicting outcome despite substantially the same controlling facts." (Internal quotations marks and citation omitted). And the Court does "not have jurisdiction to review a case without first finding that it directly and expressly conflicts with another decision." Govern yourselves according. 😃

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A Texas Court of Appeals decision once again illustrates the difficult burden placed on a legal malpractice plaintiff regarding proving that the defendant's alleged negligence was the proximate cause of their injury. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gpw47TFi By Terrence McAvoy and J. Ryan Head #ProfessionalLiability #LegalMalpractice #TexasLaw #Appeals

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Gibson Dunn has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of the Law Enforcement Action Partnership (LEAP) in support of the petitioners in Villareal v. Alaniz. Journalist Priscilla Villarreal was arrested for routine news reporting under a Texas felony statute that had never been enforced in its 23-year history. The case concerns whether the Fifth Circuit’s decision to arrest someone for asking government officials questions and publishing the information that they volunteered violates First Amendment-protected rights, and whether qualified immunity is unavailable to public officials who use a state statute in a way that obviously violates the First Amendment. Our amicus brief argued that the court should grant certiorari because the Fifth Circuit’s decision goes against Supreme Court precedent on qualified immunity, which seeks to protect state officials who are making judgments in tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving situations, and make reasonable mistakes that they would not know are unconstitutional acts. However, qualified immunity does not apply when state officials obviously violate basic constitutional principles. The Fifth Circuit’s ruling also negatively affects First Amendment-protected rights and makes police officials’ jobs harder by lowering public trust in law enforcement. Our pro bono team included Washington, D.C. partner David Debold and associates Jeff Liu, Christian Dibblee, Andrew Ebrahem, and Jesse Schupack, and New York associate Apratim Vidyarthi. #ProBono #FirstAmendment #ProtectedSpeech #Texas

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A Texas federal district court recently concluded that the FTC lacks the requisite statutory authority from Congress to enact a rule that would prevent employers from entering into non-competition clauses and, beyond that, bar them from enforcing most existing non-competition clauses. The Rule is scheduled to take effect on September 4, 2024. However, Judge Ada Brown from the Northern District of Texas granted certain challengers’ motion to stay the effective date of the Rule and entered a preliminary injunction that prohibits FTC from implementing and enforcing the Rule until the court can resolve the ultimate merits of the challengers’ claims, which the Texas judge intends to do by August 30, 2024. Learn more about the rule, expected legal challenges, and more from the Texas Lawyer article by Kellen Scott, shareholder in our Labor & Employment practice in Houston.

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Federal district courts can no longer dismiss arbitrable claims that are compelled to arbitration, following the Supreme Court’s decision in Smith v. Spizziri. This ruling emphasizes the FAA's requirement to stay proceedings. Read our detailed analysis below authored by Luis A. Perez Hernandez, Ildefonso Mas, and Nikolas Volosin. #SupremeCourtRuling #LegalInsights #Arbitration https://lnkd.in/gBnYw9-q

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