Latest News
Texas Supreme Court grants a mandamus petition and denies Plaintiff’s attempted counteraffidavit “gotcha.”
Confirming and applying its previous opinion in In re Allstate Indemnity Insurance Co., 622 S.W.3d 870 (Tex. 2021), the Texas Supreme Court granted a Petition for Mandamus in In re Chefs’ Produce of Hous., Inc., ___ S.W.3d ___, 2023 WL ___ (Tex. Apr. 21, 2023) (per curiam) [22-0286], holding that the trial court abused its discretion by striking the counteraffidavits and testimony of Chefs’ Produce’s retained expert because the opinions expressed in a counteraffidavit need not be admissible to provide
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Texas Supreme Court Victory
Congratulations to Eric Peabody and David Plaut on their recent 7-1 win in the Texas Supreme Court in Cause No. 21-0513, Ferrer v. Almanza. In an Opinion by Justice Huddle, the Court held the Texas tolling state – Civil Practice & Remedies Code § 16.063 – did not toll the running of the statute of limitations in a car wreck/personal injury case against a Texas resident who was away at college for a significant part of the applicable limitations period.
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Unclean hands don’t muddy excess carrier’s subrogation action.
In a recent decision, a U.S. District Court held a primary insurer could not assert an equitable unclean hands defense against the excess insurer in response to an equitable subrogation claim in a Stowers case. Westport Ins. Corp. v. Pennsylvania Nat’l Mut. Cas. Ins. Co., No. 4:16-CV-01947, 2023 WL 2574982, at *1 (S.D. Tex. Mar. 17, 2023). A marina in north Texas was damaged in a storm after it contracted with Insurance Alliance (IA) to procure full insurance coverage .
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Alex Sheppard is on the rise!
We’re very proud that Alex Sheppard has been selected to the 2023 Texas Rising Stars list. Each year, no more than 2.5 percent of the lawyers in the state are selected by the research team at Super Lawyers to receive this honor. We agree with Thomson Reuters that Alex is an exceptional attorney who embodies excellence in the practice of law. He’s also a really great guy. Congrats to Alex!
Trial Victory
Congratulations to Sheila Tan and David Plaut for their recent win at trial in a wrongful death case styled Cause No. 20-002074, Mandy Menasco, on Behalf of All Wrongful Death Beneficiaries of Seana Mitchell, Deceased v. Colten Mushinski, 361st District Court, Brazos County, Texas. Plaintiff’s decedent was a 19-year-old girl dragged to her death beneath the pickup truck of her boyfriend (the insured). The tragic facts of this case presented some real challenges for the defense. However, in a 10-2
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Friday Fun – To Infinity and Beyond!
David Plaut has been approved as a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Texas at Austin McDonald Observatory and Department of Astronomy Board of Visitors. David has had a life-long interest in astronomy, which he began exploring in college at Johns Hopkins during the construction of the Hubble Space Telescope. As a Longhorn and long-time fan of the Big Bend country and West Texas, David is thrilled with this honor and looks forward to working with
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Happy Birthday to Us!!
Hanna & Plaut is now old enough to rent a car! Twenty-five years ago, David and I sublet some space in that lovely black box Bank of America building on 6th & Congress, put Eric Peabody in a little cubbyhole called the snack closet, and crossed our fingers in the hope that the work would come in. And it did! We’ve had our challenges over the years – don’t ever try to sell printer toner to either one of us-
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It ain’t heavy . . . it’s just the lodestar! Attorneys’ fees and the requirements of Rohrmoos
Even though the Rohrmoos case has been around since 2019, Plaintiffs’ lawyers with contingency contracts more than occasionally designate themselves as testifying experts without providing any fee bills or other accounting addressing the legal tasks and time incurred in connection with the prosecution of a case. This practice is out of line with the requirements of Rohrmoos. Texas courts use the “lodestar method” for proving the reasonableness and necessity of attorneys’ fees. See Rohrmoos Venture v. UTSW DVA Healthcare, LLP,
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Future So Bright!
Happy New Year! I love the new year feeling. I enjoy looking back on the year that was, but I especially love thinking about what the future brings. 2022 was a banner year for Hanna & Plaut and for me. For many years, I’ve had the honor of practicing law with some of the smartest insurance coverage lawyers in the business who also happen to be good friends. More recently, I’ve also had the pleasure of practicing with young lawyers
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Surprise! David Plaut is good at arguing!
We took a little cheering section over to the Texas Supreme Court (conveniently located right next door to our beautiful Texas Capitol) to hear David‘s oral argument this morning. Sadly they made us leave our noisemakers and foam fingers outside, but we provided silent support and he did a great job!