66 results for 'judge:"Pitman"'.
J. Pitman denies an entrepreneur’s motion to vacate a temporary injunction after she was sued by her former business partner, who accused her of misappropriating company assets, including a professional Instagram account, to create a competing personal development company. The woman being sued argued she had not received proper service about the injunction, but this court “will not dissolve the [injunction] in this case based on the incorrect argument that service of process is a prerequisite.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 1:24cv382, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Contract, Injunction
J. Pitman dismisses claims in a countersuit brought by the co-founder of the Austin Chronicle and South by Southwest (SXSW) after he was sued by a former employee, who says he coerced her into sex and then withheld her salary after she refused to marry him. He countersued, alleging she had stolen “several valuable comic books and pulp magazines” from his garage. The counterclaim is inappropriate, as the legal questions in the suit and countersuit “contain no overlap,” and the co-founder’s alleged sexual harassment and abuse would not “excuse or legally justify” the alleged theft or vice versa. At the same time, claims against the Chronicle should be dismissed because no evidence suggests the Chronicle knew about this situation and “deliberately chose to look the other way.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: May 7, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1197, NOS: Other Personal Injury - Torts - Personal Injury, Categories: Employment, Tort, Civil Extortion
J. Pitman finds that the trial court properly released defendant, who was charged with murder, without bail because La. C. Cr. P. art. 701 relieves a defendant from his bail obligation on the running of the time period for speedy trial. However, defendant's right to a speedy trial was not violated because there is no time limitation on a murder charge, and, in this case, the length of the delay did not prejudice defendant since there was a detainer in Mississippi requiring his transfer to serve an outstanding sentence. Affirmed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 55,609-KA, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Murder, Speedy Trial
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J. Pitman finds that the district court properly found for a client on his legal malpractice action against his lawyer. In the client's affidavit, he detailed the negligent representation by the lawyer during their attorney-client relationship lasting from 1991 until 2017. Further, the lawyer admitted to the acts of legal malpractice and the losses caused by it. However, the damages awarded should be vacated because the amount owed to the client cannot be determined from the supporting documents to the motion for summary judgment. Affirmed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 55,607-CA, Categories: Evidence, Damages, Legal Malpractice
J. Pitman finds that the trial court should not have denied a property owner's petition to annul a judgment related to the seizure of its property to satisfy a judgment for damages caused by a tree falling on a driver's car. In this case, the property owner was not properly on notice because the curator attempted service of process by certified mail at two addresses, which were both returned. However, the curator did not perform a search of the tax assessor’s records or the conveyance and mortgage records, which could have provided the curator with the owner’s name and address. Reversed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: April 10, 2024, Case #: 55,515-CA, Categories: Civil Procedure, Property
J. Pitman denies a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC)’s motion for a preliminary injunction seeking to force a mobile-payments processor to turn over communications after the suing company claimed the payment processor company had breached its contract, including by violating an NDA. Granting the suing company’s injunction in this case could create “significant compliance costs” for the payment-processing company and “potentially hamstring” its operations, and the suing company has not shown that the “burden on irreparable harm or the balance of equities” justifies the injunction.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv1549, NOS: Other Contract - Contract, Categories: Communications, Privacy, Contract
J. Pitman mostly adopts a report and recommendations in a civil rights suit brought by a former district manager against a Whataburger franchisee for alleged discrimination against him based on his sex and sexual orientation, finding, among other things, that the former manager cannot bring unconscionability arguments over clauses in his contract which the franchisee has already agreed to waive. The franchisee also cannot compel arbitration because the agreement required arbitration before the American Mediation Association, which no longer exists.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv686, NOS: Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Arbitration, Civil Procedure, Employment
J. Pitman finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea to attempted sexual battery. In this case, defendant was properly informed of his rights at the guilty plea hearing and does not show that his plea was involuntary. Further, defendant received the significant benefits of pleading to the reduced charge of attempted sexual battery rather than third degree rape, and he had an unauthorized entry of an inhabited dwelling charge dismissed, which reduced his sentence exposure from 31 years to five years. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,467-KA, Categories: Sex Offender, Plea
J. Pitman finds that the district court properly granted a stepfather's motion to adopt his stepchild. The Fifth Circuit Judicial District Court had jurisdiction over the matter because when the stepfather filed his petition for adoption, there was no ongoing or pending litigation in the Fourth Circuit Judicial District Court that would have given it the exclusive authority to hear and adjudicate the petition for adoption. In this case, the biological father's consent was not required because he did not pay child support without just cause for a period exceeding six months, and did not visit, communicate or attempt to communicate with the child for a period of over six months. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,622-JAC, Categories: Evidence, Family Law, Jurisdiction
J. Pitman finds that defendant was properly convicted of attempted second degree murder. The witnesses testified to defendant beating the victim with a jack handle and that defendant was the aggressor, first with his girlfriend, then against the victim who intervened. The evidence showed that defendant beat the victim even after they were unconscious and does not show that defendant was acting in self-defense. Also, as a result of defendant's attack, the victim is partially paralyzed, blind in one eye, requires 24-hour care, and cannot feed himself or move from the bed to a wheelchair without assistance. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: 55,210-KA, Categories: Evidence, Murder
J. Pitman grants a law firm’s motion for leave to intervene in a civil rights lawsuit brought by relatives of a two people who were killed or injured in a police shooting. That law firm, which was previously retained by the relatives, has a legal right to intervene because it is seeking to recover funds allegedly promised in a prior contingency fee agreement with the relatives.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 20, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv655, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Attorney Fees, Police Misconduct
J. Pitman dismisses a putative class action brought by male migrants against Governor Greg Abbott and other officials alleging they were “channeled into a separate criminal system” after being arrested for criminal trespass as part of Operation Lone Star — Texas’ state operation to counter human and drug smuggling — rather than being processed “through the normal state jail system.” The migrants said they sometimes “waited for weeks or months” for a defense attorney and were “detained for extended periods of time after they were eligible for release.” The migrants’ claims fail for a number of reasons, including because they have failed to show “direct involvement” of state officials in allegedly unconstitutional policies and because higher courts have rejected their arguments that they could seek injunctive relief despite no longer being in prison.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv397, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, Immigration
J. Pitman grants a preliminary injunction barring Caldwell County and its officials from closing bail hearings to the public and the press after they were sued by Texas Tribune and other news outlets, which said the county had “adopted a policy of categorically closing” all such hearings. The public and press have a “presumptive” right to access such hearings and are being harmed by the lack of access, and Caldwell County has provided “no support” for its arguments that such hearings should remain closed.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 5, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv910, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government, First Amendment
J. Pitman dismisses most claims brought by a Texas bank against state officials after a leasing agreement between the bank and the Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation fell apart. The parties agreed that the state corporation would lease space from the bank, but after the bank made improvements and modifications per the leasing agreement, an appropriations bill passed during the 2023 Texas legislative session barred the corporation from fulfilling the lease. Because Texas “has passed legislation that unilaterally and completely reneges on its own agency’s obligations under the lease agreement,” the bank may bring contract clause claims against the state comptroller, but its claims against other state officials fail on immunity grounds.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: February 2, 2024, Case #: 1:23cv691, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Constitution, Government, Contract
J. Pitman partially grants a motion to dismiss crossclaims brought by the CEO of an e-commerce liquor company after he was countersued by a former employee who asserted ownership claims over the company and was previously sued for copyright infringement. A fraud counterclaim by the former employee should be dismissed because she has failed to include “vital” information about when she learned she would not have a significant stake in the company — but she may amend her complaint to add this information, and her other claims can proceed.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: January 29, 2024, Case #: 1:22cv467, NOS: Copyrights - Property Rights, Categories: Copyright, Fraud, Business Practices
J. Pitman adopts the magistrate’s report and recommendations, granting a motion for attorney fees and costs brought by an advocacy group dedicated to the separation of church and state after it sued Texas for removing the group’s display from the state capitol building. That display — installed under the “Capitol Exhibit Rule,” which allows anyone to “submit an exhibit for display at the Capitol” so long as it meets certain “undemanding requirements” — depicted “Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and the Statue of Liberty gathered around a manger containing the Bill of Rights,” and was taken down after Texas Governor Greg Abbott asked another official to “remove the display from the Capitol immediately.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: January 12, 2024, Case #: 1:16cv233, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Constitution, Government, First Amendment
J. Pitman finds that the trial court should not have dismissed a lawnmower operator's claim for exemplary damages related to a collision with a truck. In this case, the lawnmower operator's claim may be granted if intoxication was a cause-in-fact of the accident at issue. The lawnmower operator provided two affidavits of witnesses who swore that the truck driver appeared to be drunk and that he admitted to having had something to drink. Reversed in part.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 55,411-CA, Categories: Evidence, Damages
J. Pitman finds that defendant was properly convicted of vehicular homicide. In this case, defendant's blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit, and her blood was taken over two hours after the accident took place. Further, defendant appeared to be oblivious as to the scene of the accident where she ran a stop sign, causing a truck to crush the victim's vehicle. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 55,470-KA, Categories: Evidence, Vehicular Homicide
J. Pitman finds that defendant was properly convicted of second degree murder. The evidence shows that defendant stabbed the victim, the father of her ex-girlfriend's child, when the victim attempted to retrieve his daughter after defendant and the mother were involved in a fight. Witnesses testified that when the victim arrived to pick up his child, defendant asked him if he wanted to fight, armed herself with two knives and swung them at the victim. Therefore, defendant did not act in self defense. Affirmed.
Court: Louisiana Court Of Appeal, Judge: Pitman, Filed On: January 10, 2024, Case #: 55,450-KA, Categories: Evidence, Murder, Self Defense
J. Pitman denies motions to dismiss by both citizen defendants and "prosecutor defendants" after they were sued by abortion groups who wish to continue funding services like out-of-state travel and lodging for Texans seeking abortions but have been unable to do so due to the Dobbs decision and SB 8, a Texas law that allows people to sue a person who "aids and abets" an abortion. The groups have shown that they have suffered an injury traceable to prosecutor defendants, that SB 8 defendants were properly joined in this case, and that the WDTX is a proper venue for this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: December 21, 2023, Case #: 1:22cv859, NOS: Constitutionality of State Statutes - Other Suits, Categories: Civil Rights, Constitution
J. Pitman denies summary judgment to Texas’ family services agency after it was sued by a former employee who alleged the agency did not provide adequate accommodations for her after a serious car accident. While the department argues the employee was unable to maintain her workload, she was allegedly “assigned significantly more work than her peers,” and “consistent above-average performance” cannot be the standard on which her employment is judged, raising genuine factual disputes in this case.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: December 6, 2023, Case #: 1:20cv1218, NOS: Amer w/Disabilities-Employment - Civil Rights, Categories: Ada / Rehabilitation Act, Employment, Employment Discrimination
J. Pitman partially denies summary judgment to a Texas county after it was sued by citizens following the suicide of their relative in county jail. While the citizens cannot proceed with failure to train claims, they can proceed with claims over conditions of confinement because there are genuine concerns raised over the jail’s policy of “allowing inmates to hang blankets across their cell bars to prevent staff from looking inside.”
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: December 4, 2023, Case #: 1:21cv149, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Government
J. Pitman dismisses some claims in a civil rights suit brought against Baylor University by a former student alleging that the university did not properly handle her report of sexual assault. While some of the student’s claims against Baylor can proceed, her claims against two athletic officials are dismissed because she has not shown that they should have foreseen the assault or that they breached their duties to her.
Court: USDC Western District of Texas , Judge: Pitman, Filed On: November 21, 2023, Case #: 6:16cv403, NOS: Other Civil Rights - Civil Rights, Categories: Civil Rights, Education