https://texasappeals.org/topics/attorneys-fees/Clinical descriptions of the Texas appellate decisions drawing the most press coverage.Hugo -- gohugo.ioen-usMon, 01 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2026/06/weldon-v-lilith-fund-tcpa/Mon, 01 Jun 2026 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2026/06/weldon-v-lilith-fund-tcpa/The court held that the Fund’s declaratory-judgment suit against Sadie Weldon was “based on or . . . in response to” her earlier Rule 202 pre-suit deposition petition, so the first step of the TCPA dismissal procedure was met. The opinion does not decide whether Senate Bill 8 is constitutional or whether the suit must be dismissed, and it remands the remaining steps to the court of appeals.https://texasappeals.org/2025/10/carter-v-southwest-airlines-rehearing/Mon, 20 Oct 2025 07:00:00 -0500https://texasappeals.org/2025/10/carter-v-southwest-airlines-rehearing/In a substituted opinion, the court held that Title VII’s undue-hardship defense applies only to claims based on religious observance or practice, reversed the judgment against Southwest Airlines on Charlene Carter’s belief-based claim, affirmed the judgment on her practice-based claims and against the union, and vacated the permanent injunction and contempt sanction.https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/md-v-abbott-foster-care-contempt-reassignment/Mon, 04 Nov 2024 07:00:00 -0600https://texasappeals.org/2024/11/md-v-abbott-foster-care-contempt-reassignment/A Fifth Circuit panel held that $100,000-per-day contempt fines against a Texas Health and Human Services Commission official were a criminal sanction imposed without the required protections and barred by state sovereign immunity, and that the state had substantially complied with the orders at issue. The court also directed that the foster care class action be reassigned to a different district judge.