Paul W. Green

Thota v. Young

Texas Supreme Court · 2012-05-11 · cited 258×

This Texas Supreme Court case arose from a medical malpractice lawsuit brought by Margaret Young against cardiologist Dr. Venkateswarlu Thota and his practice after her husband Ronnie suffered severe complications, including a torn iliac artery, massive bleeding, and eventual death from leukemia, allegedly due to negligence during a coronary catheterization procedure. The jury found no negligence by Dr. Thota, but the court of appeals reversed based on alleged errors in the jury charge, including submission of contributory negligence and a new-and-independent-cause instruction. The Supreme Court held that its presumed-harm analysis from Crown Life Ins. Co. v. Casteel does not apply to broad-form submissions in single-theory-of-liability cases and that any charge errors were harmless under traditional harm review because the evidence supported a finding of no breach of the standard of care. The Court therefore reversed the appellate judgment and remanded for consideration of Young's remaining issues.

torts & liabilityprocedure

Italian Cowboy Partners, Ltd. v. Prudential Insurance Co. of America

Texas Supreme Court · 2011-04-15 · cited 649×

The case involved restaurant tenants who signed a lease for a building after the landlord's agent represented it had no problems, but later discovered a severe persistent sewer gas odor from prior tenants that made the space unusable. The tenants sued for rescission and damages based on fraudulent inducement and breach of the implied warranty of suitability, while the landlord contended that merger and disclaimer clauses in the lease barred reliance on any prior statements. The Texas Supreme Court held that the lease language was a standard merger clause that did not disclaim reliance on representations, so it did not negate an element of the fraud claim and could not bar the suit. The court reversed the take-nothing judgment and remanded, while also rendering judgment for the tenants on rescission for breach of the implied warranty.

business & regulatorypropertytorts & liability

Tawes v. Barnes

Texas Supreme Court · 2011-04-15 · cited 180×

This case arose from an oil and gas lessor's attempt to recover unpaid royalties from an investor who had consented to drilling operations under a Working Interest Unit Agreement and Joint Operating Agreement but had not operated the wells. The Texas Supreme Court addressed certified questions from the Fifth Circuit, focusing on whether the lessor could enforce those agreements as a third-party beneficiary or through privity of estate. The court held that the lessor had no such right of enforcement. Its reasoning centered on the absence of clear, assumptive language in the agreements by which the investor would directly assume or become liable for the lessor's royalty obligations, and on the fact that the investor's temporary non-consent interest did not create permanent privity or beneficiary status.

business & regulatoryproperty

Transcontinental Insurance Co. v. Crump

Texas Supreme Court · 2010-08-27 · cited 266×

In Transcontinental Insurance Co. v. Crump, the case concerned a workers' compensation death benefits claim by the widow of an employee who suffered a knee injury at work and later died from complications, with the insurer disputing whether the injury was a producing cause of death. The Texas Supreme Court held that the treating physician's differential diagnosis constituted reliable expert testimony that was legally sufficient to support the jury verdict on causation, but the trial court's jury instruction defining producing cause was erroneous for omitting the but-for component, and the insurer was entitled to a jury trial on the disputed amount of the claimant's attorney's fees. The court reasoned from precedent that producing cause requires both a substantial factor and but-for causation, that the expert opinion rested on a reliable foundation, and that Labor Code section 408.221(c) mandates jury determination of fees when disputed. The judgment was reversed and the case remanded for a new trial.

labor & employmentproceduretorts & liability

Travelers Insurance Co. v. Joachim

Texas Supreme Court · 2010-05-14 · cited 1223×

ERI Consulting Engineers, Inc. v. Swinnea

Texas Supreme Court · 2010-05-07 · cited 380×

Affiliations

Decision record

Paul W. Green

Affiliations

Decision record