Products Liability

Representation of GE in a case brought by Holiday Inn owners in the Gulf Coast area who claimed that GE’s new energy efficient through-the-wall air conditioning units caused mold and mildew in hotel rooms. The jury returned a take-nothing verdict after a month-long trial. The case was estimated by GE to have a value of $100 million to its appliance division.

Representation of Siemens Westinghouse and Westinghouse in cases involving alleged failures of steam turbines and gas turbines resulting in significant business interpretation claims.

Business/Contract Disputes

Successful defense of a $60 million suit against Westinghouse Canada in U.S. District Court (Dallas) involving the alleged breach of a manufacturing contract by Westinghouse Canada. Plaintiffs were represented by one of the nation’s largest law firms. More than 30 depositions were taken in three countries, the U.S., Canada and Germany, and in four different states in the U.S. The case settled for nuisance value ($100,000) on the third day of trial.

Representation of a German manufacturer of safety systems for the refinery and machine markets in a suit alleging breach of an exclusive territorial distribution contract. At risk was the manufacturer’s five year, $60 million contract with a large corporation to manufacture a brand name product for world wide distribution. As a result of this representation, the client later retained us to guide it in the founding of its U.S. office in Houston.

Defense of a national contract management group in litigation alleging that its contracts to supply emergency medicine services to hospitals in Houston are illegal because they violate Texas statutes prohibiting the corporate practice of medicine. The case has national impact.

Defense of a Fortune 500 Company in breach of contract case involving alleged damage to commercial property and seeking in excess of $1 million.

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Environmental

Representation of a national environmental engineering firm in Texas litigation including suits brought by former clients regarding proper standards for testing lead; suits regarding remediation costs for hazardous wastes including one suit for $30 million; suits regarding undetected plumes of groundwater contamination; a suit regarding proper design and construction of a cap for a hazardous waste site and suits brought by hundreds of neighborhood residents and adjacent property owners for personal injury and property damage respectively.

Representation as general counsel of the Harris-Galveston Coastal Subsidence District, a quasi-governmental agency charged with regulating subsidence in the Houston-Galveston metropolitan area.

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Construction and Engineering

Representation of Westinghouse in the South Texas Nuclear Project litigation for more than ten years. Westinghouse furnished the Nuclear Steam Supply System, the heart of the plant.

Representation of a geotechnical engineering firm for alleged failure to properly design a foundation in a large multistory police headquarters. Expansion of the soil caused the first floor to rise making it unusable. The case was settled shortly before trial for nuisance value.

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Coverage Matters

In 1995 we obtained the only “reverse bad faith” award in Texas on behalf of an Atlanta based specialty lines insurer which was sued by its policy holder, a large chemical company, arising out of the release of 60 tons of chlorine gas in Henderson, Nevada. The insured alleged bad faith in denial of a defense and indemnity even though the policy contained an absolute pollution exclusion. After a trial, the insurer secured a $250,000 judgment from the insured for bringing a groundless case. The judgment was paid; there was no appeal. The case received national attention and was reported in Mealy’s and other publications.

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Medical

A take-nothing jury verdict for an emergency medicine physician in a wrongful death case alleging failure to diagnose thoracic aortic dissection and seeking in excess of $7 million. The judgment was affirmed by Fourteenth Court of Appeals in August 2006.

A take-nothing jury verdict for a surgeon in wrongful death case alleging laceration of inferior vena cava during laparoscopic surgery and seeking in excess of $3 million.

We obtained an unusual take-nothing judgment for an anesthesiologist after a four week trial. The plaintiff had been paralyzed at surgery. The anesthesiologist had an admitted addiction to narcotic sedatives used to anesthetize patients and, only months before surgery, had been observed by a surgeon injecting himself with a narcotic sedative during surgery at another hospital. His privileges were revoked and his medical license suspended. Despite these facts, which were allowed into evidence, the jury found no negligence. The hospital settled for $4.5 million before trial and the three co-defendant doctors agreed to help the plaintiff at trial.

Rick Callaway litigated a nationally significant LASIK surgery case concerning corneal topography, a technology used to interpret corneal disease. As a result of his work on the case, he was invited to give keynote lectures on Lasik litigation at annual meetings of the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgeons (San Francisco 2002, 2006), for Wilmer Eye Institute (Johns Hopkins) in Puerto Rico (2003-2004) and for the University of Houston College of Optometry (Cornea Symposium and other lectures) (2003-2005).

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Trials

The firm maintains an active trial docket, trying more than 20 cases in the past six years.

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Geographical Representation

We handle cases in many jurisdictions in Texas, both urban and rural, and have tried cases in East Texas, Central Texas, Dallas and the Rio Grande Valley in addition to Houston.

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