Dallas Austin

The Texas Supreme Court recently issued an important decision for contractors, subcontractors, and infrastructure companies involved in public roadway projects. In Third Coast Services, LLC v. Castaneda, the Court held that statutory protection under Section 97.002 of the Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code does not depend on a direct contractual relationship with the Texas Department of Transportation (“TxDOT”). The opinion provides guidance on three recurring issues in roadway-construction litigation: whether Section 97.002 requires contractual privity with TxDOT, what it means to per

On February 9, 2026, the first jury was seated for the Texas Business Court in Powers et al. v. Berry et al. The Texas Business Courts were created on September 1, 2024. Powers v. Berry was originally filed state district court in October 2024 and was quickly removed to the Texas Business Court as it involved a business dispute with damages alleged to be between $30 million and $200 million. The dispute at issue involved ownership and control of a crude export terminal. Trial lasted eight days, after which the 12 jurors deliberated and returned a 10-2 verdict for Powers. Powers v. Berry serves

A Texas Court of Appeals recently upheld a $14 million verdict against a cellphone tower construction company and its employee, reasoning that the evidence was legally and factually sufficient to support the jury’s findings and the awarded damages was within the jury’s discretion. Q.A. Services, LLC (QA) builds cell phone towers. Kenneth Porter is a co-owner of QA and owns several trucks that were driven to jobsites by QA employees. Roger Landry, a former employee of QA, would travel to the jobsites where he helped build the cell phone towers. In December 2018, he drove to a jobsite near C

May a subcontractor default insurer recover sums paid to its policyholder when an arbitration panel finds that the policyholder is partially responsible for the costs to cure the default? In Lecesse Const. Serv., LLC v. Hudson Excess Ins. Co., 85 NY Misc. 1271(Supreme Court of New York, 2025), a New York  trial court held that the insurer had a right to recover over $5 million from the named insured/policyholder. In Lecesse, Lecesse was the construction manager and general contractor for construction of a retirement community in Florida. Lecesse entered into a Master Subcontract Agreement wit

Is a property owner liable for an electric shock injury to an independent contractor working on its premises? The Fifth Circuit Federal Court of Appeals recently held, no. In Rose v. Nissan, North America, Inc., Rose allegedly sustained injuries arising from an electric shock in April 2022 while working as an employee of Automated Power, Inc. (“Automated Power”), an independent contractor to Nissan. Nissan had hired Automated Power to repair a partial outage at its Canton, Mississippi car manufacturing plant in March 2022. Rose argued that Nissan controlled “access” to a cubicle area w