Dallas Austin

What happens when winter weather disrupts a major airline’s operations and strands thousands of passengers for days on end?  Unlike Southwest Airlines’ planes in December 2022, the first lawsuit regarding the meltdown has arrived early. Tens of thousands of flights were delayed or cancelled during the December holiday break in 2022 because of abnormally cold weather across most of the United States. Southwest Airlines was the most impacted airline and the last airline to resume normal operations. The extensive delays and cancellations by Southwest were attributed to staffing issues and fa

Do arbitration agreements in home construction contracts run with the land? The Texas Supreme Court recently answered this question affirmatively, binding a subsequent buyer to arbitration. In Lennar Homes of Texas Land and Construction, Ltd., et al. v. Kara Whitely, Kara Whitley filed suit against Lennar alleging negligent construction, breach of warranties and DTPA claims regarding a house she had purchased from the original buyer.  Lennar built the house in Dickinson, Texas and sold it to the original buyer in 2014. At the time, Lennar conveyed the house and property via special warranty d

A Dallas jury recently awarded over $6 million to a homeowner’s association for repairs to its property.  Whether the verdict stands or falls will depend in part on how the Judge interprets the pre-suit notice and offer provisions of Texas Residential Construction Liability Act (RCLA), a Texas statute governing construction defects in residential construction and the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices—Consumer Protection Act (DTPA). In Avalon Square Homeowners Association v. K. Hovnanian Homes – DFW, LLC, the Avalon Square Homeowners Association (Association) filed a lawsuit against the bu

When does an “as-is” sale support of claim of deceptive trade practices? A recent case from the Austin Court of Appeals provides some insight as well as a cautionary tale to anyone selling a property requiring repair. In Christians v. Flores, Flores sued Christians regarding the “as-is” purchase of a home located in Austin, Texas, asserting that Christians failed to disclose issues with the home’s roof.  Prior to the sale of the property, the roof was damaged by a hailstorm. A roofer who visited the house testified at trial that a storm had damaged the roof beyond repair and needed

Do engineers owe fiduciary duties to the general public based on rules issued by their governing board? The Houston Court of Appeals recently examined this issue and held that, absent a relationship of trust and confidence, the board rules do not create such a duty. At issue in Hussion Street Buildings, LLC v. TRW Engineers, Inc., was a housing development constructed adjacent to property owned by Hussion. TRW was a civil engineer involved in the development. Hussion alleged that TRW’s scope of work included design of a water-detention plan, but that TRW failed to design or specify one. Huss