Dallas Austin

On February 6, 2026, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit held that a former Texas Farm Bureau agency manager, Jerry Merritt, failed to prove his old employer owed him overtime pay, ruling that the ex-employee did not show that Farm Bureau knew he was working overtime. Farm Bureau employed Merritt as an Agency Manager. In this position, Merritt supervised a team of insurance agents in various Farm Bureau agencies. Farm Bureau classified all Agency Managers, including Merritt, as independent contractors. As an independent contractor, Merritt: (1) set his own schedule, (2) de

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

May in-house counsel for a for-profit company owned by nonlawyers provide legal services to customers of the company if the company gives the customers the option of retaining the in-house counsel and only charges the “actual cost” incurred by the company? In Opinion No. 707, the Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas concluded, no. The company in question “provides litigation management services and support to lawyers, law firms, and corporations, including software and technology to help customers lower their costs and potentially improve litigation results[.]R

The Texas Supreme Court recently overturned a $116 million verdict against a trucking company and its driver, reasoning that, as a matter of law, the trucking company and its driver did not proximately cause the plaintiffs’ injuries. In December 2014, the National Weather Service issued a winter weather advisory indicating that ice was likely to accumulate on the roads and cause hazardous driving conditions. Trey Salinas (“Salinas”) was driving his F-350 pickup along with four passengers—Jennifer Blake and her three children (the “Blakes”)—heading eastbound on I-20 near Odessa. W

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

When can you sue over verbal representations made before a written contract is signed?  In Roxo Energy Company, LLC v. Baxsto, LLC, the Texas Supreme Court considered allegations of fraud based on oral representations in the context of a complex oil and gas deal, and found the representations were not actionable. Roxo Energy Company, LLC v. Baxsto, LLC, Baxsto, LLC (Baxsto) sued Roxo Energy Company, LLC (Roxo) for alleged oral representations made by Roxo while negotiating a lease and ultimate sale of mineral rights. Baxsto asserted fraud claims against Roxo, including fraud, fraudulent induc