Judges hate the Dallas Bar Association’s judicial evaluation polls, a semi-semi-tradition dating to 1975 that took a brief pause in ’07, when judges managed to get the thing sidelined by grousing that the methodology was unfair and, besides, it weren’t nothing but a popularity contest, so … harrumph. But two…
Here’s a moral conundrum for you, Friends of Unfair Park: Do personal property rights trump the exigency of a wild animal dying in a live trap? Apparently, they trump each other, because when certified wild-animal rehabilitator Bonnie Bradshaw loosed a raccoon from pest-controller Lon Menefee’s trap, each earned a trip…
KBR, Inc., the massive and controversial Houston-based wartime contractor that has landed billions in military contracts for erecting base camps and supplying fuel for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, will have to convince a federal judge in Dallas that race and religion had nothing to do with the firing…
Three years back Realtor Jeff Duffy wondered how in the hell could the Dallas Country Club, more than 100 acres nestled within Highland Park, be worth a mere $10 million according to the Dallas Central Appraisal District: “Do country clubs fall under the church and school categories when it comes…
Still hard to believe, but back in May — or, five long months after the incident occurred — a gentleman by the name of Robert Tucker claimed in court docs that he’d been emotionally distressed and otherwise humiliated and “defamed” when Andy Dick yanked down his skirt and “forced his…
How often do federal appeals judges wade into the petty internecine struggles of high-school cheerleaders and their meddling mothers? We’re going to go out on a limb and say it’s rare. Rare and, when it does occur, deeply entertaining. In a recent decision, the stately jurists of the U.S. Court…
At 10 this morning on the steps of the Heman Marion Sweatt Travis County Courthouse, Rais Bhuiyan, who was shot in the face by white supremacist Mark Stroman as part of a post-September 11, 2001 shooting spree, will announce that he’s filing suit today against Gov. Rick Perry and other…
As we’ve noted before, the Texas Legislature special session this year was awfully concerned with abortion — namely, making it as hard as possible for anyone to get one. Now, House Bill 15 is heading for Governor Rick Perry’s desk, and the Center for Reproductive Rights is trying to stop…
Back in 2006 Unfair Park’s across-the-street neighbor Heritage Auction Galleries sold some letters written and signed by Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert. ‘Round the same time, the auction house came into possession of a note of condolences Jackie Kennedy had written to Ethel shortly after Robert was gunned down in…
Back in May ’09 we ran a few pages from the first part of then-Dallas County Judge Jim Foster’s deposition taken by County Commissioner John Wiley Price’s attorneys concerning those “shakedown” comments Foster made to Schutze whilst discussing the Inland Port. Reason I went back to look for it: Foster…
Speaking of the Supremes …In January 2010 we listened in as the Supreme Court of Texas heard oral arguments in the case of City of Dallas. v. VSC, LLC, which is now close to a decade old. To sum up: In ’02, tow company VSC was in possession of 326…
Last Friday, in Judge Ken Molberg’s courtroom, attorneys representing Steven Phillips and Kevin Glasheen argued over money, which is what attorneys often do when they clash in courtrooms. At stake: around $1 million, which Glasheen says he’s owed by Phillips per an agreement they made three years ago. Phillips doesn’t…
As we’ve mentioned before, Dallas has been grappling for some time with how to regulate the city’s nearly 280 group homes, those halfway houses and assisted-living facilities that are protected by federal housing laws. But the operator of 14 North Texas group homes for Alzheimer’s patients isn’t waiting for the…
On Monday Mark Stroman, the white supremacist who shot three men he believed were of Middle Eastern descent, killing two, lost another appeal to prevent his execution, which is scheduled for July 20 in Huntsville. The Supreme Court declined, without comment, to review his case, after the Fifth Court of…
Last night KXAS-Channel 5 had a most fascinating story: Dr Pepper v. Dr Pepper. Specifically, Plano-based Dr Pepper/Seven Up Inc. says the Dublin-based maker of The Real Thing (that is, a Pepper flavored with original-formula Imperial Pure Cane Sugar) is violating its 2009 licensing agreement that says the Central Texas…
In the end, it only took minutes for Judge Larry Mitchell to clear Hilliard Fields of the sexual assault charges that have followed him for the last 14 years.”Sir, I’m very sorry for the misery this has caused you in your life,” Mitchell said to Fields, who, at a hearing…
Around lunchtime yesterday, Dawn Rizos was walking through The Lodge, the Spangler Road strip club she owns, when her adult daughter handed her a freshly printed-out copy of this Texas Tribune story. Supporters of the so-called “Pole Tax,” a five-dollar fee tacked on to every visit to a strip club,…
Maybe you’ve seen the ads: On Wednesday we’re co-sponsoring a special screening of Gasland at the Texas Theatre, which isn’t the only movie we’re screening next week. More about that later. But Josh Fox’s Oscar-nominated film, as you probably know, features that now-infamous scene of a Colorado man being able…
[Update at 9:40 a.m.: Shortly after I posted this, Mark Cuban’s attorney called to talk about the response to yesterday’s filing. Our interview follows after the jump.]We’ve written about and spoken to Fish & Richardson’s Tom Melsheimer on numerous occasions, most often and most recently regarding his representation of Tom…
It would appear that Robert Lange, a social studies teacher at Williams High School in Plano, is well-liked by his students; one writes that he was “was the coolest teacher I have ever had.” And not so long ago he was awarded cash money for having been named a finalist…
From time to time we’ll come across federal suits filed by scorned subscribers to Preston Center-based Match.com, all of whom more or less say the same thing: The dating service is nothing but a tease, its “winks” little more than hollow promises of hook-ups between prospective partners — one of…
We’ve written here and there about Ross Perot Jr.’s legal claims that a “reckless and careless” Mark Cuban has done an awful job of running the Dallas Mavericks …. right, Your NBA Champion Dallas Mavericks, of which Perot still owns 5 percent. Well, moments ago Tom Melsheimer, Cuban’s attorney, just…
