How (Not) to Handle Bad Emails in Litigation

broken-g71fd24797_1280

Bad emails. Trial lawyers love them and hate them. When your client sends them, there’s nothing worse. When the person you’re suing sends them, there’s nothing better. Scratch that. There is one thing better: when the person you’re suing changes his story after you confront him with bad emails he didn’t know you had. Let’s consider a hypothetical. Paula Payne Windows v. Dawn Davis Dawn Davis was a salesperson for Paula Payne Windows, a wholesaler that supplies windows to builders in the construction industry. Paula Payne maintained a Master Customer List containing detailed information about all of its customers. Dawn […]

Texas Supreme Court Raises the Bar for Trade Secrets Damages–Again

pole-vaulter-1604576_1920

Horizon v. Acadia finds expert’s assumptions too speculative to support lost profits verdict Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be damages experts in Texas. That’s the refrain CPAs may feel like singing after the Texas Supreme Court recently raised the bar for proving lost profits damages in trade secrets lawsuits—again. It started in 2016 with Southwest Energy v. Berry-Helfand, where the damages expert calculated lost profits for misappropriation of oilfield trade secrets by assuming a flat reasonable royalty rate of 3%, which was consistent with industry standards. As I reported here, the Texas Supreme Court said this opinion […]