Federal Judiciary

American Lawyer article - "Taming Texas"

By Michael Smith

Another good article, this time by Nate Raymond in this month's American Lawyer (a much abbreviated version is in this month's IP Law & Business) about the Eastern District docket.  The article, Taming Texas, tracks the trend, which began in the fall of 2006, of defendants beginning to win patent cases in the Eastern District, eventually posting a 2 to 1 win rate over plaintiffs throughout late 2006 and 2007.  I have to disagree with some of Nate's rhetoric that the defense bar "broke the runaway juries of the Lone Star state" (he may not have written the cover blurb, I have to admit) but the story that the district has seen a lengthy string of defense verdicts over the past years and a half - and the reason is good defense lawyering and some plaintiff's cases that had problems. 
It's a little odd to me that the fact that who wins a case at trial depends on the quality of the cases and the lawyering  is news, but for those who haven't gotten the memo, yes, that does have a lot to do with it.

Full post as published by Eastern District of Texas Federal Court Practice on March 14, 2008 (boomark / email).