Ford and Paterson Secure Appellate Victory in $45 Million Fraud Case
December 17, 2009On December 11, 2009, the Texas Supreme Court denied a petition for review in a case decided by the First Court of Appeals after requesting full briefing on the merits. The case (Authorlee, et al v. Tuboscope Vetco International, et al) involved the propriety of a $45 million settlement in mass tort case. Plaintiffs argued that their agreed judgment should be set aside as "void against public policy" because their trial lawyers did not tell them the settlement was an alleged aggregate settlement and alleged their lawyer and the Defendants committed fraud. The Court of Appeals held that there was no fraud as to the Defendants, no conspiracy to commit fraud and the settlement was not an aggregate settlement.
Beck Redden’s Troy Ford drafted the briefing and made the oral argument in both the trial court and the court of appeals. Andrea Paterson assisted with the trial and appellate court briefing. (Opinion attached)