Defamation
A recent Texas appellate decision serves as a stark reminder of the procedural pitfalls that can doom a case before the merits are ever considered. In In re Kinney, issued on May 15, 2025, the Thirteenth Court of Appeals in Corpus Christi-Edinburg dismissed an appeal on purely procedural grounds, highlighting a critical timing requirement that…
Read More
Supreme Court Clarifies TCPA’s Application to Employers When Employee Speech Is at Issue In a significant development for Texas employers, the Supreme Court of Texas has interpreted the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) to cover certain negligent hiring, training, and supervision claims. In Walgreens v. McKenzie (No. 23-0955), decided on May 16, 2025, the Court held that…
Read More
Commercial-Speech Exemption: The TCPA’s Crucial Limitation Highlighted in Zillow Case The Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA) serves as an important shield for free speech, allowing for early dismissal of lawsuits that target protected expression. However, a recent Texas Court of Appeals decision demonstrates a significant boundary to this protection: the commercial-speech exemption. The May 2025…
Read More
John Oliver, the host of HBO’s show Last Week Tonight, just avoided a major lump of coal. In June 2017, Oliver aired a segment of the show focused on remarking on the decline of the coal industry. In the episode Oliver criticized Murray Energy and Robert Murray—one of America’s largest privately-owned coal mining companies and…
Read More
Freedom of speech allows for everyone to speak their mind, but speaking your mind can get dangerous in an online setting. Many people think that their blog posts, Facebook comments, tweets, or private messages fall under freedom of speech. But in the increasingly murky waters of online communication, this isn’t always the case. At Hutcherson…
Read More
[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=”” admin_toggled=”no”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left”…
Read More
Michael Cohen, President Trump’s longtime personal lawyer, recently filed lawsuits against research firm Fusion GPS and BuzzFeed for their roles in creating and publishing the “Steele Dossier.” Commissioned by Fusion GPS, compiled by former British spy Charles Steele, and published in its entirety by BuzzFeed in January 2017, the thirty-five page dossier makes unverified allegations…
Read More
Former Real Housewives Star Gretchen Rossi Wins Defamation Lawsuit Lies, threats, and leaked nude photos are certainly within the purview of drama that viewers of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Orange County expect. For Gretchen Rossi, former Real Housewives star, the drama has finally come to an end. After years of legal battles, a California…
Read More
Hutcherson Law – Fire and Fury: Can Trump Successfully Sue? There is little doubt that thus far the most controversial book of 2018 is Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury: Inside the Trump White House, a scathing portrayal of President Trump and his first year in the Oval Office. Prior to its release, President Trump threatened…
Read More
Defamation has existed for as long as people have been able to express their thoughts and ideas. Defamation refers to a false statement of fact that damages a person or company’s reputation, thereby exposing them to hatred, contempt, or ridicule, causing them to be shunned or avoided, or lowering people’s opinions of them. Defamation is…
Read More