Federal Courts of Appeals
$26.5 Million Judgment Upheld in Federal Tort Claims Act Suit Against USPS for Causing Quadriplegia and Amputation
May 16, 2025 in Case Summaries
Jeff Levinger teamed with Dallas trial lawyer Kyle Pugh to successfully uphold a Federal Tort Claims Act judgment of $26.5 million in favor of Michael Le, who was rendered a quadriplegic and double amputee after his vehicle was struck by a United
States Postal Service truck. In a published opinion authored by Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham, the Fifth Circuit reviewed the complex expert testimony offered by both sides and rejected the government’s contention that fault should have been assessed against Mr. Le and the surgeon who conducted the emergency surgery on his fractured spine. The Court also rejected the government’s contention that the awards of noneconomic damages were excessive under the maximum recovery rule, and that the awards of future damages should have been reduced as a result of Mr. Le’s death during the pendency of the appeal. Le v. U.S., 138 F.4th 264 (5th Cir. 2025)
Courts: Federal Courts of Appeal
Subject Matter: Products Liability & Personal Injury; Procedural and Evidentiary Issues
Fifth Circuit Upholds $5.0 Million Verdict Against Honda in Products Liability Suit Arising from Inadequate Protection Against Far-Side Impact Injuries
November 7, 2023 in Case Summaries
In a published opinion touching on numerous aspects of Texas products liability jurisprudence, a panel led by Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham upheld a $5.0 million jury verdict in favor of Su Min Kim, a passenger in a Honda CR-V who suffered severe brain damage when a side impact caused the driver to slip out of his seat belt and crash his head against Su Min’s. The Fifth Circuit first rejected Honda’s Daubert challenges to the testimony of the plaintiffs’ liability experts, Mariusz Ziejewski and Neil Hannemann. Next, the Court held that the evidence was sufficient to support the jury’s finding that either of two alternative designs—a front center airbag and a reverse geometry seatbelt—would have significantly reduced the risk of Su Min’s injury without substantially impairing the vehicle’s utility. Finally, the Fifth Circuit upheld the district court’s refusal to submit a jury instruction on Texas’s rebuttable presumption of nonliability, holding that no federal regulation governed the product risk of a far-side impact injury in a side-impact collision. Su Min Kim and Ji Hun Kim v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., 86 F.4th 150 (5th Cir. 2023).
Courts: Federal Courts of Appeals
Subject Matter: Products Liability & Personal Injury; Procedural & Evidentiary Issues
Fifth Circuit Remands for Determination of Settlement Credit in Breach of Fiduciary Duty Appeal
October 31, 2023 in Case Summaries
Levinger PC represented John Kawcak, a former executive of Antero Resources, in an effort to overturn a judgment of over $11.5 million arising from a claim that he had steered drillout service contracts to companies owned by a friend in breach of his fiduciary duty to his employer. Although the Fifth Circuit upheld the jury’s finding of damages based on alleged overcharges by the drillout companies, it held in a published opinion that the district court erred by not allowing post-verdict discovery of the employer’s settlement with the drillout companies. The Court remanded the case for consideration of whether Kawcak should be allowed discovery of, and a credit for, the amount of the third-party settlement. Antero Resources Corp. v. Kawcak, 85 F.4th 741 (5th Cir. 2023).
Courts: Federal Courts of Appeals
Subject Matter: Business Litigation, Procedural & Evidentiary Issues
Multi-Million Dollar Counterclaim Against Autobahn Imports Dismissed Because Of Failure To Exhaust Administrative Remedies
Multi-Million Dollar Counterclaim Against Autobahn Imports Dismissed Because Of Failure To Exhaust Administrative Remedies
April 3, 2018 in Case Summaries
Levinger PC persuaded the Fifth Circuit to affirm the dismissal of a multi-million dollar breach of contract counterclaim asserted by Jaguar Land Rover North America against Autobahn Imports, a franchised automobile dealer in Fort Worth. Rejecting JLRNA’s argument that the counterclaim did not allege any violation of the Texas Motor Vehicle Code and therefore did not invoke the jurisdiction of the Board of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles, the Court held that the “underlying facts still require determinations governed by the Code” and thus the counterclaim fell within the Board’s exclusive jurisdiction. The Court also held that dismissal rather than abatement was appropriate because the counterclaim raised many of the same allegations that the Board had already adjudicated against JLRNA in a related case. In successfully arguing this exhaustion-of-remedies argument, Levinger PC had to overcome a previous Fifth Circuit opinion that could be read to suggest that the Board did not have exclusive jurisdiction over contractual disputes between dealers and manufacturers. Autobahn Imports, LP v. Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC, No. 17‑10349, 2018 WL 1612252 (5th Cir. Apr. 3, 2018).
Courts: Federal Courts of Appeals
Subject Matter: Business Litigation, Procedural & Evidentiary Issues
Fifth Circuit Vacates Entirety of Tax Court Ruling Against Owners of the Bosque Canyon Ranch in West Texas
Fifth Circuit Vacates Entirety of Tax Court Ruling Against Owners of the Bosque Canyon Ranch in West Texas
August 11, 2017 in Case Summaries
In a ruling that attracted national attention, a tax court in 2015 disallowed over $15 million in charitable contribution deductions taken by the owners of the 3700-acre Bosque Canyon Ranch. The tax court also imposed a 40 percent gross valuation misstatement penalty and held that the entirety of the limited partners’ contributions were made in exchange for “disguised sales” subject to taxation as ordinary income. The owners appealed, and Levinger PC successfully convinced the Fifth Circuit to vacate all of these tax court rulings. First, over the dissent of Judge Dennis, Judges Wiener and Haynes held that the owners’ donation of conservation easements satisfied the “perpetuity” requirement of IRC section 170, notwithstanding the reserved right to modify the boundaries of homesite parcels within the easements. Second, the panel unanimously held that the tax court clearly erred in finding the “baseline documentation” relating to the easements to be inadequate. Third, the panel vacated the gross valuation misstatement penalty because the tax court’s disallowance of the deduction was not based on the easements’ values. And fourth, the panel rejected the tax court’s determination that the entirety of the partners’ contributions were made in exchange for “disguised sales” of partnership property. The Fifth Circuit remanded the case to the tax court to consider certain issues raised by the IRS but not decided in the first proceeding. Bosque Canyon Ranch v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue, 867 F.3d 547 (5th Cir. 2017).
Courts: Federal Courts of Appeals
Subject Matter: Business Litigation, Oil & Gas/Real Estate