Vlad “Dracula” Smith was looking for some new digs big enough to accommodate his growing family. While searching the MLS listings, Dracula stumbled across a castle belonging to Victor “Frankenstein” Jones.  Little did Dracula know, but the castle was widely reported to be haunted.  “Frankenstein” had even made the front page of the local paper when he reported the haunting to the local paper and Reader’s Digest last Halloween.  However, in negotiations for the sale of his castle, Frankenstein, and his broker, failed to tell Dracula about the newspaper and magazine articles.  When Dracula later learned of the stories, he sued Frankenstein for rescission and damages. Did Frankenstein have a duty to disclose the haunting to Dracula?
Continue Reading Duty to Disclose that a House for Sale is Haunted?

Whizzle Blour, a professor of surgery at University Medical School, complained to his supervisor that trauma residents at University Hospital were treating and operating on patients without an attending physician’s supervision in violation of Medicare and Medicaid law.  After agreeing to settle those federal claims, University Hospital stripped Whizzle of his faculty chair position claiming he was a poor administrator. Later he was fired. He filed a whistleblower suit alleging his demotion was in retaliation for reporting the federal law violations. Will Whizzle Blour prevail?

No. Whizzle Blour failed to prove all the required elements for retaliation under the Texas Whistleblower Act (TWA). Reporting the Medicare and Medicaid violations to his supervisor did not satisfy the TWA because the supervisor was not qualified as “an appropriate law enforcement entity.”


Continue Reading Whistleblowers, Do Tell?

divoce.jpgAnita Deal and Ivana Bie formed their commercial real estate  business Dirt Cheap, LLC several years ago. Through 2007 it was wildly successful. Then the bottom fell out. Their friendship, tenacity and cash reserves are waning. Ivana believes that the market has turned and that now is the greatest real estate buying opportunity of all

smiley-not-face.jpgXavier Breath goes to his local barbershop, the Best Little Hairhouse in Texas, looking for a cut and a new hairstyle to replace his tired comb over.  His young stylist recommends a “Justin Bieber” cut, which she says is very popular.  Xavier does not know who Justin Bieber is, but agrees to try it out. 

icecream.jpgTim and Harry were friends. They both love ice cream and inventing their own flavors. The latest, “Cold Sweat” made of an ice cream base with hot sauces, picayune, habanero and Thai chili peppers was so successful they decided to partner in a new company – 50/50… and on a “handshake.” Later, Harry bought a

What is Qui TamTatt L. Tale was beside himself.  His company FreshLike Grocers was the largest supplier of food sold and shipped to U.S. troops in the Middle East during the Iraq war.  One day, Tatt caught his boss Kot “Red” Handid changing the “use-by” labels on the food it was supplying.  Freshlike Grocers did nothing to stop