The latest case featuring ClassicStar and GeoStar’s mare-leasing scheme featured the defendants leasing out mares they didn’t own and leasing less-valuable quarter horses and misrepresenting them to be Thoroughbred mares. On July 18, 2013, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a $65 million award to victims of the scheme. In re ClassicStar Mare Lease Litig

Today, the Supreme Court of Texas denied review in Hilz v. Riedel, a Fort Worth Court of Appeals decision reversing a summary judgment granted pursuant to Chapter 87 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code. 

As such, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals’ opinion will stand and the case will proceed to trial on remand to

On December 6, 2012, we will be putting on a free equine law webinar for clients and potential clients involved in the horse industry. Details are below.

Title: Top Three Things That Cause Equine Litigation & How to Avoid Them

Date: Thursday, December 6, 2012

Time: 12:00PM to 1:00PM CST

Those who wish to participate

Are your liability release contracts sufficient to sustain a successful motion for summary judgment? Texas courts generally hold releases of liability to fairly high standards. Release cases are very fact specific, and often come down to extremely technical points about the contents of the release document. As such, the proper drafting of these contracts is a must. A recent

Last Friday, the Supreme Court of Texas denied Brenda Young’s petition for review. The 14th Court of Appeals’ holding that Chapter 87 can immunize defendants against suits brought by independent contractors will stand. 

The Court’s notice regarding the denial of the petition for review can be downloaded here.

The Supreme Court did not give a

Yesterday, the Fort Worth Court of Appeals handed down an opinion in a case styled Hilz v. Riedel, reversing the trail court’s summary judgment granted in favor of a defendant based on Chapter 87 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code (the “Act”).

Case Background: Thirteen-year-old Ciarra Hilz was injured at her friend

As we discussed in this prior post, the Supreme Court of Texas has not yet addressed the issue of whether Chapter 87 of the Texas Civil Practice & Remedies Code (the “Act”) shields defendants from liability in suits where employees or independent contractors are injured while engaging in an equine activities. Up until last week

Are you thinking about buying a ranch through an informal seller finance deal? If so, beware.  Andalusian breeder Rancho Mi Hacienda and owner Gilda Arana learned the hard way the pitfalls of doing this type of deal “on the fly”.

Rancho thought it had an enforceable written agreement whereby Coy Lynn Owens and his wife Linda