The Texas Supreme Court has denied further review of a $1.2 million summary judgment for breach of contract granted in favor of Ware Jackson’s client, a residential developer, which was previously affirmed by the First Court of Appeals in Houston. Michelle Blair handled the appellate proceedings and was a member of the trial team that secured the summary judgment along with Avery Sheppard and Don Jackson.

Ware Jackson represented a residential developer in a suit for breach of a reimbursement contract against a county water utility district. The trial court granted summary judgment in the client’s favor based on the res judicata effect of a prior administrative decision on the issue and awarded our client over $1.2 million in damages, plus interest. The First Court of Appeals in Houston rejected the district’s arguments that the prior decision was not preclusive and affirmed the trial court’s ruling. See Harris County Water Control & Improvement District No. 89 v. 308 Furman, Ltd., No. 01-23-00177-CV, 2024 WL 5249161 (Tex. App.—Houston [1st Dist.] Dec. 31, 2024, no pet. h.). The trial team included Avery Sheppard, Don Jackson, and Michelle Blair, and Michelle Blair handled the appeal.

After securing a complete victory for a major oil and gas client in an international arbitration, Ware Jackson partners Eileen O’Neill and Michelle Blair successfully defended the arbitration award in federal district court and again on appeal to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The arbitrator—a former Texas Supreme Court Justice—had dismissed claims against Ware Jackson’s client for over $2 billion in alleged damages by a failed Saudi Arabian joint venture and awarded the client over $8.5 million for its counterclaim for unpaid and past-due equipment invoices. In a pithy opinion, the Fifth Circuit, like the federal district court, found no merit to the joint venture’s arguments for vacating the arbitration award or sending the dispute back to arbitration.