In a per curiam opinion, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has affirmed summary judgment in favor of Ware Jackson’s client, a chemical manufacturer, on premises liability claims asserted by an employee of an independent contractor who had sought over $10 million for injuries he sustained while working on the client’s premises. The Fifth Circuit agreed with the lower court that Ware Jackson’s client had no knowledge of any dangerous condition on its premises and that the client did not control the independent contractor’s activities. It also affirmed the exclusion of the plaintiff’s expert’s opinion regarding the premises owner’s knowledge.

Michelle Blair was lead appellate counsel and presented the oral argument. Paul Smith, Margaret Bryant, and Simone Dawson assisted with the appeal and helped secure the victory in the district court. The appellate opinion is: George v. SI Group, Inc., No. 25-40286, 2026 WL 1985321 (5th Cir. July 9, 2026).

Avery Sheppard, Margaret Bryant, and Jordan Parker secured a complete defense verdict for their client after a week-long jury trial in the 96^th Judicial District Court of Tarrant County, Texas. The plaintiffs alleged that construction activities undertaken by Ware Jackson’s client, a residential real estate developer, altered the flow of surface and subsurface water on their neighboring property. They sued for violations of the Texas Water Code, trespass, intentional nuisance, negligence, and gross negligence, and sought millions of dollars for alleged damage to structures, loss of property value, mental anguish, and punitive damages.  After a week-long trial, the jury returned a verdict in favor of Ware Jackson’s client, finding that the plaintiffs were 100% negligent and suffered no damages.

Ware Jackson recovered over six million dollars for a residential developer after construction of a wastewater treatment plant was delayed for over a year. Ware Jackson sued the general contractor and its surety in state court in Comal County, Texas, and the general contractor named four subcontractors as third-party defendants. Liability was heavily contested and the litigation required dozens of depositions, hundreds of thousands of pages of document production, and extensive dispositive briefing. Despite disputed insurance coverage and a liquidated damages provision that defendants argued limited recoverable damages to less than half a million dollars, Ware Jackson’s aggressive litigation strategy resulted in a recovery of $6.2 million that exceeded the total amount of the surety bond for the project. The Ware Jackson team included Dennis Barrow, Avery Sheppard, and Jordan Parker.