A $124.5 million judgment just disappeared because of a relationship the losing side says it should have known about before trial.
The magistrate judge and the winning side’s lead lawyer had been friends for nearly 40 years.
He was a groomsman in her wedding.
She later officiated his daughter’s wedding.
But the full extent of that relationship wasn’t disclosed before the parties agreed to let her preside over the case.
The Fifth Circuit said that mattered — and affirmed the decision wiping out the nearly $125 million award.
For lawyers, it’s a remarkable reminder of just how consequential judicial disclosures can become.
-The Legal Brief