The principle of sovereign immunity has existed since the inception of common law societies to protect the state from tort liability. In the United States, the government is immune from lawsuits in tort unless it consents. The United States Supreme Court has made clear that sovereign immunity likewise applies to state and local governments.

As the receiver of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) is charged with managing SVB’s assets to preserve their value and to dispose of them as quickly as possible, consistent with the objective of maximizing the net return on those assets. Now that the FDIC has announced it has entered into a purchase and assumption transaction for all deposits and loans of the interim Silicon Valley Bridge Bank by First–Citizens Bank & Trust Company, Raleigh, North Carolina (First Citizens), borrowers and depositors will have opportunities to alter their new relationships with First Citizens or seek new financial partners. 

On Friday, March 24, Florida Governor Ron Desantis signed HB 837 into law, enacting sweeping tort reform in the Sunshine State. As a result of the impending passage of this law, tens of thousands of cases were filed in Florida courts, as the Plaintiffs’ Bar raced to get cases filed before the law was enacted.

The Supreme Court of Texas recently upheld a Thirteenth Court of Appeals’ judgment finding that the plaintiffs in a premises defect case brought against the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) had failed to raise a fact issue regarding the creation of a dangerous condition and, consequently, failed to establish waiver of the defendant’s sovereign immunity. Daniel K. Christ and Nicole D. Salinas v. Tex. DOT, et al., No. 21-0728, 66 Tex. Sup. Ct. J. 306, 2023 Tex. LEXIS 128, at *1 (Feb 10, 2023).

The Supreme Court of Texas recently addressed the proof necessary to show causation in toxic tort cases and clarified that regardless of who or what is affected, the evidence remains the same. In Helena Chemical Company v. Cox, No. 20-0881, 2023 Tex. LEXIS 208, 66 Tex. Sup. J. 389 (Tex. 2023), cotton farmers in Coke, Sterling, and Mitchell Counties brought suit alleging that two planes dusted with the aerial herbicide – Sendero – in July 2015, which spread across their fields and damaged their crops.

Plaintiffs’ attorneys throughout Florida are rushing to file lawsuits in anticipation of sweeping tort reform legislation. It has been reported that some plaintiffs’ firms in the Sunshine State have filed hundreds – and in some cases thousands – of new lawsuits this week ahead of the potential enactment of the bill. It has also been reported that this record number of new suits being filed is causing difficulty and failures in some court computer systems.