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Biography
Penny concentrates her practice on matters relating to appeals in civil cases, including issues that arise at the trial court level and those relating to the court's charge. She has participated in preparing numerous cases for appeal before the Supreme Court of Texas, various federal courts of appeal, and the United States Supreme Court. Such appeals have included cases where the amount in controversy was hundreds of millions of dollars. Penny is certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in civil appellate law.
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Representative
Experience
- Obtained, in the U.S. District Court in Dallas, reduction of a judgment in a commercial dispute from $50 million to $10 million and then obtained, in the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, reversal and rendition of the remaining $10 million judgment, and is currently opposing plaintiffs' attempts to obtain U.S. Supreme Court review
- Obtained, in the Beaumont Court of Appeals, reversal and rendition of an $80 million judgment in an oil and gas case involving a dispute over minerals and claims of fraud and breach of good faith
- Obtained, in the Supreme Court of Texas, reversal of a $30 million judgment based on a breach of warranty claim involving novel questions of UCC law that were certified to the Minnesota Supreme Court
- Obtained, in the Supreme Court of Texas and then on remand to the San Antonio Court of Appeals, reversal of a multi-million dollar default judgment entered against a defendant as a sanction
- Obtained, in the Supreme Court of Texas, reversal of a so-called "agreed judgment" of $2 million against a restaurant based on a personal injury claim in which the restaurant had withdrawn its consent to settlement after learning that the plaintiff, who had testified that she was confined to a wheelchair, could in fact walk without assistance
- Obtained, in the First Court of Appeals in Houston, affirmance of a take-nothing judgment entered against a plaintiff in a wrongful death action seeking millions of dollars in damages based upon the alleged defective design of a life jacket
- Handled jury charge preparation and charge objections for the defendant in a large toxic tort case in Corpus Christi state court in which the jury returned a verdict favorable to defendant
- Handled preparation of charge and charge objections in significant mass tort litigation in Texas state court
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Activities and Affiliations
- Listed: "Texas Super Lawyers" in appellate law, Texas Monthly and Law & Politics, 2003-2004
- Co-author: "Appellate Practice in Texas State Courts," University of Houston Advanced Civil Litigation, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1999
- Speaker: teaching seminars sponsored by the State Bar of Texas, the University of Houston, South Texas College of Law
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Education and Professional Background
- Yale University, B.A. summa cum laude in Russian and East European Studies, 1977 (Phi Beta Kappa)
- The University of Texas School of Law, J.D. cum laude, 1980 (Order of the Coif; Texas Law Review)
- Law clerk to The Honorable Robert O'Conor, Jr., of the Southern District of Texas, Houston, 1981-1983
- Admitted to practice: Texas, 1981; United States Supreme Court; Texas Supreme Court; Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals; Southern District of Texas
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