Luke Ashley

Luke Ashley principally focuses on appellate law while maintaining an active trial practice involving both personal injury and commercial cases. He has orally argued cases before the U.S. Fifth and Eighth Circuits and the Texas Supreme Court, and has handled appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court and numerous other federal and state appellate courts.

His experience in the personal injury area includes defending claims against commercial airlines; automobile, asbestos, and drug manufacturers; and medical doctors. In the commercial area, he has handled antitrust, employment contract, school finance, securities fraud, deceptive trade practices act, legal malpractice, and general breach of contract suits.

Representative Experience

• Participated in the representation of a major air carrier in litigation arising from an airport accident; provided assistance at the trial level on dispositive motions and jury charge issues and coordinated various appeals to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, including representation in a Warsaw Convention appeal
• Represented a major energy industry company in a mandamus proceeding invoking the exclusive jurisdiction doctrine in state court action alleging fraudulent underpayment of ad valorem taxes
• Pittsburgh Corning Corporation: representation in the consolidated appeal of 170 individual judgments in a complex mass tort proceeding to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit; representation of the company in an appeal to the Supreme Court of Texas involving an accrual date for prejudgment interest; representation in a class certification hearing in district court in Orange County, Texas
• Transit Casualty Company Receivership: representation against a former agent for fraudulent administration of a "fronting" program that led to a large insurance company insolvency
• School finance litigation: participated in the Firm's representation of the Highland Park Independent School District and other districts of high property wealth in a challenge to the so-called "Robin Hood" school finance bill and in the subsequent challenge to the revised school finance plan
• Abbott Laboratories: representation in an appeal before the Supreme Court of Texas; the issue involved statutory construction of the Product Liability Indemnity Act provisions concerning a product manufacturer's obligation to indemnify others in the chain of distribution for defense costs
• Affiliated Foods, Inc.: representation in an appeal before the Supreme Court of Texas; the issue involved whether the 1989 Worker's Compensation Act explicitly or implicitly prohibited nonsubscriber employees from voluntarily making advance waivers of their common law right to sue for on-the-job injuries in exchange for participation in the employers' alternative benefit program
• Centex Corporation: representation in an appeal before the Supreme Court of Texas; the issue involved whether a federal agency's prohibition against payment of a finder's fee in connection with the acquisition of assets of certain failed financial institutions precluded a state law breach-of-contract suit
• Cingular Wireless, Inc.: representation in a class action proceeding challenging a contractual provision permitting in-term rate changes
• CompUSA, Inc.: participated in representation in post-judgment proceedings after a substantial adverse jury verdict
• Jacuzzi, Inc.: participated in representation of the company in a major class action proceeding in state district court with lead responsibility for class certification issues
• Noble Drilling Company: representation in a major antitrust class action proceeding in federal district court
• The Prudential Insurance Company of America: representation of the company in a mandamus proceeding in the Supreme Court of Texas involving a constitutional challenge to contractual pre-suit jury waivers
• Trust Company of the West: participated in the Firm's representation of the company in its intervention in a major legal malpractice action
• Represented a large regional telecommunications company in several complex commercial contract disputes