filing_sections: 169

553 document sections with headings and summaries

Data license: Public court records

This data as json

section_id	filing_id	heading	summary
169	22	III. The Assignments are invalid as a matter of law	Civil barratry claims are punitive statutory claims analogous to DTPA claims. Under PPG Industries v. JMB, four factors determine assignability: (1) statutory text — civil barratry statute is silent on assignment, and the legislature knew how to make claims assignable but did not; (2) statutory purpose — analogous to DTPA in protecting specific class (clients vs consumers), clients disadvantaged in evaluating claim value; (3) related common-law principles — personal and punitive claims not assignable, barratry provides $10,000 penalty plus return of fees independent of actual damages; (4) whether assignment increases litigation — here it clearly does.