Partners Eileen O’Neill and Paul Smith obtain a satisfactory settlement and apology letters from KPRC-TV (Houston Channel 2) for Dr. Daniel Dugi in defamation suit.

Eileen O’Neill and Paul Smith were co-trial counsel with Mr. Michael Sheppard of Sheppard & Cain in a case brought by their client Dr. Daniel Dugi against nurse anesthetist Timothy Goosby, KPRC-TV (Houston Channel 2), its parent company, investigative reporter, Mr. Stephen Dean, and the station’s news director and assistant news director for defamatory TV and website news reports that wrongly accused Dr. Dugi of using unapproved medication to experiment on his patients. The KPRC-TV defendants moved for and were denied summary judgment and filed a statutory interlocutory appeal. Eileen successfully defended the trial court’s ruling in the court of appeals and Texas Supreme Court and the claims against KPRC-TV defendants subsequently settled favorably for a confidential amount and apology letters. When Timothy Goosby failed to appear for trial, the trial court entered judgment against him in favor of Dr. Dugi for $3,000,000 in actual damages and $3,000,000 in punitive damages.