5th Circuit vacates federal injunction enjoining state law claims against Andrews Kurth and others

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has vacated a U.S. District Court decision that had enjoined a pair of engineers from litigating intellectual property claims against Andrews Kurth and others.

According to the 5th Circuit’s Sept. 7 per curiam opinion in Gibbs, et al. v. Lufkin Industries Inc., et al., the engineers appealed the U.S. District Court’s orders “enjoining them from litigating in Texas state court their state law claims that the federal district court had previously remanded to the state court. Because the injunction was issued in violation of the Anti-Injunction Act, we vacate the injunction orders,” the appeals court wrote.

-- John Council

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An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing specific acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions. In some cases, breaches of injunctions are considered serious criminal offenses that merit arrest and possible prison sentences.