The Texas Supreme Court issued a Letter Requesting Response to GTECH’s Petition for Review on July 6th. The letter instructs attorneys for over 1,000 Texas Lottery players to file a response to GTECH’s Petition for Review on or before August 6th.
GTECH is asking the Court to review the opinion issued by the Austin Court of Appeals. That opinion held that GTECH is not entitled to “derivative immunity” from suit. GTECH is being sued for its decision to use confusing and misleading language on the Fun 5’s scratch-off tickets.
Does this mean the Court is inclined to rule in GTECH’s favor? No. It doesn’t mean the Court is leaning towards GTECH. It simply means that at least one member of the Court wants to hear both sides of the argument before the Court takes a vote. After it receives the plaintiffs’ response, the Court will take a vote. If the Court decides to deny GTECH’s petition, the case will be sent back to the trial court for trial. If the Court grants GTECH’s Petition, the attorneys for both sides will file detailed briefs and the Court will likely ask to hear oral arguments before a final vote is taken by the Court.
How long will this take? Nobody can predict that. If the Court decides to deny the Petition, it could do so at any time after the plaintiffs’ Response is filed. If the Court decides to grant GTECH’s petition, there will be more delay while the attorneys file their briefs and the Court schedules an oral argument. We’ll bring you more information about the Fun 5’s case as soon as we know it.