Last month, a judge denied a protective order sought by Baker Botts partner and retired Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Phillips and his wife, defendants in a wrongful-death suit brought by the parents of Audrey King, who died in a 2009 car accident after allegedly attending a party hosted by the Phillipses’ son Daniel where underage drinking occurred.
In their Feb. 24 motion for protective order, Tom and Marilyn Phillips sought to prevent the release of their depositions in King, et al. v. Phillips, et al. The couple argued, among other things, that Texas Disciplinary Rule of Professional Conduct 3.07(a), which bars lawyers from publicly making extrajudicial statements that will materially prejudice proceedings, should limit the use of their deposition testimony and of all other discovery material to legitimate purposes related to trial preparation. They sought to prevent posting of video, audio or transcripts on the Internet or dissemination of the deposition materials to the media.
