You may remember My Big Fat Texas Hearing in the fall of 2021 (which we won).  This past fall, we had another big hearing in the same case (which we also won).  This time, my boss and I traveled to Big Spring, the county seat of Howard County, for the hearing.

Located about 40 miles from Mildand, Big Spring, population approximately 25,000, gets its name from a large spring in a small gorge between the base of Scenic Mountain and a nearby hill within the city limits.  I didn’t get to actually see the spring, but this artist’s rendition hung in our hotel:

Apparently, the spring was very important in the early days of Big Spring.  Even more important to the city’s development, however, was the discovery of oil in the area in the 1920s, which marked the beginning of the oil industry in the Permian Basin.

Big Spring is, if nothing else, pretty flat:

We stayed at the Hotel Settles, a historic hotel in Big Spring built in the 1930s.  The hotel has an interesting history, which you can read about here.

We were relieved to see the hotel was air conditioned:

The hotel’s grand lobby felt like something out of an old movie:

I loved my spacious room:

We had lunch at the hotel’s restaurant, Settles Grill (they are justifiably proud of their fried Brussels sprouts with bacon, bleu cheese, red peppers, and a honey-lime glaze), and spent the rest of the day going over materials for the hearing in the morning.  Dinner was cocktails and bar snacks at the hotel’s Pharmacy Bar.  Not a foodie trip.

Settles Grill

The next morning I got up bright and early to get ready for our 9:00 a.m. hearing, and watched the brilliant sunrise over the flat landscape:

After a quick breakfast at the hotel’s restaurant (definitely not a foodie trip), we headed to the courthouse.

Spying on opposing counsel at breakfast

Just as with our last hearing, the buzzards gathered as if in anticipation of what was to come:

There weren’t as many people as at the last hearing, but it was still big by hearing standards.  It lasted almost 3 hours (and for the record, one bathroom break was not enough), each side arguing passionately about matters that are of great importance to their clients.

When the hearing ended, we realized we could catch an earlier flight, and hightailed it to the airport.  Instead of a liesurely lunch with our client, it was a bag of Doritos and a Diet Coke at the airport (definitely not a foodie trip).  Not really sure how the judge would rule, but confident in our position, we were relieved when he ruled in our favor a week later.

So what happens now?  Normally, we’d proceed to trial to determine how much money all of the defendants owe our client.  Instead, the defendants are seeking an interlocutory appeal, in the hopes that the trial court got everything wrong and they can avoid a trial.  (No comment.)

While I wait for the appeal party to get started, I thought I’d share a recipe with a lot of appeal.  OK, bananas — but they have a peel, right?  No doubt, this recipe for banana pudding will appeal to your better judgment.  Some recipes for this Southern classic include a meringue topping, but we think whipped cream is so much better.  Pro tip — no one will complain if you add a tablespoon or so of bourbon to the pudding.

Like an onion, so too, does banana pudding have many layers

Comfort dessert extraordinaire