Texas Anti-Abortion Pastor Can’t Recover Most of His Legal Fees

A big chunk of attorney fees racked up by an anti-abortion pastor, who defeated claims he made defamatory statements, was tossed by a judge in the latest Texas courtroom clash between rival lawyers over the state’s near total abortion ban.

Following an unusually contentious hearing in Austin—where lawyers accused their opponents of lying in court and of bringing harassing filings—state Judge Laurie Eiserloh of Texas’s 455th Civil District Court issued a split decision Wednesday.

Eiserloh said Mark Lee Dickson, the pastor, is entitled to recover fees for legal services his lawyer performed during a six-week period in 2023. But Dickson ...