The Harris County Civil Courthouse in Downtown Houston on April 15, 2026
Gwen Howerton/Chron.com
After new documents came to light that allege Houston personal injury attorney Chi-Hung David Nguyen perjured himself in his ongoing legal case against his former partner, Anthony Pusch, the two former partners in billboard punnery duked it out in court on Wednesday.
It was an entertaining display of legal back-and-forth between the two men who once portrayed themselves as avocados on billboards ubiquitous throughout the Houston area. Each man brought a large team of lawyers, and Wednesday’s hearing was a well-attended affair of onlookers in support of both Pusch and Nguyen. A few attorneys popped in to watch the proceedings themselves, presumably to dissuade them from ever starting a partnership.
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But as entertaining as the proceedings were, there was genuine bitterness on display between the pair. In the hallway outside the court during breaks, Nguyen and Pusch kept their distance. Nguyen sat quietly on one bench, sporting a silver nose ring. Pusch and his supporters, as well as his new partner Bob Wynne, joked and talked among themselves casually.
At issue on Wednesday was whether or not texts between Nguyen and his brother, John Nguyen, were properly obtained from a Mac Studio computer at the Pusch & Nguyen law firm. Accusations flew. Rodney Drinnon, an attorney for Pusch, accused Nguyen of perjury and said the firm owned the computer. Nguyen’s lawyer, Land Murphy, called the perjury charges “false allegations” and argued that Nguyen bought the computer himself using his personal Apple account.
“We understand that plaintiffs claim ownership of the computer. We just think they’re wrong,” Murphy said.
Pusch’s camp said that Nguyen’s computer was firm property because a company card was used to buy it, and cited the employee handbook as proof. Nguyen’s lawyers argued that his expulsion last year from the firm was a “sham” and that he was not bound by the employee handbook.
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Judge Christine Weems put her head in her hands several times during the hearing, looking exasperated at points as Murphy made his arguments. When it was time for Pusch’s attorneys to argue, Drinnon said that Nguyen and his camp were trying to drag out the case to avoid criminal penalties. He accused the Nguyens of not providing Pusch and his team with the evidence they had requested. Just as tension between Pusch and Nguyen was on display, so too was animosity between the two legal teams.
At one point, Drinnon referred to Murphy and Co. as “jokers” and muttered under his breath. Murphy repeatedly asserted that Drinnon’s perjury claims were baseless. Weems repeatedly had to stop the two from interrupting each other.
“We’ve spent a lot of quality time together,” Weems remarked.
The billboards of Pusch & Nguyen is photographed at Gulf Freeway northbound and Telephone Road Wednesday, July 31, 2024 in Houston.
Houston Chronicle/Hearst Newspap/Houston Chronicle via Getty Imag
And as the two sides argued over who had and hadn’t provided information to each other, Pusch’s attorney said that Nguyen still hadn’t transferred the PuschNguyen.com and PushWin.com domain names to Pusch. The spellings and all of the Pushes, Pusches, Wins, Nguyens confused the court reporter at one point.
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“I thought we resolved this issue already,” Weems said, incredulous and raising her voice. “Can we get this done in, I don’t know, seven days?”
Weems ordered that the domain names be transferred by April 24, saying that Nguyen had previously said he would be “happy” to do so while testifying. She ordered them to make the website PuschNguyen.com “404” within 10 days, and ordered the depositions of two people associated with Nguyen by May 15. Pusch has argued that several former employees of the firm engaged in a conspiracy to help Nguyen harm Pusch & Nguyen.
“I hesitate to say ‘On agreement of counsel,’ because y’all don’t agree on anything,” Weems said to Murphy and Drinnon.
Murphy had one note: He would be out of the country for two weeks during the deposition period, prompting groans from Pusch’s gaggle of supporters on his side of the courtroom. Weems threatened to clear “the peanut gallery” from the courtroom.
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“Hopefully somewhere fun,” Weems said of Murphy’s vacation, with a smile on her face.
As the two sides went back and forth about document production and emails, which both sides said they were worried would accidentally include privileged discussions between clients and lawyers, Weems appointed a third-party master to review it.
“We need to get it done, y’all,” Weems said.
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Weems said she would address the perjury claims on May 18. All parties were ordered to produce all relevant documents in the case within 60 days.