Texas

  • January 12, 2026

    How New Judges Can Smartly Manage Patent Cases

    The hefty damages at risk in patent litigation have led companies to invest significant resources into these fights, which judges tell Law360 means they’re facing more work than usual at every step of the case. In the second of a two-part series, several judges who regularly oversee patent cases provide tips on how new judges can best run their courts and keep their docket moving.

  • January 12, 2026

    Energy Transfer Asserts Blackstone Fraud In Pipeline Row

    Energy Transfer says Blackstone used a series of self-dealing arrangements to undercut the amount of natural gas liquids a subsidiary delivered to an Energy Transfer pipeline in Texas, telling a state court on Friday that Blackstone wrongly diverted "massive sums" to itself.

  • January 12, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Preserves Google, Keysight, Instacart Patent Wins

    The Federal Circuit on Monday summarily affirmed decisions from three patent appeals that panels heard at the end of last week, shooting down bids from WSOU Investments LLC, Centripetal Networks LLC and Consumeron LLC.

  • January 12, 2026

    5th Circ. Urged Again To Find FCC Subsidy Regime Unlawful

    A conservative think-tank has again launched a Fifth Circuit legal challenge to the federal government's fee regime used to pay for telecommunications subsidies, less than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the funding arrangement's constitutionality.

  • January 12, 2026

    Texas Court Says Medical Expert Wrongly Excluded At Trial

    A Texas appellate court has reversed a defense verdict and ordered a new trial in a suit accusing three doctors of negligent post-operative treatment for a gallbladder patient that caused sepsis and ultimately death, saying the trial court wrongly excluded the testimony of the plaintiff's sole expert witness.

  • January 12, 2026

    Acer Says T-Mobile, AT&T, Verizon Infringe 6 Wireless Patents

    Acer Inc. is going after AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in Texas federal court over allegations that the American telecommunications companies are infringing six of the Taiwanese technology giant's patents related to 4G, LTE and 5G wireless standards, while refusing to negotiate licensing terms.

  • January 12, 2026

    American Airlines Can't Dodge Discovery Bid In Patent Suit

    A Texas federal judge has told American Airlines to hand over presuit discovery that could be used to determine whether it owes patent owners any past damages in an infringement suit over in-flight Wi-Fi.

  • January 12, 2026

    Local Governments Ask Texas Judge To Keep NFA Intact

    Two U.S. cities and a Texas county asked a federal judge to knock down a bid by gun rights groups to repeal the National Firearms Act, saying that without the law, criminals would have greater access to especially dangerous weapons, such as short-barreled rifles.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Won't Hear Challenge To NLRB Toss Of Complaint

    The Supreme Court on Monday declined a food distributor's bid for review of a decision tossing a challenge to a National Labor Relations Board ruling that backed the withdrawal of a complaint of unfair labor practices against two Teamsters locals.

  • January 12, 2026

    Texas AG Investigating Major Grocery Chains' Pesticide Use

    The Texas attorney general's office on Monday said it has started an investigation into major grocery store chains in Texas that the state accuses of spraying organic produce with pesticides without informing consumers.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Turns Away Texas Tech Prof's Retaliation Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined a Texas Tech University professor's invitation Monday to review a Fifth Circuit ruling that found a former business school dean did not have to face the instructor's retaliation suit claiming he faced professional blowback for his anti-tenure opinions.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Won't Hear Claims Highland Ch. 11 Judge Is Biased

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear arguments from the founder of hedge fund Highland Capital Management that the judge who presided over Highland's bankruptcy case was biased, and that two novels she has published prove it.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Nix Petition On Legal Malpractice Arbitration

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to review a petition that sought clarity on whether a court or arbitrator decides the issue of class arbitrability when the parties incorporate certain arbitral rules, in a long, winding legal malpractice dispute involving Louisiana medical companies.

  • January 12, 2026

    High Court Won't Take On No Surprises Act Enforcement Row

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to weigh in on whether the No Surprises Act denies providers a private right to enforce dispute resolution awards against insurers over emergency care coverage.

  • January 12, 2026

    Justices Pass On Houston Hospital Workers' COVID Vax Fight

    The U.S. Supreme Court declined Monday to hear a challenge to a Houston hospital's win in a lawsuit brought by a group of employees who said they were unlawfully terminated after refusing the COVID-19 vaccine.

  • January 09, 2026

    Texas Biz Court Says Provider Can't Prove AT&T Defamed It

    A Texas Business Court judge threw out a defamation suit brought by a third-party provider against AT&T Enterprises LLC, saying the provider as a matter of law failed to show how statements AT&T made about it constitute defamation.

  • January 09, 2026

    Real Estate Recap: Predicting '26

    Catch up on this past week's developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including key asset classes and pending litigation to watch in the new year.

  • January 09, 2026

    Fed. Circ. Wary Of Reviving $200M Google Case Axed Midtrial

    A Federal Circuit panel on Friday appeared skeptical of efforts by Brazos Licensing & Development to overturn a directed verdict decision by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright that cleared Google of infringing a Brazos location tracking patent during a more than $200 million trial.

  • January 09, 2026

    Ramey Ducks BlackBerry's Sanctions Bid Over 'Frivolous' Suit

    Patent attorney Bill Ramey has avoided sanctions requested by BlackBerry Corp. for what the smartphone company called the "frivolous and unreasonable" way he litigated a case brought on behalf of Silent Communications LLC.

  • January 09, 2026

    USPTO Pushes Back At Tesla PTAB Policy Fight At Fed. Circ.

    The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the owner of three patents for self-driving vehicles urged the Federal Circuit on Friday to ignore Tesla's argument that the USPTO can't use the time before trial in patent litigation to deny patent reviews before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board.

  • January 09, 2026

    Texas Justices Say Judges Can Refuse Same-Sex Marriages

    The Texas Supreme Court on Friday told the Fifth Circuit that judges can refuse to perform same-sex marriages on moral or religious grounds, opening the door for the federal appeals court to find that state judges can refuse to perform the unions.

  • January 09, 2026

    X Strikes Back At Music Publishers With Antitrust Suit

    X Corp. accused the National Music Publishers' Association and the largest music publishers in the United States of an anticompetitive conspiracy, alleging in a suit filed Friday that the industry's top players colluded against the social media company in an "extortionate campaign" over copyrighted music licenses.

  • January 09, 2026

    First Brands Sues Ex-CEO's Brother, Lender For $2.9B Fraud

    First Brands sued former board member Edward James and Utah-based company Onset Financial Inc. in Texas bankruptcy court Friday, alleging he operated as Onset's "secret partner" to rig contracts between First Brands and Onset that let them reap triple-digit returns and $2.9 billion in cash.

  • January 09, 2026

    Justices Will Weigh FCC's Monetary Penalty Powers

    The U.S. Supreme Court agreed Friday to take a look at the Federal Communications Commission's authority to issue fines by announcing it would review both a Fifth Circuit ruling in AT&T's favor curtailing the agency's ability to issue fines using its own in-house legal process and a case that Verizon lost in the Second Circuit.

  • January 09, 2026

    Sanchez Energy Lenders Float Deal To End Ch. 11 Lien Fight

    The owners of the reorganized equity in oil driller Sanchez Energy proposed a deal Friday in Texas bankruptcy court that will end lien-related litigation with unsecured creditors by paying $8.5 million of legal fees incurred by representatives for those creditors in the fight over rights to equity recoveries in the Chapter 11 case.

Expert Analysis

  • How States Are Regulating Health Insurers' AI Usage

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    The absence of a federal artificial intelligence framework positions states as key regulators of health insurers’ AI use, making it important for payors and service providers to understand the range of state AI legislation being passed in California and elsewhere, and consider implementing an AI-focused compliance infrastructure, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • Location Data And Online Tracking Trends To Watch

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    Regulators and class action plaintiffs are increasingly targeting companies' use of online tracking technologies and geolocation data in both privacy enforcement and litigation, so organizations should view compliance as a dynamic, cross-functional responsibility as scrutiny becomes increasingly aggressive and multifaceted, say attorneys at Arnold & Porter.

  • A Simple Way Courts Can Help Attys Avoid AI Hallucinations

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    As attorneys increasingly rely on generative artificial intelligence for legal research, courts should consider expanding online quality control programs to flag potential hallucinations — permitting counsel to correct mistakes and sparing judges the burden of imposing sanctions, say attorneys at Lankler Siffert & Wohl and Connors.

  • Viral Coldplay Incident Shows Why Workplace Policies Matter

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    The viral kiss cam incident at a recent Coldplay concert involving a CEO and a human resources executive raises questions about how employers can use their code of conduct or morality clauses to address off-the-clock behavior that may be detrimental to the company's reputation, says Masood Ali at Segal McCambridge.

  • Cos. Must Tailor Due Diligence As Trafficking Risks Increase

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    As legislators, prosecutors and plaintiffs attorneys increasingly focus on labor and sex trafficking throughout the U.S., companies must tailor their due diligence strategies to protect against forced labor trafficking risks in their supply chains, say attorneys at Steptoe.

  • Series

    Creating Botanical Art Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Pressing and framing plants that I grow has shown me that pursuing an endeavor that brings you joy can lead to surprising benefits for a legal career, including mental clarity, perspective and even a bit of humility, says Douglas Selph at Morris Manning.

  • Noncompete Forecast Shows Tough Weather For Employers

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    Several new state noncompete laws signal rough conditions for employers, particularly in the healthcare sector, so employers must account for employees' geographic circumstances as they cannot rely solely on choice-of-law clauses, say lawyers at McDermott.

  • Opinion

    The Legal Education Status Quo Is No Longer Tenable

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    As underscored by the fallout from California’s February bar exam, legal education and licensure are tethered to outdated systems, and the industry must implement several key reforms to remain relevant and responsive to 21st century legal needs, says Matthew Nehmer at The Colleges of Law.

  • Previewing State Efforts To Regulate Mental Health Chatbots

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    New York, Nevada and Utah have all recently enacted laws regulating the use of artificial intelligence to deliver mental health services, offering early insights into how other states may regulate this area, say attorneys at Goodwin.

  • Justices' Age Verification Ruling May Lead To More State Laws

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    The U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton ruling, permitting a Texas law requiring certain websites to verify users’ ages, significantly expands states' ability to regulate minors’ social media access, further complicating the patchwork of internet privacy laws, say attorneys at Troutman.

  • E-Discovery Quarterly: Rulings On Relevance Redactions

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    In recent cases addressing redactions that parties sought to apply based on the relevance of information — as opposed to considerations of privilege — courts have generally limited a party’s ability to withhold nonresponsive or irrelevant material, providing a few lessons for discovery strategy, say attorneys at Sidley.

  • Opinion

    Section 1983 Has Promise After End Of Nationwide Injunctions

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down the practice of nationwide injunctions in Trump v. Casa, Section 1983 civil rights suits can provide a better pathway to hold the government accountable — but this will require reforms to qualified immunity, says Marc Levin at the Council on Criminal Justice.

  • Courts Redefining Software As Product Generates New Risks

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    A recent wave of litigation against social media platforms, chatbot developers and ride-hailing companies has some courts straying from the traditional view of software as a service to redefining software as a product, with significant implications for strict liability exposure, say attorneys at Reed Smith.

  • Opinion

    Premerger Settlements Don't Meet Standard For Bribery

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    Claims that Paramount’s decision to settle a lawsuit with President Donald Trump while it was undergoing a premerger regulatory review amounts to a quid pro quo misconstrue bribery law and ignore how modern legal departments operate, says Ediberto Román at the Florida International University College of Law.

  • Texas Med Spas Must Prepare For 2 New State Laws

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    Two new laws in Texas — regulating elective intravenous therapy and reforming healthcare noncompetes — mark a pivotal shift in the regulatory framework for medical spas in the state, which must proactively adapt their operations and contractual practices, says Brad Cook at Munsch Hardt.

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