Texas

  • March 18, 2024

    Google Evades Sanctions A Second Time In Ex-Employee Suit

    A Texas federal judge denied an ex-Google worker's second attempt to level sanctions against his former employer in the latest tit-for-tat between the parties on Monday, saying that the tech giant had met the court's previous orders on discovery obligations.

  • March 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Block Intel License Defense In Calif. Case

    The Federal Circuit on Monday refused to undo a California judge's order letting Intel argue that it has a license to VLSI's microchip patents in cases with billions of dollars at stake, ruling that VLSI hadn't shown that the appeals court should step in.

  • March 18, 2024

    Texas Hospital Loses Bid To Dismiss Patients' Hack Suit

    A Texas federal judge handed a win to the plaintiffs suing a hospital system in the aftermath of a hack that saw hundreds of patients' data pilfered, dismissing some of the claims in the proposed class action but allowing the suit to move forward after a hearing Monday.

  • March 18, 2024

    Fund Industry Sues SEC To Overturn New Dealer Definition

    Private fund associations sued the U.S. Securities and Exchange in Texas on Monday in the hopes of reversing the agency's recent decision to bring proprietary trading firms and some hedge funds under its authority as securities dealers, a decision that the suing groups have said could drive some hedge funds out of business.

  • March 18, 2024

    Provider To Pay $100K Fine For 'Downselling' Broadband

    A fiber broadband provider in Texas and Louisiana has agreed to pay a $100,000 fine to the Federal Communications Commission for selling only its slowest service plan to customers in the Affordable Connectivity Program.

  • March 18, 2024

    Fed. Circ. Won't Order Albright To Ship Apple IP Case To Calif.

    The Federal Circuit on Monday denied an appeal from Apple Inc. of a decision denying its bid to move an infringement suit over authentication and fraud reduction patents from Texas federal court to California.

  • March 18, 2024

    The Biggest Trade Secrets Awards In The Last 5 Years

    Trade secrets cases are having a moment in the spotlight, thanks to some gargantuan damages awards over the past five years and more flexibility for plaintiffs to argue for what they think they are owed.

  • March 18, 2024

    Vidal Tells PTAB To Try Defining 'Biometric Signal' Again

    The head of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has thrown out decisions from the Patent Trial and Trademark Board that found Assa Abloy was unable to show two biometric patents were unpatentable, saying the PTAB used a definition of a critical term that wasn't proposed by Assa Abloy or the patent owner.

  • March 18, 2024

    Energy Co. Exec Cops To $5.5M Commodity Kickback Scheme

    A former president of a Texas energy company has pled guilty to fraudulently trading natural gas futures contracts and receiving $5.5 million in illegal kickbacks for the associated trades, the U.S. Department of Justice has said.

  • March 18, 2024

    Justice Alito Blocks Texas' Migrant Arrest Law Indefinitely

    U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito on Monday once again prevented Texas from implementing a new law allowing state officials to arrest and deport migrants, issuing an order that will keep the law on ice until the court rules further.

  • March 18, 2024

    Voyager Investors Suing Mark Cuban Seek Class Cert.

    Investors suing billionaire Mark Cuban over his role in promoting now-bankrupt Voyager Digital Ltd. have pushed for class certification and urged the court to rule that Voyager was selling unregistered securities.

  • March 18, 2024

    Texas Judges Pause Wireless Patent Fights For PTAB

    The top two federal judges in Texas handling patent cases have agreed to hold litigation between two automotive brands and a prolific litigation outfit after BMW persuaded the patent board to review "every single claim" involved in litigation over decade-old wireless patents.

  • March 18, 2024

    High Court Doubts Feds Coerced Social Media Cos.

    A majority of the U.S. Supreme Court appeared unconvinced Monday that the Biden administration violated the First Amendment by working with social media platforms to combat the spread of misinformation, often chiding Louisiana's solicitor general for presenting confusing and overly expansive arguments.

  • March 18, 2024

    Kimberly-Clark Gets OK For $6M Deal Over Tainted Wipes

    A Texas federal court has granted final approval to a deal worth as much as $17 million — with $3.6 million going to plaintiff attorney fees — that would resolve claims that paper products manufacturer Kimberly-Clark sold flushable wipes contaminated with a bacteria particularly dangerous to those with weak immune systems.

  • March 18, 2024

    Latham-Led Talos Sells Carbon Capture Co. In $148M Deal

    Talos Energy, represented by Latham & Watkins LLP, announced Monday it sold its entire carbon capture and sequestration business to a U.S.-based subsidiary of French multinational TotalEnergies for $148 million, citing plans to use the proceeds for loan repayment and general corporate purposes.

  • March 18, 2024

    Kirkland Wants To Escape Suit Over Ex-Judge's Relationship

    Kirkland & Ellis LLP wants to bring down the hammer on a racketeering lawsuit claiming the firm "conspired" to profit from a Texas bankruptcy judge's secret romance scandal, saying the "flimsy" suit should be dismissed, and both the plaintiff and his attorneys at Bandas Law Firm PC should be sanctioned for filing it.

  • March 18, 2024

    5th Circ. Revives Widows' Collections Suit Against Law Firm

    The Fifth Circuit has revived a proposed class action against Louisiana law firm Shows Cali & Walsh LLP regarding its efforts to recoup grant funds awarded in connection with Hurricane Katrina, saying a reasonable jury could find the law firm violated the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act.

  • March 18, 2024

    Ex-Holland & Knight Atty To Lead Hilgers Graben Gov't Team

    A former securities defense leader at Holland & Knight LLP has moved to Hilgers Graben PLLC's Dallas office to lead the firm's government investigations and regulatory enforcement group.

  • March 18, 2024

    NextEra Moves For Victory In Texas Power Grid Law Row

    NextEra units want a Texas federal court to invalidate a state law reserving new power line development for incumbent transmission companies after the Lone Star State failed in its bid to overturn a Fifth Circuit opinion finding the measure unconstitutional.

  • March 18, 2024

    Catching Up With Delaware's Chancery Court

    Multimillion-dollar e-cigarette settlements, $4 billion in stock buybacks and a $6.1 million appraisal tweak were among the big-dollar items logged in the Delaware Court of Chancery's ledger last week. Also on the docket: a Panama port project, a news outlet's defamation case, drone disputes and a flood of mail from Tesla shareholders. In case you missed it, here's all the latest from the Chancery Court.

  • March 18, 2024

    Supreme Court Won't Review Dallas Strip Club Law

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to take up a case challenging a Dallas city ordinance requiring sexually oriented businesses to close during the early morning hours that was enacted in an attempt to reduce crime.

  • March 16, 2024

    Up Next At High Court: Gov't Jawboning & Retaliatory Arrests

    The U.S. Supreme Court has a packed oral arguments calendar this week that includes disputes over the Biden administration's work with social media companies to combat misinformation, the appropriate evidence standard for bringing retaliatory arrest claims and whether the federal government can object to a consent decree entered into by three states.

  • March 15, 2024

    5th Circ. Blocks SEC Climate Reporting Regulations, For Now

    The Fifth Circuit on Friday temporarily blocked the implementation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new emissions reporting requirements, issuing an administrative stay in a challenge brought by oil and gas company Liberty Energy Inc.

  • March 15, 2024

    Judiciary Clarifies Judge Shopping Policy After Senator Letter

    The Judicial Conference of the United States said Friday that its updated policy aimed at preventing litigants from shopping for the judge of their choice is not intended to overstep judges' authority or discretion under the law, issuing guidance one day after Republican senators pushed back against the policy.

  • March 15, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: Realtor Settlement, Women's Soccer

    Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on this week's key developments by state — as well as on the $418 million settlement by the National Association of Realtors to end broker-fee claims and the first stadium built in the United States for a women's professional sports team.

Expert Analysis

  • Takeaways From EPA's New Methane Emission Rules

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    Attorneys at V&E examine two new Clean Air Act rules for the oil and gas industry, explaining how they expand methane and volatile organic compound emission reduction requirements and amplify U.S. Environmental Protection Agency enforcement risks.

  • Wesco Ch. 11 Ruling Marks Shift In Uptier Claim Treatment

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    A Texas bankruptcy court’s recent decision in In re: Wesco Aircraft Holdings leaves nonparticipating creditors with a road map to litigate to judgment non-pro rata liability management transactions, and foreshadows that bankruptcy courts may no longer be a friendly forum for these types of claims, say attorneys at Ropes & Gray.

  • What Recent Study Shows About AI's Promise For Legal Tasks

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    Amid both skepticism and excitement about the promise of generative artificial intelligence in legal contexts, the first randomized controlled trial studying its impact on basic lawyering tasks shows mixed but promising results, and underscores the need for attorneys to proactively engage with AI, says Daniel Schwarcz at University of Minnesota Law School.

  • 2026 World Cup: Companies Face Labor Challenges And More

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    Companies sponsoring or otherwise involved with the 2026 FIFA World Cup — hosted jointly by the U.S., Canada and Mexico — should be proactive in preparing to navigate many legal considerations in immigration, labor management and multijurisdictional workforces surrounding the event, say attorneys at Morgan Lewis.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Lesson: No Contradiction, No Indefiniteness

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    The Federal Circuit’s recent ruling in Maxwell v. Amperex Technology highlights the complexities of construing patent claims when seemingly contradictory limitations are present, and that when a narrowing limitation overrides a broader one, they do not necessarily contradict each other, says Roy Wepner at Kaplan Breyer.

  • What Workplace Violence Law Means For Texas Healthcare

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    While no federal laws address violence against healthcare workers, Texas has recently enacted statutory protections that take effect later this year — so facilities in the state should understand their new obligations under the law, and employers in other states would be wise to take notice as well, say attorneys at Bradley Arant.

  • Business Litigators Have A Source Of Untapped Fulfillment

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    As increasing numbers of attorneys struggle with stress and mental health issues, business litigators can find protection against burnout by remembering their important role in society — because fulfillment in one’s work isn’t just reserved for public interest lawyers, say Bennett Rawicki and Peter Bigelow at Hilgers Graben.

  • Series

    Skiing Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    A lifetime of skiing has helped me develop important professional skills, and taught me that embracing challenges with a spirit of adventure can allow lawyers to push boundaries, expand their capabilities and ultimately excel in their careers, says Andrea Przybysz at Tucker Ellis.

  • High Court Social Media Speech Ruling Could Implicate AI

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    In Moody v. NetChoice and NetChoice v. Paxton, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering whether certain state laws can restrict content moderation by social media platforms, but the eventual decision could also provide insight into whether the first amendment protects artificial intelligence speech, say Joseph Meadows and Quyen Dang at GRSM50.

  • Texas Insurance Ruling Could Restore Finality To Appraisal

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    The Texas Supreme Court's decision in Rodriguez v. Safeco, determining that full payment of an appraisal award precludes recovery of attorney fees, indicates a potential return to an era in which timely payment undoubtedly disposes of all possible policyholder claims, says Karl Schulz at Cozen O'Connor.

  • Think Like A Lawyer: Forget Everything You Know About IRAC

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    The mode of legal reasoning most students learn in law school, often called “Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion,” or IRAC, erroneously frames analysis as a separate, discrete step, resulting in disorganized briefs and untold obfuscation — but the fix is pretty simple, says Luke Andrews at Poole Huffman.

  • Complying With Enforcers' Ephemeral Messaging Guidance

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    Given federal antitrust enforcers’ recently issued guidance on ephemeral messaging applications, organizations must take a proactive approach to preserving short-lived communications — or risk criminal obstruction charges and civil discovery sanctions, say attorneys at Manatt.

  • How Firms Can Ensure Associate Gender Parity Lasts

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    Among associates, women now outnumber men for the first time, but progress toward gender equality at the top of the legal profession remains glacially slow, and firms must implement time-tested solutions to ensure associates’ gender parity lasts throughout their careers, say Kelly Culhane and Nicole Joseph at Culhane Meadows.

  • 7 Common Myths About Lateral Partner Moves

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    As lateral recruiting remains a key factor for law firm growth, partners considering a lateral move should be aware of a few commonly held myths — some of which contain a kernel of truth, and some of which are flat out wrong, says Dave Maurer at Major Lindsey.

  • No AI FRAUD Act Is A Significant Step For Right Of Publicity

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    The No Artificial Intelligence Fake Replicas and Unauthorized Duplications Act's proposed federal right of publicity protection, including post-mortem rights, represents a significant step toward harmonizing the landscape of right of publicity law, Rachel Hofstatter and Aaron Rosenthal at Honigman.

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