Texas

  • March 28, 2024

    CFPB Scores Win As Banks' Late Fee Rule Lawsuit Sent To DC

    A Texas federal judge ruled Thursday that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade groups suing to block the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late-fee standard must take their case to D.C. federal court, granting the agency's bid to fight the challenge on its home turf.

  • March 28, 2024

    Making Home Liquor Constitutional, Distillers Group Says

    A Texas federal judge decided that a case between the Hobby Distillers Association and the government over the right to make hard liquor at home could proceed on the merits after both sides argued about the constitutionality of homemade spirits during a hearing on Thursday.

  • March 28, 2024

    Wells Fargo Sued Over Role In Texas Atty's Carbon Tech Scam

    Wells Fargo and an advisory group including an attorney and accountant from California facilitated a yearslong Ponzi scheme that deceived investors to put money into a fraudulent gas industry carbon capture technology venture, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.

  • March 28, 2024

    Texas Judge Sanctions Atty For No-Showing At Hearing

    U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman sanctioned an attorney who didn't appear at a show cause hearing, saying Thursday the court has been inundated with smaller cases and if law firms want to remove cases to the Fort Worth division of the Northern District of Texas they need to follow local rules.

  • March 28, 2024

    Judge Throws Out IP Suit, Citing Expired 3D Glasses Patent

    A federal judge in Houston has tossed a lawsuit brought by a prolific patent litigator on behalf of VDPP LLC, holding that the patent covering 3D glasses had expired before the complaint was anywhere near a courthouse.

  • March 28, 2024

    Feds Lean On 5th Circ. SB 4 Order To Argue For Buoy Removal

    The Biden administration has told a Texas federal court that a Fifth Circuit ruling blocking a controversial Texas migrant arrest law confirms that the administration has a valid cause of action in seeking to remove the state's floating anti-migrant barriers.

  • March 28, 2024

    Texas Judge Lifts Discovery Stay On Google's Bidding Deals

    A Texas federal judge agreed to lift a discovery stay in the Texas-led antitrust suit challenging Google's ad technology, allowing the 16 plaintiff states and Puerto Rico access to additional information about a network bidding agreement between Google and Facebook that they claim stymied competition in the digital advertising market.

  • March 28, 2024

    Jury Gives Cameron $9M Win In Fracking Patent Fight

    A Texas federal jury has handed Cameron International Corp. a $9 million award after finding that Nitro Fluids LLC willfully infringed two of its patents covering aspects of certain fracking systems used in oil and gas production.

  • March 28, 2024

    Conservative Org Takes Second Shot At PCAOB In Texas

    The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board has been hit with a second lawsuit accusing it of operating unconstitutionally by an anonymous firm staring down a regulatory investigation, with the suit filed in Texas by the same conservative legal group that had its earlier case against the board transferred out of the state.

  • March 28, 2024

    5th Circ. Nixes License For NM Nuke Storage Site

    The Fifth Circuit wiped out the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's license for a temporary nuclear waste storage facility in New Mexico, citing its August 2023 ruling finding the agency lacks authority to license a separate facility in Texas.

  • March 28, 2024

    Texas Airbnb Host Says Suit Over Fatal Blast In Wrong Venue

    The Texas owner of an Airbnb rental unit in Jamaica where a gas stove exploded, causing fatal injuries to a Connecticut woman, says she cannot be sued where the victim lived, arguing that she never targeted the online listing for the property to anyone in Connecticut and that the federal court there lacks jurisdiction over her as a resident of Texas.

  • March 28, 2024

    Texas Wins Court Bid To Vacate Feds' Highway GHG Rule

    A Texas federal judge has dealt the Biden administration a blow by vacating a new Federal Highway Administration rule requiring states to set targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions from federally funded highway projects, saying Congress never gave the agency that authority.

  • March 28, 2024

    Warner Bros. Hit With Suit Over 'Draconian' COVID Vax Policy

    A former producer with Warner Bros. told a Houston federal court that he was forced to resign due to the company's "draconian policy" mandating COVID-19 vaccines for employees.

  • March 28, 2024

    Whataburger Accused Of Keeping Shoddy Funds In 401(k)

    Whataburger breached federal benefits law by stocking its employees' $215 million retirement plan with poorly performing funds and failing to replace them with better options, according to a proposed class action filed in Texas federal court.

  • March 28, 2024

    DOL Says Challenge To Prevailing Wage Rule Can't Stand

    The U.S. Department of Labor said four entities failed to support their assertion that the department's final rule regulating prevailing wages will hurt them, urging a Texas federal court to toss those claims.

  • March 28, 2024

    The Home Depot Buying PE-Backed SRS For $18.25B

    The Home Depot said Thursday it has agreed to acquire SRS Distribution Inc., a private equity-backed distributor of roofing and building supplies, for $18.25 billion, inclusive of debt. 

  • March 28, 2024

    Paul Hastings Bulks Up In Texas With V&E Team

    Paul Hastings LLP announced Thursday that it had brought on an eight-partner finance team from Vinson & Elkins LLP, four of whom will anchor the firm's new Dallas location while the others will be based in Houston.

  • March 27, 2024

    5th Circ. Reissues Arb. Decision In Hurricane Damage Case

    The Fifth Circuit has reissued its opinion allowing a group of domestic insurers to force arbitration of a dispute over coverage for hurricane damage under an international arbitration clause after the insurers argued that the unanimous decision applied circuit precedent in a new context.

  • March 27, 2024

    BlackRock's Non-ESG Funds Have Green Agenda, Miss. Says

    Mississippi's secretary of state announced Wednesday that it intends to fine BlackRock multiple millions of dollars, alleging the asset manager has repeatedly made false and misleading statements about its involvement in "pushing" environmental, social and corporate governance factors on portfolio companies.

  • March 27, 2024

    Texas Appeals Court Nixes Injunction In Bitcoin Mining Dispute

    A Texas state appeals court chucked a temporary injunction Wednesday that would have forced a property owner to keep providing electricity and access to a bitcoin mining company, ruling Thursday that the injunction was lacking in specifics and insufficient under Texas law.

  • March 27, 2024

    TikTok Star Ordered To Pay $805K To Sony For Sampling Song

    A Texas federal judge on Wednesday ordered TikTok musician Trefuego to pay Sony Music Entertainment Inc. more than $805,000 for illegally sampling its licensed song "Reflections," but he denied Sony's bid for an injunction.

  • March 27, 2024

    Malpractice Suit Against Texas Magnate's Atty Revived

    A Texas appeals court has revived claims that a longtime family attorney violated his duty as trustee to their fortune by using his position to enrich himself and undercut the heir to a Lone Star State business empire.

  • March 27, 2024

    Plastic Surgeon Must Face Sex Assault Suit, Texas Court Says

    A Houston-area plastic surgeon must face claims he sexually assaulted a patient while she was recovering from breast augmentation surgery, a Texas appeals court has ruled, holding that the patient doesn't need expert testimony to show that sexual assault falls outside the bounds of acceptable medical standards.

  • March 27, 2024

    Travis Scott Says He Had No Duty Over Astroworld's Safety

    Rapper Travis Scott, the safety director of the 2021 Astroworld Festival and other defendants have asked a Texas judge to free them from a slew of lawsuits stemming from the concert's fatal crowd crush, with roughly two months until the first plaintiff is set to go to trial.

  • March 27, 2024

    HR Services Co. May Be Liable In Harassment Suit, Court Says

    A Texas appellate court said Wednesday that more fact-finding is needed to determine whether a professional employer organization could be on the hook for a sexual harassment claim brought by a cafeteria worker, but found that the company is, legally, an employer.

Expert Analysis

  • Untangling The Legal Complexities Of Trade Secrets And AI

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    With broad adoption of generative artificial intelligence, some have suggested trade secret law is the best means for protecting innovations, but while this protection may apply to all forms of information, the breadth of coverage may make identifying the information and later misappropriation difficult, say Joshua Lerner and Nora Passamaneck at WilmerHale.

  • Series

    Spray Painting Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    My experiences as an abstract spray paint artist have made me a better litigator, demonstrating — in more ways than one — how fluidity and flexibility are necessary parts of a successful legal practice, says Erick Sandlin at Bracewell.

  • Judge-Shopping Policy Revisal May Make Issue Worse

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    The Judicial Conference at its March meeting unveiled a revised policy with the stated goal of limiting litigants’ ability to judge-shop in patent cases, but the policy may actually exacerbate the problem by tying the issue to judge-shopping in polarizing political cases, making reform more difficult, say Robert Niemeier and William Milliken at Sterne Kessler.

  • Opinion

    5th Circ. NFL Disability Ruling Turns ERISA On Its Head

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    The Fifth Circuit's March 15 ruling in Cloud v. NFL Player Retirement Plan upheld the plan's finding that an NFL player was not entitled to reclassification because he couldn't show changed circumstances, which is contrary to the goal of accurate Employee Retirement Income Security Act claims processing, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • How Fieldwood Ch. 11 Ruling Bolsters Section 363 Confidence

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    The Fifth Circuit’s recent ruling in Fieldwood Energy’s Chapter 11 cases, which clarified that challenges to integral aspects of a bankruptcy sale are statutorily moot under Section 363(m) of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, should bolster the confidence of prospective purchasers in these sales, say attorneys at V&E.

  • What Texas Employers Should Know After PWFA Ruling

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    After a Texas federal judge recently enjoined federal agencies from enforcing the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act against the state of Texas, all employers must still remain sensitive to local, state and federal protections for pregnant workers, and proactive in their approach to pregnancy-related accommodations, says Maritza Sanchez at Phelps Dunbar.

  • Opinion

    Judicial Independence Is Imperative This Election Year

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    As the next election nears, the judges involved in the upcoming trials against former President Donald Trump increasingly face political pressures and threats of violence — revealing the urgent need to safeguard judicial independence and uphold the rule of law, says Benes Aldana at the National Judicial College.

  • Series

    Riding My Peloton Bike Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Using the Peloton platform for cycling, running, rowing and more taught me that fostering a mind-body connection will not only benefit you physically and emotionally, but also inspire stamina, focus, discipline and empathy in your legal career, says Christopher Ward at Polsinelli.

  • The Challenges SEC's Climate Disclosure Rule May Face

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    Attorneys at Debevoise examine potential legal challenges to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate-related disclosure rule — against which nine suits have already been filed — including arguments under the Administrative Procedure Act, the major questions doctrine, the First Amendment and the nondelegation doctrine.

  • Spartan Arbitration Tactics Against Well-Funded Opponents

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    Like the ancient Spartans who held off a numerically superior Persian army at the Battle of Thermopylae, trial attorneys and clients faced with arbitration against an opponent with a bigger war chest can take a strategic approach to create a pass to victory, say Kostas Katsiris and Benjamin Argyle at Venable.

  • 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.

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