Texas

  • September 20, 2024

    Justices Asked To Clarify IP Eligibility In Animation App Case

    App developer Plotagraph has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Federal Circuit decision that found its patents that allow users to create the illusion of movement within digital photos or videos were invalid because they were abstract under the high court's Alice decision.

  • September 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Says Tribunal Properly Slashed $10.6M Gas Award

    A lower court improperly vacated an arbitral tribunal's decision slashing some $4 million from a $10.6 million award issued to a Colorado-based exploration company following a dispute over a Cameroonian natural gas project, the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday in a published opinion.

  • September 20, 2024

    SpaceX, Musk Attack FAA Following Proposed Fines

    SpaceX is lashing out at the Federal Aviation Administration's "inability to keep pace with the commercial spaceflight industry" days after the agency said it planned to slap the company with $633,000 in fines, prompting founder and majority owner Elon Musk to threaten a lawsuit.

  • September 20, 2024

    Getting Around ITC Was 'Sneaky,' Judge Tells Caterpillar

    A Delaware court has held that Caterpillar owes about $19.5 million in a patent case, citing in part the company's "sneaky" decision to domesticate manufacturing after a setback in a related infringement case at the U.S. International Trade Commission, while also finding that Caterpillar is subject to a rare injunction blocking the sale of some of its road construction machines.

  • September 20, 2024

    IPO Trio Looks To Raise $536M Combined As Autumn Begins

    Three companies spanning the energy, healthcare and life sciences industries are preparing initial public offerings that could raise $536 million combined in the coming week, guided by six law firms, signaling an upturn in IPOs as autumn begins.

  • September 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Reverses Insurer's Early Win In Silo Damage Dispute

    The Fifth Circuit reversed an insurer's early win in a coverage dispute with an agricultural cooperative over damage to two grain silos, instead finding that questions remained about whether wind and weather damage because of faulty construction qualified as property damage under the policy.

  • September 20, 2024

    5th Circ. Deals Biden A Loss in Medicare Drug Pricing Row

    A Fifth Circuit panel majority said that a healthcare trade association has standing to challenge the Biden administration's Medicare drug pricing program, allowing the group to sidestep agency administrative procedure and test its claims in federal court.

  • September 20, 2024

    J&J Makes Third Try At Handling Talc Claims In Bankruptcy

    A Johnson & Johnson talc unit filed for Chapter 11 protection in Texas bankruptcy court Friday, marking the third time the company has tried to deal with liability from alleged asbestos-contaminated talc with a bankruptcy filing.

  • September 20, 2024

    Houston Judge Won't Take Up Prosecutor License Issue

    A Houston judge declined to take up allegations that a government prosecutor participated in a case against a Texas surgeon while her law license was suspended, denying the doctor's show cause motion in a brief order Thursday.

  • September 20, 2024

    Latham Lands King & Spalding Project Development Ace

    Latham & Watkins LLP expanded its Houston office this week with an engineering, procurement and construction specialist with experience in energy and infrastructure joining as a partner from King & Spalding LLP.

  • September 20, 2024

    Federal Judges In Texas, Louisiana Taking Senior Status

    U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal of the Southern District of Texas and U.S. District Judge Lance Africk of the Eastern District of Louisiana announced this week that they are taking senior status in the coming months.

  • September 20, 2024

    DOE Picks 25 Battery Projects For $3B Of Awards

    The U.S. Department of Energy on Friday said it has selected 25 projects across 14 states for negotiations for $3 billion of federal funding aimed at boosting the domestic production and recycling of batteries and key materials.

  • September 20, 2024

    IRS Must Credit Overpayments, Couple Tell 5th Circ.

    A couple claiming they should be allowed to sue the IRS for a roughly $500,000 tax refund in federal court because they overpaid their taxes told the Fifth Circuit that the agency is out of time to challenge their overpayments and must credit their account.

  • September 20, 2024

    Texas Powerhouse: Baker Botts

    Baker Botts LLP's deep Texas roots allowed it to secure impressive courtroom and transactional wins over the last year, including successfully fighting off a more than $100 million trade secrets case against a Houston-based energy technology company and landing billions of dollars in transactional deals across the corporate and tax sectors.

  • September 19, 2024

    Texas Med Mal Law Axes Crash Suit Against Ambulance Driver

    A Texas appeals court on Thursday narrowly tossed a suit accusing an ambulance driver of causing a motorist's crash injuries after running a red light, saying the suit can be considered a medical malpractice case, which requires a medical expert's report.

  • September 19, 2024

    Texas Judge Tosses Crypto Co.'s SEC Challenge As 'Unripe'

    A Texas federal judge found Thursday that blockchain firm Consensys can't sue the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a determination that its MetaMask software doesn't offend securities laws because the agency's threat of enforcement and subsequent suit aren't final actions the court can review.

  • September 19, 2024

    Paxton Sues Harris County To Stop New Income Program

    Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton slapped Harris County with a petition Thursday, accusing the county of violating the state constitution by proceeding with its "guaranteed income" program despite having the initial version halted by the Texas Supreme Court in parallel litigation.

  • September 19, 2024

    Texas Judge Seeks More Info In $150M Ukrnafta Award Feud

    A Texas magistrate judge on Thursday ordered Ukraine's largest oil company to turn over bank statements as he grapples with a bid by U.S.-based Carpatsky Petroleum Corp. to bar the Ukrainian company from draining those accounts, part of Carpatsky's long-running effort to enforce a $150 million arbitral award.

  • September 19, 2024

    Dallas Judge's Ruling Leaves State Fair Gun Ban Intact

    A Dallas County judge upheld in a Thursday ruling the State Fair of Texas's new rule banning handguns on its premises, rejecting an injunction attempt that would have struck down the rule on the grounds that the fair takes place on government property.

  • September 19, 2024

    GAO Says ICE Wrongly Excluded Co. Over Registration Lapse

    The U.S. Government Accountability Office has backed a protest from a company that lost a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement medical services task order over a temporary federal database registration lapse, saying ICE had not mandated continuous registration.

  • September 19, 2024

    Union Pacific Contractors Again Escape Texas Enviro Claims

    A Texas appeals court on Thursday affirmed a trial court's decision to dismiss without prejudice the claims scores of people lodged against two Union Pacific Railroad Co. contractors in their litigation over cancer-causing contamination related to a Houston rail yard.

  • September 19, 2024

    Senate Panel Holds Steward CEO In Contempt After No-Show

    A U.S. Senate committee voted unanimously Thursday to hold Steward Health Care CEO Ralph de la Torre in civil and criminal contempt after he defied a subpoena to testify about the bankrupt health system's downfall.

  • September 19, 2024

    5th Circ. Says Deported Honduran Wrongly Deemed A Felon

    The Fifth Circuit has vacated the removal order of a Honduran woman charged as an accessory to an armed robbery, finding that the Louisiana statute she was deported under for an aggravated felony doesn't align with the federal definition of the removable offense of obstruction of justice.

  • September 19, 2024

    Judge Gives Dow Jones Win In Article Thievery Case

    A Texas federal judge has handed a win to publisher Dow Jones & Co. in a copyright infringement suit accusing an investment manager of wrongfully copying and distributing thousands of news articles from The Wall Street Journal.

  • September 19, 2024

    FERC Must Heed DC Circ. 'Shift' On Gas Reviews, Chair Says

    Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Willie Phillips said Thursday that the D.C. Circuit wrongly wiped out the agency's approval of a Northeast pipeline expansion project, but acknowledged that recent court decisions will force FERC to rethink how it reviews gas infrastructure projects.

Expert Analysis

  • 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.

  • Litigation Inspiration: 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.

  • Series

    Cheering In The NFL Makes Me A Better Lawyer

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    Balancing my time between a BigLaw career and my role as an NFL cheerleader has taught me that pursuing your passions outside of work is not a distraction, but rather an opportunity to harness important skills that can positively affect how you approach work and view success in your career, says Rachel Schuster at Sheppard Mullin.

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