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Texas
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July 19, 2024
Real Estate Recap: CMBS, Phoenix Evictions, Summer Break?
Catch up on this past week's key developments by state from Law360 Real Estate Authority — including trends in multifamily commercial mortgage-backed securities, a study of corporate landlord evictions in Phoenix, and the creative lengths real estate lawyers go to when closing the deal on a summer vacation.
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July 19, 2024
NFL Antitrust Verdict, WWE Chair Woes Define 2024's 1st Half
The first half of 2024 saw bombshell allegations and yearslong litigation lurching forward, highlighted by the shocking lawsuit accusing the founder of WWE of horrific sexual conduct, an iconic magazine almost shuttering and two NFL cases reaching significant milestones.
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July 19, 2024
Bank Regulators Ask 5th Circ. To Unfreeze New Lending Rules
Federal banking regulators have urged the Fifth Circuit to rescind a Texas district court's injunction blocking implementation of new community lending rules, arguing in a filing that the district court's finding essentially rewrote the Community Reinvestment Act.
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July 19, 2024
Bankruptcy Judge's Affair Sank Barge Company, Ex-CEO Says
The former CEO of a now-defunct barge company claims that a Houston bankruptcy judge's affair with a Jackson Walker attorney helped destroy his business, saying that Jackson Walker shouldn't escape racketeering claims because it hid its part in the lucrative relationship.
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July 19, 2024
'Texit' Atty Sues State Rep., Judge Over Defamation Fees
A civil rights attorney who has represented the group behind the "Texit" movement filed a lawsuit against a state representative and court officials in a North Texas county, accusing the group of colluding to run up attorney fees against him in a defamation case connected to the pro-Texas-secession group.
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July 19, 2024
Elite Schools' $284M Aid-Fixing Deals Get Final OK
An Illinois federal judge on Friday granted his final signoff to $284 million worth of settlements inked by 10 schools accused in a sprawling antitrust case of working together to limit the financial aid they provided, deeming it a fair and reasonable outcome for the class of students.
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July 19, 2024
FTC Eyes Mid-Nov. Texas Hearing Against Mattress Merger
The Federal Trade Commission's case against Tempur Sealy's $4 billion planned Mattress Firm purchase is set to kick off in Texas federal court Nov. 14, the parties told an agency in-house judge Friday during a scheduling hearing.
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July 19, 2024
Calif. Alice Invalidations Block Koss' PTAB Appeal At Fed. Circ.
The Federal Circuit on Friday said it won't review whether the Patent Trial and Appeal Board rightfully invalidated some claims of Koss Corp.'s wireless earphone patents, as the patents were definitively invalidated in California.
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July 19, 2024
DC Circ. Won't Block EPA Power Plant Emissions Rule
The D.C. Circuit refused Friday to block the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's rule curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, saying challengers haven't shown they're likely to succeed in overturning the regulations.
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July 19, 2024
NLRB Drops Challenge To Joint Employer Rule Vacatur
The National Labor Relations Board dropped its appeal of a Texas federal judge's decision vacating its rule expanding its definition of joint employer under federal labor law, saying it wants to consider its approach to the policy in light of the court's decision.
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July 19, 2024
Off The Bench: Trial Time For Jerry Jones, Sunday Ticket Row
In this week's Off The Bench, Jerry Jones' legal battle with the woman claiming to be his daughter reaches a courtroom, Sunday Ticket subscribers clap back at the NFL, and soccer fans go after the stadium they could not enter for the Copa America final.
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July 19, 2024
Occidental Could Sell $3.6B CrownRock Stake To Ecopetrol
Occidental Petroleum said in a securities filing Friday that it could sell a 30% stake in CrownRock — which Occidental is under contract to buy for $12 billion — to Columbia's Ecopetrol for $3.6 billion.
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July 19, 2024
Regeneron Rips DOJ's FCA Suit As 'Divorced From Reality'
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. has told a Massachusetts federal judge that a False Claims Act suit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice claiming the company withheld information about a drug's average sales price was "divorced from reality" and the practice the government was complaining about was commonplace.
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July 19, 2024
Taxation With Representation: A&O Shearman, Gibson Dunn
In this week's Taxation With Representation, Cleveland-Cliffs Inc. buys Stelco Holdings Inc., KBR acquires LinQuest Corp., Blue Owl Capital Inc. purchases Atalaya Capital Management LP, and Amphenol Corp. buys two mobile networks units from CommScope.
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July 19, 2024
NY Defense Co. Loar Buying Applied Avionics For $385M
Loar Holdings Inc., the White Plains, New York-based aerospace and defense parts maker that went public in April, said Friday that it has agreed to purchase Applied Avionics Inc. for $385 million in cash.
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July 18, 2024
5th Circ. Remands ESG Rule Row Citing Chevron's End
The Fifth Circuit on Thursday instructed a Texas federal court to reconsider a Biden administration rule allowing retirement plan advisers to consider environmental, social and governance factors when choosing investments, pointing to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that have "upended" the legal landscape.
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July 18, 2024
Texas IP Firm Fights Microsoft With Dueling Sanctions Bid
Prolific patent litigator Bill Ramey has pushed back against Microsoft's bid to sanction his law firm in Texas federal court, filing his own sanctions motion that claims the tech giant and its attorney "gleefully" filed an improper declaration in the case to defame him and his firm.
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July 18, 2024
5th Circ. Upholds Tossing Of Ship Captain's Toxic Injury Suit
A former offshore supply vessel captain, who claims chemicals aboard caused his cancer and kidney failure, must sue his U.S. employer in England, the Fifth Circuit has ruled, saying the employment contract's forum selection clause is enforceable even after considering Louisiana's law which largely prohibits such clauses.
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July 18, 2024
Fed. Circ. OKs Gilstrap's Alice Ax Of Background Check Patent
The Federal Circuit on Thursday upheld Eastern District of Texas Judge Rodney Gilstrap's invalidation of a background check patent for claiming only an abstract idea, as well as his refusal to award attorney fees to the small Texas city that prevailed in the case.
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July 18, 2024
Comcast Gets PTAB To Eye Patent Despite EDTX Trial
The Patent Trial and Appeal Board on Thursday said it will look into a petition by Comcast asking it to invalidate claims in a patent organizing "content on a display device" that is tied to a $338.7 million jury verdict and is being asserted in another case set to go to trial later this year.
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July 18, 2024
Judge 'Not Optimistic' Houston Firm's PPP Suit Will Succeed
A Texas federal judge said Thursday he would give a Houston law firm another chance to make its case that the U.S. Small Business Administration was wrong in denying the firm's bid for loan forgiveness under a COVID-19-era relief program, but noted he was "not really optimistic" the firm would be able to succeed with its suit.
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July 18, 2024
Google Warns Fed. Circ. Panel Backed Manipulating Damages
The Federal Circuit's decision to make Google pay EcoFactor $20 million for infringing a smart thermostat patent clears patent owners to "manufacture a royalty rate" and ignore both market realities and apportionment, Google told the full court in a bid for rehearing.
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July 18, 2024
SpaceX Tells 5th Circ. It Will Win Challenge To NLRB Structure
The Fifth Circuit should block claims that SpaceX violated labor law from proceeding before the National Labor Relations Board because the company has a good shot at winning its constitutional challenge to the agency's structure, SpaceX argued.
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July 18, 2024
Live Nation Previews Part Of Case Against DOJ Suit
Live Nation and Ticketmaster have teed up part of their fight against an antitrust lawsuit brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and multiple state attorneys general, arguing that the state law claims are "threadbare" and that a chunk of the DOJ case amounts to trying to force them to deal with competitors.
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July 18, 2024
Xcel's Silence Led To $2.6M Storm Penalty, Gas Co. Says
A natural gas marketing company is suing the Colorado Public Utilities Commission and Xcel Energy in state court to invalidate a nearly $2.6 million penalty for its failure to ship enough gas during a historic 2021 winter storm, alleging Xcel didn't notify it of the regulatory proceedings.
Expert Analysis
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4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News
Media coverage of new lawsuits exploded last year, demonstrating why defense attorneys should devise a public relations plan that complements their legal strategy, incorporating several objectives to balance ethical obligations and advocacy, say Nathan Burchfiel at Pinkston and Ryan June at Castañeda + Heidelman.
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Series
Texas Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4
Among the most noteworthy developments in the Texas banking sphere in the last quarter of 2023 were the Texas Department of Banking's extension of the state banking commissioner's authority, a recommendation to implement an updated ransomware self-assessment tool, and ongoing litigation in the state involving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, says Patrick Hanchey at Alston & Bird.
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After Headwinds, 2024 May See Offshore Wind Momentum
Despite skyrocketing raw material costs, conflicting state and federal policies, and other setbacks for the offshore wind sector in 2023, the industry appears poised for growth in the coming year, with improving economics, more flexible procurement procedures and increasing legislative support, say Emily Huggins Jones and Ben Cowan at Locke Lord.
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Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends
Though law firms face the dual challenge of external and internal pressures as they enter 2024, firms willing to pivot will be able to stand out by adapting to stakeholder needs and reimagining their infrastructure, says Shireen Hilal at Maior Consultants.
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The Most-Read Legal Industry Law360 Guest Articles Of 2023
A range of legal industry topics drew readers' attention in Law360's Expert Analysis section this year, from associate retention strategies to ethical billing practices.
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Inside Higher Education's New FCA Liability Challenges
As the educational sector expands its use of government funding, schools are at increased risk under the False Claims Act, but recent settlements offer valuable lessons about new theories of liability they may face and specific procedures to reduce their exposure, say James Zelenay and Jeremy Ochsenbein at Gibson Dunn.
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5 Most Notable Class Action Standing Cases Of 2023
Key appellate class action decisions this past year continued the trend of a more demanding approach to the threshold issue of standing during each phase of litigation, say attorneys at MoFo.
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Attorneys' Busiest Times Can Be Business Opportunities
Attorneys who resolve to grow their revenue and client base in 2024 should be careful not to abandon their goals when they get too busy with client work, because these periods of zero bandwidth can actually be a catalyst for future growth, says Amy Drysdale at Alchemy Consulting.
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In The World Of Legal Ethics, 10 Trends To Note From 2023
Lucian Pera at Adams and Reese and Trisha Rich at Holland & Knight identify the top legal ethics trends from 2023 — including issues related to hot documents, artificial intelligence and cybersecurity — that lawyers should be aware of to put their best foot forward.
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Lessons Learned From 2023's Top ADA Decisions
This year saw the courts delving into the complexities of employee accommodations under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the post-pandemic workplace, going beyond bright-line rules with fact-intensive inquiries that are likely to create uncertainty for employers, says Linda Dwoskin at Dechert.
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A Year Of Transition At The Agenda-Setting 5th Circ.
Under the spotlight of hot issues this year, the Fifth Circuit has appeared to be an ideological court generating controversial decisions and attracting certiorari-grants — but in the shadows and liminal spaces of the everyday issues, the court and its members operate in a much more nuanced and less-divisive way, says Tad Bartlett at Fishman Haygood.
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The Key Laws Retailers Should Pay Attention To In 2024
2024 promises to be another transformative year for retailers as they navigate the evolving regulatory landscape, particularly surrounding data privacy and sustainability laws, meaning companies should make it a practice to keep track of new legislation and invest in compliance efforts early on, say attorneys at Benesch.
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What's Ahead For Immigrant Employee Rights Enforcement
The U.S. Department of Justice’s increased enforcement related to immigration-based employment discrimination is coupled with pending constitutional challenges to administrative tribunals, suggesting employers should leverage those headwinds when facing investigations or class action-style litigation, say attorneys at Jones Day.
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How Attorneys Can Be More Efficient This Holiday Season
Attorneys should consider a few key tips to speed up their work during the holidays so they can join the festivities — from streamlining the document review process to creating similar folder structures, says Bennett Rawicki at Hilgers Graben.
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5 Trends To Watch In Property And Casualty Class Actions
In 2023, class action decisions have altered the landscape for five major types of claims affecting property and casualty insurers — total loss vehicle valuation, labor depreciation, other structural loss estimating theories, total loss vehicle tax and regulatory fees, and New Mexico's uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage sale requirements, say Mark Johnson and Mathew Drocton at BakerHostetler.