Overall
Key cases
Industries
Intellectual Property
Labor & Employment
Corporate
Practice Areas
Texas
-
June 18, 2013
Thompson & Knight Debuts Cybersecurity Practice
Thompson & Knight LLP has launched an interdisciplinary group devoted to cybersecurity and privacy issues in response to clients’ growing concerns about how to prevent data breaches and respond to security threats, the firm said Tuesday.
-
June 18, 2013
Verizon Finishes Off Creditor Suit Over $9B Idearc Spinoff
Verizon Communications Inc. on Tuesday defeated a $9 billion fraudulent transfer suit that targeted its spinoff of the former Idearc Inc., when a Texas federal judge ruled that the bankrupt phone directory company’s creditors couldn't prove that Verizon had intended for the spinoff to fail.
-
June 18, 2013
Allstate Says Evidence Supports Jury's $6M RICO Award
Allstate Insurance Co. urged a Texas federal judge on Tuesday to uphold a jury's $6 million damages award in a civil RICO suit, saying the award is supported by the insurer's claims that a network of chiropractors, lawyers and telemarketers conspired to inflate billings.
-
June 18, 2013
Texas Appeals Court Revives Suit Over Gas Delivery Deal
A Texas appeals court on Tuesday revived an energy developer’s suit against Kachina Pipeline Co. Inc., ruling that the pipeline operator improperly tried to extend a contract to supply natural gas while withholding unauthorized marketing costs.
-
June 18, 2013
Tesoro To Shed Assets To Close $355M Chevron Pipeline Buy
The Federal Trade Commission said Monday it would allow Tesoro Corp. to move forward with its $355 million purchase of certain Chevron Pipe Line Co. assets after Tesoro agreed to sell a petroleum terminal in Boise, Idaho, to allay the regulator's antitrust worries.
-
June 18, 2013
Cancer Testing Co. Blasts False Claims Suit As 'Speculation'
Cancer diagnostic company Caris Life Sciences Inc. told a Texas federal court Monday that allegations that it overbilled Medicare and gave hospitals kickbacks were based on "mistaken assumptions and speculation" from former employees who couldn't possibly have known about any false claims.
-
June 18, 2013
Icahn Calls For $15.6B Stock Buyback In Dell Buyout Fight
Carl Icahn on Tuesday offered the latest version of his alternative to Dell Inc.’s $24.4 billion go-private deal, demanding the company buy back $15.6 billion in shares and digging in a month before a decisive shareholder vote.
-
June 18, 2013
Par Petroleum To Shell Out $400M For Tesoro Hawaii
Houston-based Par Petroleum Corp. said Monday it has agreed to pay Tesoro Corp. nearly $400 million to acquire the company’s Hawaii subsidiary, which operates a 94,000-barrel-per-day refinery, more than two dozen retail gas stations, and pipeline and logistics facilities.
-
June 18, 2013
Lenders Up Cash Bid By $10M For ATP Oil Assets
A group of lenders led by Credit Suisse Group AG looking to buy ATP Oil & Gas Corp.’s oil and gas leases have upped their cash bid by $10 million, according to documents filed Monday in Texas bankruptcy court.
-
June 18, 2013
NLRB Denied Group Due Process In Union Row, 5th Circ. Says
The Fifth Circuit on Monday overturned a National Labor Relations Board decision that found an electrical trade group had discriminated against union members through two employment programs, ruling the board had unlawfully based the decision on a different section of law than the case was filed under.
-
June 17, 2013
Texas Windstorm Insurer Says It's Climbing Out Of $183M Hole
Texas’ top insurance regulator and bureaucrats with the state’s coastal windstorm insurer said Monday that the troubled agency is on track to dig itself out of a $183 million shortfall following a recent lawsuit settlement over mishandled Hurricane Ike claims.
-
June 17, 2013
Texas Gov. Approves Country's Toughest Email Privacy Law
Establishing the strongest email privacy protections in the U.S., Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed a bill Friday that restricts when law enforcement agencies can access electronic communications by requiring warrants for all emails held by service providers.
-
June 17, 2013
Texas Business Tax Cuts Target High Tech, Clean Energy
Texas Gov. Rick Perry signed off on legislation Friday that could bring nearly $1 billion in business tax relief by creating a revenue exemptions to the state’s margin tax and incentives for clean energy projects and high tech companies.
-
June 17, 2013
New Texas Laws Crack Down On Medicaid, Medicare Fraud
Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday signed a series of bills intended to clamp down on Medicaid and Medicare fraud by stepping up state enforcement and investigations, barring more bad practices and setting up procedural safeguards for health care providers accused of wrongdoing.
-
June 17, 2013
Texas Gov. Approves $225M Fund For Eagle Ford Roads
Rural areas of Texas home to booming oil and gas development will be able to tap into a $225 million state fund for road and bridge repairs and improvements that can handle the industry’s heavy machinery, under legislation signed Friday by Texas Gov. Rick Perry.
-
June 17, 2013
Texas Expands Pipeline, Greenhouse Gas Regulatory Powers
Texas Gov. Rick Perry approved legislation Friday designed to fast track greenhouse gas emissions permits and empower the state to impose environmental and safety standards on the operators of some 77,000 miles of unregulated oil and gas pipeline tributaries.
-
June 17, 2013
Jones Day Lures Health Care Transactions Partner In Dallas
Jones Day has beefed up its Texas health care and mergers and acquisitions practices, adding a seasoned health care transactional and regulatory partner to its Dallas office, the firm announced Monday.
-
June 17, 2013
Texas Supremes Block Univ. Of Houston Prof's Retaliation Suit
The Texas Supreme Court held Friday that the University of Houston can use its sovereign immunity to avoid a suit from a law professor who claimed the university had retaliated against him after he blew the whistle on a dean's allegedly questionable accounting practices and improper contract awards.
-
June 17, 2013
BoyarMiller Owes $1M Over Botched Deal, Inkjet Co. Says
Industrial inkjet company Xennia Technology Ltd. said in a lawsuit filed Thursday that Houston law firm BoyarMiller PC should return nearly $1 million it received representing Xennia in a fraud suit filed by a tech startup because BoyarMiller allegedly botched Xennia's settlement deal.
-
June 17, 2013
Disney, 'High School Musical' Singer Face Copyright Suit
Walt Disney Co. and “High School Musical” singer Drew Seeley were hit with a breach of contract and infringement lawsuit Saturday in Texas federal court, accusing them of flouting a deal Seeley signed with a production company before his work with Disney.
Expert Analysis
-
How Flexible Flyer Slipped Past The WARN Act
Interestingly, though the Fifth Circuit in In re Flexible Flyer based its analysis on the WARN Act's "unforeseen business circumstance" exception, the factors that the court considered had more to do with the company's "good faith, well-grounded hope and reasonable expectations." This suggests that, at least from the Fifth Circuit's perspective, the WARN Act is also meant to encourage companies to take reasonable actions to preserve the company and jobs, say Amy Vanderwal and George Klidonas of Baker & Hostetler LLP.
-
The New Frontier Of Agreements To Negotiate
The Delaware Supreme Court’s recent decision in SIGA Technologies Inc. v. PharmAthene Inc. will turn many heads, as it explicitly established a right under Delaware law to seek expectation damages for certain bad faith breaches of an agreement to negotiate, says Benton Bodamer of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
-
Texas Jumps On The Uniform Trade Secrets Act Bandwagon
Texas recently became the 48th state to adopt a version of the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, the result of which should be claims that are less expensive to prosecute and easier for juries to understand, as well as improved predictability, allowing parties to better assess the strength and weaknesses of their case, says Christopher LaVigne of Greenberg Traurig LLP.
-
A New Ballgame For Enviro Due Diligence In Texas
Recently, Gov. Perry signed into law a bill that expands the Texas Environmental, Health and Safety Audit Privilege Act, making its protections available to purchasers of equity or assets for the first time. This amendment finally closes a gap that had hindered broader use of an otherwise very effective tool for management of environmental liabilities, says Benjamin Cowan of Locke Lord LLP.
-
The Other Pivot: Russian Energy Policy Toward China
In 2010, when the Obama administration announced a new policy of engagement in the western Pacific, known as the “Pivot,” it was clear that China’s quest for secure supply lines for resources, in particular energy, was a key factor. Energy is likewise the driver in another less noticed but quite important pivot that is now fully underway: a shift in Russian energy policy toward China, says Shane DeBeer of Dechert LLP.
-
Mediators, Expand Your Tool Kit In Complex Litigation
The resolution of class actions or multidistrict litigation cases can present a number of challenges that call for the utmost in the mediator's skill and understanding. Though there is no typical complex litigation case, a mediator needs to recognize the special levels of complexity in these cases, such as litigating against "repeat players" and handling "follow-on" cases, says James Rosenbaum of JAMS.
-
A 7-Point Checklist For Tornado Insurance
Because losses and damages from tornadoes, such as the one that struck Moore, Okla., recently, can be devastating for individuals and businesses, corporate policyholders must consider the seven issues in making and pursuing a tornado claim, says Micah Skidmore of Haynes & Boone LLP.
-
Digging Deeper Into Deepwater Horizon
In a wakeup call to insurers and policyholders, the Fifth Circuit, in In re Deepwater Horizon, recently extended additional insured coverage beyond the scope of liabilities in an underlying service contract. The decision could affect thousands of policies and drilling contracts in the oil and gas industry, says Ethan Torrey of Choate Hall & Stewart LLP.
-
And Now A Word From The Panel ...
At its May 30 hearing in Louisville, Ky, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation will address arguments concerning whether to create MDL proceedings for three different food industry consumer fraud cases, which involve overlapping class actions filed in various jurisdictions throughout the country. Of particular interest in these cases is the approach adopted by the food manufacturer defendants with respect to MDL centralization, says Alan Rothman of Kaye Scholer LLP.
-
The Ethical Neutral: What Must Be Disclosed In Mediation
In light of the popularity of mediation, uniform disclosure and conflict-of-interest rules along the lines of the Uniform Mediation Act should be adopted by all the federal courts and all states. This would make it much easier for the parties, counsel and the mediator to know the applicable rules and to comply with them, says Bruce Friedman of ADR Services Inc.