Texas

March 12, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Rip Bill To Shorten Insurance Claim Limits

A Texas bill that would allow insurance companies to set a one-year deadline for policyholders to file claims and lawsuits got an icy reception at a Senate hearing on Tuesday, as lawmakers questioned whether it would protect insurers at the expense of average citizens.
March 12, 2013
Texas Bill Would Let Chiropractors Make Diagnoses

Texas lawmakers filed a pair of bills Thursday and Friday that would enable chiropractors to make limited diagnoses on patients, addressing the Texas Medical Association's six-year fight against what it says is the unauthorized practice of medicine.
March 11, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Propose Limits On Pipeline Land Grab

Texas lawmakers on Friday filed a trio of bills that would rein in the power of energy companies to seize private property to accommodate petroleum pipelines, in an effort to balance landowners' rights with the needs of the state's exploding oil and gas industry.
March 11, 2013
Texas Bill Would Protect Workers Who Report Discrimination

A Texas lawmaker on Friday proposed making it a stand-alone offense for businesses and unions to fire or punish employees in retaliation for reporting discrimination in the workplace, but would limit damages when retaliation wasn’t the chief motivating factor for the action.
March 11, 2013
Texas Lawmaker Eyes Expedited Enviro Permit Program

Texas state Rep. Linda Harper-Brown, R-Irving, introduced legislation Thursday that would create an expedited environmental permit program benefiting applicants with a proven track record of complying with environmental regulations, giving them access to quicker permit processing and other incentives.
March 11, 2013
Texas Rep. Aims To Speed Up Civil Appeals Process

The Texas Supreme Court will have to adopt rules ensuring the state's civil appeals are resolved no more than a year after an appeal is filed, if a bill introduced Thursday by state Rep. Ana Hernandez Luna, D-Houston, is signed into law.
March 8, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Divided On Medicaid Expansion

Several House Democrats said Friday they want Texas to expand its Medicaid coverage to tap into nearly $20 billion of federal funds during the next five years, but influential House Republicans said an expansion would have little benefit for the state’s uninsured, yet come with a too-high price tag.
March 8, 2013
Texas High Court Nixes $1.5B Power Plant Cost Recovery Row

Texas' highest court on Friday declined to hear appeals by a unit of American Electric Power Co. Inc. and energy consumers battling over regulatory approval of the utility's proposal to service Texas customers with a $1.5 billion Arkansas plant and charge them for its construction costs.
March 8, 2013
Law360 Names Top Attorneys Under 40

We're pleased to announce Law360's Rising Stars for 2013, our list of the 111 attorneys under 40 whose legal accomplishments belie their age.
March 7, 2013
Texas PUC Likely Won't Take Up Energy Shortage Until Fall

The head of Texas' Public Utilities Commission said Thursday that the electricity regulator would most likely not decide until fall how to address looming shortages caused by increasing consumer demand and a lack of generation development.
March 7, 2013
DOE Deputy Pushes Green Energy, Tech Investment

A top federal energy regulator said Thursday that the booming oil and gas industry had put the country on track to hit targets for cutting imports and continuing economic growth, but that continued investments in renewable energy, infrastructure and technology were needed to maintain the trajectory.
March 6, 2013
Rules To Ease Frack Fluid Recycling Near: Texas Regulator

The head of Texas’ oil and gas regulatory body said Wednesday that he expects his agency to adopt rules this month designed to encourage drillers to recycle water used in hydraulic fracturing, in a bid to address the environmental concerns of local communities.
March 5, 2013
Fracking Cos. Face Explosion Of State Water Regs, Panel Says

Energy companies are increasingly feeling pressure to develop cost-effective solutions for recycling hydraulic fracturing waste but are unlikely to abandon injection disposal wells, propelling rapidly evolving state water regulation, a panel of industry experts said Tuesday.
March 4, 2013
Texas Lawmaker Seeks Adoption Of Uniform Trade Secrets Act

A Texas lawmaker on Thursday proposed legislation aimed at strengthening companies' arsenals against the theft of confidential business information by imposing stricter penalties against trade secret misappropriation.
March 1, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Want TCEQ Permit Process To Emulate EPA

Lawmakers on Thursday proposed adding administrative review to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality’s permitting process, in a change intended to bring the state more in line with procedures before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
March 1, 2013
Texas Bill Curbing Paycheck PAC Funding Draws Unions' Ire

A Texas union group on Thursday formally opposed state legislation that would criminalize the practice of businesses and unions collecting money for political action committees through automatic paycheck deductions, calling it a political attack intended to silence their voices.
February 28, 2013
Austin Delays Vote On Proposed Development Code Change

Several environmental lawyers scored a win Thursday when the Austin City Council postponed a vote on an emergency ordinance backed by the Texas attorney general that could grandfather in delayed development projects in certain environmentally protected areas.
February 28, 2013
Texas Bill Would Let Suits Be Served Via Facebook, Twitter

A Texas lawmaker floated a bill Wednesday that would allow lawsuits in the state to be served over Facebook, Twitter or other social media sites in some circumstances where traditional means of service have failed.
February 28, 2013
Texas Bill Would Give Cities Power To Regulate LNG

Texas state Rep. Charles Perry introduced legislation on Wednesday aimed at giving municipalities more leeway in drafting rules governing the liquefied petroleum gas industry without first having to get permission from state officials.
February 27, 2013
Texas Sen. Moves To Phase Out Homeowner Insurance Pools

A Texas lawmaker on Tuesday proposed legislation that would create a property insurance program designed to reduce the financial burden on the state’s disaster insurance pools by regulating their growth and migrating residential policies to the open market.

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Expert Analysis

How Texas' Water Rights Case May Affect Oil And Gas Cos.

Recently, in Edwards Aquifer Authority v. Day, the Texas Supreme Court held that Texas property owners have an actual ownership interest in the groundwater beneath their property. It will take time to see exactly how this ruling will affect water used in oil and gas operations, but to property rights advocates, the case is a victory for landowners, says Brannon Robertson of King & Spalding LLP.
Noteworthy Product Liability Decisions Of 2012: Part 1

The end of the calendar year brings forth from many critics a list of their favorite movies of the year and this list of our favorite product liability decisions of the year. From a defense perspective, 2012 arguably did not produce many momentous product liability decisions, but there were plenty of interesting decisions that even parallel those top-10 movie lists, says Sean Wajert of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.
Texas Could Lead The Nanotech Revolution

As technology innovation transitions from computers to nanotechnology, bringing economic growth with it, Texas is poised to be an innovative nanotechnology epicenter in the U.S. and potentially in the world, given its high levels of diverse research and development, especially in energy, chemicals and health care, say attorneys with McDermott Will & Emery LLP.
CEOs Must Pay Up Under SOX — Regardless Of Fault

The Western District of Texas recently denied defendants ArthoCare CEO Michael A. Baker and CFO Michael T. Gluk’s motion to dismiss the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s claim against them under Sarbanes-Oxley Section 304’s clawback provision. At the very least, the ruling will place even more pressure on CEOs and CFOs to closely scrutinize financial statements. The ruling could also impact cases under Section 954 of the Dodd-Frank Act, which can also be the basis of a private right of action, say attorneys with Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP.
Be Careful What You (Don’t) Ask For Before Sentencing

In USA v. Murray, the Fifth Circuit reversed the Southern District of Texas ruling that it could reopen three sentences it had imposed earlier to add a requirement that the defendants make restitution to the victims of their crimes. In this case, the failure to seek restitution in the presentence investigation reports resulted in an estimated 538 investors not receiving restitution through the criminal justice system and being left to seek recovery through the bankruptcy court and civil litigation, says Gretchen Zmitrovich of Baker Donelson Bearman Caldwell & Berkowitz PC.
The Camel’s Nose — EPA And LNG Export

Companies must obtain approval from the U.S. Department of Energy to export liquefied natural gas produced from domestic natural gas and must obtain approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to build new LNG export terminals and liquefaction facilities. Unless such facilities would be “major” sources requiring an air permit or would require changes to permits for water discharges, it would not appear that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would have significant involvement. But things are not always as they appear, says Paul Gutermann of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.
Arlington V. FCC Should Clarify Agency Deference

Arlington v. FCC — to be argued by the U.S. Supreme Court in January — arises out of the Federal Communications Commission’s effort to impose “shot clocks” limiting the time that local governments can consider wireless facility applications under a statute that does not directly grant the federal agency authority. The decision may clarify whether a deferential standard of review applies when the FCC — or any federal agency — defines its own jurisdiction, says Matthew Schettenhelm of Best Best & Krieger LLP.
Beware Discovery In 3rd-Party Litigation Funding

With the amount of risk third-party litigation funding poses to investors, litigation funding groups perform extensive due diligence on the merits of the case, both as to liability and possible damages. Communications necessary to enable the investor to ascertain that risk, however, raise discoverability issues for eventual litigation. Three recent cases have addressed whether certain information disclosed to third-party litigation funding groups and potential investors must be produced during discovery, says Lisa Thomas of Baker Botts LLP.
Navigating The 546(e) Safe Harbor Provision

The recent decision by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in MBS Management Services Inc. v. MXEnergy Electric Inc. further defines the contours of Bankruptcy Code section 546(e) and offers lessons that may help companies prevent certain transfers from being clawed back, say attorneys with Vinson & Elkins LLP.
Is The EEOC Messing With Texas?

Texas companies may be feeling the heat of potential Equal Employment Opportunity Commission investigations, including the agency’s recent strategy of focusing on class-based situations against employers in an effort to crack down on systemic workplace discrimination. By advising clients to keep an open and fair mind and foster frank communication within the organization, successful employers apply these guidelines to reduce the chances of having expensive litigation, says Michael Abcarian of Fisher & Phillips LLP.

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