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Texas
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May 3, 2013
Gordon & Rees Unfairly Swapped Fee Contract, Ex-Client Says
A former client of Gordon & Rees LLP has launched a suit in Texas court alleging the firm tricked him into swapping an hourly attorneys' fee contract for a lucrative contingency agreement immediately before settling an employment dispute he hired the firm to handle.
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May 3, 2013
Ex-Cowboys Player's PE Partner Gets 10 Years For $40M Fraud
A Texas federal judge on Friday sentenced the former owner of private equity firm Gemstar Capital Group Inc. to 10 years in jail and nearly $17 million in restitution for securities fraud stemming from an alleged $40 million Ponzi scheme he operated with a former Dallas Cowboys player.
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May 3, 2013
BP Racks Up $665M Bill For Gulf Oil Spill Restoration
BP PLC on Friday increased its current tab to $665 million for additional natural resource restoration in states along the Gulf of Mexico damaged by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, including more than $90 million for restoration projects in Texas and Florida.
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May 3, 2013
5th Circ. Urged To Nix Ruling Tying Policy To Bird Deaths
The state of Texas and a pair of river authorities asked the Fifth Circuit on Thursday to toss a district court's ruling that the state's water management practices caused the death of several whooping cranes in violation of the Endangered Species Act.
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May 3, 2013
Under Pressure From Jana, Oil States Mulls Asset Spinoff
Oilfield servicer Oil States International Inc. confirmed Friday it is contemplating splitting off its accommodations business, potentially into a real estate investment trust, yielding to pressure from an activist investor that late last month scooped up a sizable stake in the company.
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May 3, 2013
GE Gets FTC Nod For $3.3B Deal For Oil Service Co. Lufkin
General Electric Co. has received U.S. antitrust clearance for its deal to acquire Houston-based energy services company Lufkin Industries Inc. in a roughly $3.3 billion deal, the Federal Trade Commission said Friday.
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May 2, 2013
Texas Could See Utilities Pay Customers For Surplus Solar
Utilities would have to pay Texas businesses and homes that generate excess solar energy from on-site systems a fair market price for what they contribute to the electrical grid, under a bill passed to the Senate floor Thursday.
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May 2, 2013
Planned ATP Lease Sale May Create Enviro Hazards, Feds Say
Federal regulators told a Texas bankruptcy judge Wednesday that a planned sale of ATP Oil & Gas Corp.’s oil and gas leases could leave the company unable to pay $11 million in royalties owed to the U.S. and unable to decommission certain offshore wells, creating environmental hazards.
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May 2, 2013
Oil Investor Says Competitor Destroyed Evidence In IP Case
An oil and gas investment company dueling with a competitor over allegedly stolen trademarks and logos on Thursday told a Texas federal judge its rival had destroyed evidence and so hindered the discovery process that it is entitled to a default judgment on liability.
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May 2, 2013
Winston & Strawn Lands Vinson & Elkins Litigator In Houston
Winston & Strawn LLP has added to its Houston office a former Vinson & Elkins LLP partner who focuses on complex business litigation involving intellectual property, energy contracts, product liability and more, expanding its roster of experienced litigators, the firm announced Thursday.
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May 2, 2013
Exxon's Fight To Curb Citizen Suits Again Rejected In Texas
A Texas judge on Thursday largely rejected Exxon Mobil Corp.'s attempt to dismiss a suit brought by environmental groups over emissions at its Baytown refinery, once again affirming the groups' right to bring a private action despite prior regulatory enforcement.
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May 2, 2013
VPR Creditors Say CEO's Missteps Warrant Ch. 11 Trustee
Creditors of oil and gas company VPR Corp. asked a Texas bankruptcy judge Tuesday to oust company CEO Robert Pullen and appoint a trustee, citing a separate judge's findings that Pullen had allegedly defrauded investors in another bankrupt energy company.
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May 2, 2013
Pickens Drops $33M Insurance Row Over Divisive OSU Plans
Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens and an athletic fundraising group for Oklahoma State University have abandoned efforts to win back $33 million in premiums paid for a controversial life insurance program involving elderly alumni, a university spokesman told Law360 Thursday.
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May 2, 2013
Calif. Law Guides Texas Appeals Court's Anti-SLAPP Ruling
A Texas appeals court on Thursday pointed to California law in ruling that a business transaction exemption to a state statute protecting free speech did not apply to newspaper articles describing poor conditions at an assisted living facility.
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May 2, 2013
Reed Smith Nabs Jones Day, Akin Gump Attys In Houston
Reed Smith LLP has hired two new partners in the employment and commercial litigation groups at its newest office in Houston from Jones Day and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, bringing the total number of partners in Houston to 16, Reed Smith announced Thursday.
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May 1, 2013
5th Circ. Snubs Halliburton Bid To Nix Investor Class Cert.
The Fifth Circuit on Wednesday denied Halliburton Co.'s bid to escape securities class claims, ruling the energy giant couldn't use evidence undercutting the investors' claim that misrepresentations about asbestos litigation affected the company’s stock price to defeat class certification.
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May 1, 2013
Texas Hospital Not Immune From Contract Suit: Appeals Court
A Texas appeals court said Tuesday the Parkland Health and Hospital System, the Dallas County hospital district, can't use its governmental immunity status to dodge claims it did not pay Hospira Worldwide Inc. under a lease of medical equipment and supplies.
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May 1, 2013
Quantum Puts Up $225M For Majority Stake In Canadian Oil Co.
Quantum Energy Partners has acquired a majority stake in Canadian oil producer Carmel Bay Exploration Ltd. in exchange for capital commitments of more than $225 million, the Texas energy private equity firm announced Wednesday.
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May 1, 2013
Shook Hardy Adds 2 Lathrop & Gage Vets To Enviro Team
Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP said it has bolstered its environmental and toxic tort practice group by adding two former Lathrop & Gage partners to its Kansas City, Mo., and Houston offices.
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May 1, 2013
Texas Can't Offer Benefits To Same-Sex Partners, AG Says
Texas’ top law enforcement official said Monday that state subdivisions cannot legally offer spousal benefits to same-sex partners of public employees because the state’s constitution defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Expert Analysis
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What’s Making Attorneys Flee Their Firms?
This year has seen a spike in lateral movement among partners and senior associates in the legal profession. A survey from The Closers Group has revealed that many attorneys want business development training and are willing to apply what they learn — and law firms that provide it are more likely to keep their lawyers professionally satisfied, says Steven Taylor, a legal journalist.
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A Criminal Act Severs The Chain Of Causation
In Gann v. Anheuser-Busch Inc., a plaintiff who was injured by a longneck beer bottle during a barfight asserted liability against the maker of the bottle. But mere foreseeability that a legal product might be used in a crime does not create a manufacturer's duty that overshadows the intervening criminal act, says Sean Wajert of Shook Hardy & Bacon LLP.
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Changing Landscape Of Same-Sex Couples' Inheritance Rights
In a trailblazing decision, a Minnesota court has ruled that a partner in a same-sex marriage may receive full spousal inheritance rights under the state’s intestacy statutes — despite the fact that same-sex marriages are not lawful in Minnesota. The decision highlights the importance of companies staying current on the developing law of same-sex inheritance rights, say Janet Evans and Matt Frerichs of Robins Kaplan Miller & Ciresi LLP.
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Establishing The Weight Of Evidence After Sciele
The Federal Circuit decision in Sciele Pharma Inc. v. Lupin Ltd. reinforces the practice of carefully drafting jury instructions to correctly differentiate between the burden of proof and the proper weight of various facts. Two districts where this is especially important are the Northern District of California and the Eastern District of Texas, say Bill Blonigan and Eric Gill of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
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The Benefit Corporation: A Silent Trend
For the past two years, state legislatures have been authorizing corporations to form a hybrid corporate legal structure called the benefit corporation. This much legislative action — nine states have passed legislation and 11 states are currently considering it — would seemingly produce an equal reaction, but this part for-profit/part-nonprofit corporation has not garnered much public or corporate awareness, say attorneys with Herrick Feinstein LLP.
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Little V. Shell — Bad News For Gov't Contractors
The Fifth Circuit's decision in Little v. Shell Exploration & Production Co. suggests that government employees can bring whistleblower actions under the False Claims Act even if their agency superiors do not find the alleged misconduct worthy of further investigation. This could increase the number of meritless qui tam suits brought by disgruntled and self-interested government employees, say attorneys with Wiley Rein LLP.
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Case Study: Peleg V. Neiman Marcus
In Peleg v. Neiman Marcus Group Inc., a California appeals court recently held that the arbitration agreement between Peleg and his former employer, Neiman Marcus, was illusory and unenforceable under Texas law. This decision may have broad implications for the way in which arbitration agreements are drafted, says Leigh Tinmouth of Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP.
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Implications Of Flagship Credit V. Indian Harbor
The Fifth Circuit’s decision in Flagship Credit Corp. v. Indian Harbor Ins. Co. highlights the significance of the insurance contract and the manner in which terms are used within that contract, say Patrick McDermott and Michael Levine of Hunton & Williams LLP.
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Dodd-Frank Whistleblower Issues In Leshinsky And Asadi
Two recent cases — Asadi v. GE Energy USA LLC and Leshinsky v. Telvent GIT SA — provide some useful whistleblower guidance for companies regarding the retroactive and extraterritorial applicability of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Dodd-Frank’s anti-retaliation provision, say attorneys with Debevoise & Plimpton LLP.
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A High Standard For Patient Privacy In Texas
Texas HB 300, which takes effect Sept. 1, significantly expands patient privacy protections for Texas covered entities, including out-of-state companies that use and/or disclose protected health information in the state, beyond the requirements outlined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act and the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, says Pamela Tyner of Epstein Becker Green PC.