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Texas
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May 16, 2013
Bid To Reform Broke Texas Windstorm Insurer Shot Down
A Texas lawmaker on Wednesday said a trial lawyer group has killed legislation designed to revitalize the state’s insolvent windstorm insurance pool, leaving thousands of coastal residents at risk two weeks before the start of hurricane season.
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May 15, 2013
Water Projects Spending Bill Sails Through Senate
The U.S. Senate approved a water resources law in an 83-14 vote Wednesday, sending the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers water projects spending bill to the U.S. House of Representatives for the first time since 2007 and clearing a Texas senator's amendment aimed at holding Mexico to water treaty obligations.
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May 15, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Scuttle Bill To Reform Energy Agency
Texas lawmakers on Tuesday killed legislation designed to promote transparency and eliminate perceived industry influence over the state’s regulator of oil and gas development by restricting campaign contributions to its elected leadership and imposing tougher enforcement standards.
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May 14, 2013
Texas Sen. Cornyn Seeks To Push Mexico On Water Treaty
Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, on Tuesday put forward an amendment to a water resources law calling on the Obama administration to force Mexico to uphold its water obligations to the U.S. under a 1944 water sharing treaty to stem a growing water shortage in his home state.
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May 14, 2013
Texas Sens. Pass Bill Limiting Insurers' 3rd-Party Recovery
The Texas Senate on Tuesday passed a bill clamping down on health insurers’ practice of aggressively collecting damages from third parties that caused injuries to insured patients by making them share in attorneys' fees, sending the measure to Gov. Rick Perry for approval.
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May 13, 2013
Texas Lawmakers Push Health-Data Modernization Bills
Texas lawmakers on Thursday gave final approval to legislation designed to modernize medical data management and are pushing another pair of measures that aim to make the insurance preapproval process for prescription drugs and other health care benefits easier on patients.
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May 10, 2013
Texas Trade Secrets Law Gets Business-Friendly Upgrade
The Texas Uniform Trade Secrets Act, recently signed into law by Gov. Rick Perry, strengthens trade secret protections for businesses and makes subtle changes to existing common law that experts say will add certainty to litigation and bring earlier settlements.
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May 8, 2013
GOP Donor's Suit Says ACA Breached Origination Clause
A prominent Republican donor on Tuesday sued the U.S. Health and Human Services Department in Texas federal court to invalidate the Affordable Care Act, arguing that the landmark law failed to follow proper legislative procedures and impermissibly requires Americans to buy private insurance.
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May 8, 2013
Lawmakers Push 5th Circ. To Keep Chinese Drywall Suit Alive
Ten House and Senate members told the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday that Chinese drywall maker Taishan Gypsum Co. Ltd. would gain an unfair economic advantage if it is allowed to skirt property damage and health claims from homeowners and builders in U.S. courts.
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May 7, 2013
EPA Clean Air Policy Is 'Coercive' To States, DC Circ. Hears
Texas and Wyoming urged a D.C. Circuit panel Tuesday to nix the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's takeover of their state clean air permitting programs, claiming the agency blackmailed states into complying and stripped them of sovereign rights.
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May 3, 2013
Texas House Stops Bill Letting Pipeline Cos. Condemn Land
A procedural technicality pointed out by a Texas Democrat on Friday stopped a House bill that would have set up an administrative procedure within the Railroad Commission to determine whether pipeline companies can condemn private land, possibly fatal to the bill as the legislative session nears its close.
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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 1, 2013
$2B Bill For New Water Projects Stalls In Texas House
The Texas House of Representatives failed Tuesday to pass a budget bill that would funnel $2 billion into a new infrastructure bank for several water-supply projects aimed at relieving the state's drought issues.
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April 30, 2013
5th Circ. Won't Revisit Challenge To Under-21 Gun Sale Ban
The Fifth Circuit on Monday declined to review en banc its decision that federal laws preventing handgun sales to people younger than 21 don’t violate the Second Amendment, rejecting arguments from the National Rifle Association of America that the age-based restrictions are unconstitutional.
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April 30, 2013
Sen. Boxer Wants EPA To Answer About Texas Plant Blast
U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., on Tuesday said the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee will launch an investigation into the April 17 explosion that leveled a Texas fertilizer plant to see whether safety laws governing such facilities need to be strengthened.
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April 29, 2013
Texas Pipeline Penalties May Hit $2M Under New Bill
A bill that would increase penalties for oil and gas pipeline safety violations to as much as $2 million and bring Texas in line with federal rules advanced in the state Legislature on Monday, while a Senate committee was set Tuesday to debate a measure that hopes to lessen delays in federal greenhouse gas permitting.
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April 25, 2013
Reps. Want Probe Of Federal Oversight After Texas Plant Blast
Two U.S. representatives on Thursday formally requested the U.S. Government Accountability Office investigate what they called gaps in regulatory oversight of the West, Texas, fertilizer plant rocked by an explosion last week and asked for a catalog of similar facilities around the country.
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April 25, 2013
Houston Eyes More Housing Projects With Code Change
The Houston City Council on Wednesday approved several changes to the city code meant to encourage developers to build more communities of single-family homes within city limits, allowing for more density and smaller lot sizes.
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April 24, 2013
Texas Says Churchill Downs Can't Lift Ban On Online Bets
The Texas Racing Commission on Monday asked a Texas federal court to find state laws that bar online gambling but allow in-person wagers on horse races don’t violate the constitutional commerce clause, in its response to a suit from Churchill Downs Inc. that seeks to overturn the online ban.
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April 24, 2013
Texas House Passes State Version Of Ledbetter Act
In a narrow vote, the Texas House on Wednesday passed a bill that would bring state anti-discrimination laws in line with the federal Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, allowing the clock to restart with each paycheck for claims women are unfairly paid less than men doing the same work.
Expert Analysis
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Rise Of The Machines — Predictive Coding Goes Mainstream
The pros of using predictive coding far outweigh the cons. Given the heavy pressure on law firms and in-house counsel to reduce discovery costs, as well as the Justice Department's recent stance on the subject, it appears predictive coding will continue to emerge from the obscure world of legal technology to the mainstream of legal practice, say Michael Moscato and Myles Bartley of Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle LLP.
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The Oil And Gas Operator's Texas Advantage
The interpretation by the Supreme Court of Texas in Reeder v. Wood County Energy LLC grants vast protection to oil and gas operators, but by doing so, it is perceived by some as muddling the differences between tort and contract law, says Michael Bolton and Kate Kalanick of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
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Independent Contractors Strike Out — Lessons For Employers
A lesser-known risk among companies that use independent contractor models is the threat of Title VII litigation, which two recent appellate court decisions, Allen v. Radio One and Alam v. Miller Brewing Company, addressed. These cases remind employers of the ways to minimize such litigation risks, such as adopting a policy to not rehire former employees terminated for misconduct, says Douglas Darch of Baker & McKenzie.
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Calif. Chemical Safety Rules Push Constitutional Envelope
Impatience with the pace of Toxic Substances Control Act reform at the federal level is understandable, but substituting individual state action for a perceived lack of federal action may be the classic example of a cure which is worse than the disease. Many think California’s Safer Consumer Product Regulations now prove that, says Ward Benshoof of Alston & Bird LLP.
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A Wake-Up Call For Video Game Developers
The extraordinary relief granted in the Fifth Circuit's recent decision in TimeGate Studios Inc. v. Southpeak Interactive LLC demonstrates that video game developers and publishers should seriously consider what terms and conditions they will agree to, and must do their best to ultimately comply with the language in a development agreement, says Sean Kane of Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP.
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How McBurney V. Young Will Impact State FOIAs
In McBurney v. Young, the U.S. Supreme Court has permitted the still-uncommon practice of state legislatures to restrict use of their freedom of information laws to citizens of the states. But states should not race to adopt citizens-only provisions in their freedom of information laws, say John Borger and Leita Walker of Faegre Baker Daniels LLP.
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E-Commerce Taxation Bill Might Be Unconstitutional
Recent decisions from the federal courts suggest that the constitutionality of the proposed Marketplace Fairness Act, which would permit states to require out-of-state businesses to collect and remit sales taxes on goods sold over the Internet, is open to serious debate, says Michael Abate of Dinsmore & Shohl LLP.
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Applying Absolute Priority Rule — Broad Vs. Narrow Views
Due to conflicting interpretations of Bankruptcy Code Section 1129, debtors in most jurisdictions currently lack a firm grasp on whether the court handling their cases will find that the absolute priority rule has been completely abrogated, or whether it still applies to an individual debtor's prepetition property. To further compound this uncertainly, some bankruptcy courts in the same district have ruled inconsistently on the issue, say Mikel Bistrow and Jennifer Pinder of Foley & Lardner LLP.
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5 Arbitration Assumptions That Aren't Always True
Arbitration is often thought to be preferable to litigating in court, and in some circumstances, it may be. Deciding to arbitrate, however, should be the result of a careful analysis of the benefits and disadvantages. That analysis requires examining some common perceptions, say Frank Emory and Rita Davis of Hunton & Williams LLP.
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Proposed Texas Dental Bill Indicates Greater Regulation
The dental practice management model has become an increasingly popular investment opportunity with management companies and private equity firms. While the DPM model grows in popularity, so does regulation and scrutiny around the industry, which is evidenced by recent investigations and the introduction of SB 151 in Texas, say attorneys with McGuireWoods LLP.