Texas

  • March 08, 2024

    Biden Administration Must Use Border Wall Funds, For Now

    A Texas federal judge on Friday ordered the Biden administration to use funds Congress specifically designated for the Southwest border wall to continue construction, issuing a preliminary injunction and finding that Texas and Missouri could face substantial harm to their state budgets without the injunction.

  • March 08, 2024

    Abortion Rights Suit Can Continue, Texas Appeals Court Says

    A Texas state appeals court ruled that abortion assistance group the Lilith Fund for Reproductive Equity can continue its lawsuit against a private citizen who sought to enforce Texas' "Heartbeat Act," saying the citizen's motion to dismiss didn't meet the threshold required by the Texas Citizens Participation Act.

  • March 08, 2024

    Real Estate Authority: SEC Climate Regs, State Of The Union

    Law360 Real Estate Authority covers the most important real estate deals, litigation, policies and trends. Catch up on key news from this week by state — as well as how President Joe Biden aims to improve affordable housing and what the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's new climate rule means for public real estate companies.

  • March 08, 2024

    Real Estate Cos. To Face Divvied Lease Price-Fixing Claims

    A Tennessee federal judge ruled that the claims of a nationwide lease price-fixing putative class action against multiple real estate companies and software company RealPage Inc. should be severed into four separate cases instead of dismissed.

  • March 08, 2024

    SEC's Climate Regs Face Multipronged Courtroom Attack

    The future of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's long-awaited corporate climate disclosure regulations is up in the air as the agency stares down lawsuits challenging its authority to promulgate the rules, with even more parties threatening to force the agency to defend its decision in court for years.

  • March 08, 2024

    20 States Urge Justices To Block 5th Circ. 'Ghost Gun' Ruling

    The District of Columbia and 20 states are urging the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit order that allowed two companies to sell so-called ghost guns, which lack serial numbers, saying that without federal regulation, soaring sales of the weapon kits has caused a spike in crime.

  • March 08, 2024

    Gerdau Steel Denied Fathers Parental Leave, Ex-Workers Say

    Male steel mill workers for Gerdau were not allowed to take parental leave when their children were born unlike their female co-workers who were granted maternity leave, in violation of federal equal pay law, according to a proposed collective action filed in Texas federal court.

  • March 08, 2024

    No Sanctions Yet For 'Wrong More Than Right' BigLaw Atty

    A Harris County judge on Friday denied a Houston firm's request to sanction a former associate despite noting that the now-BigLaw partner "has been wrong more than he's been right" during a suit he brought over $32,000 in back wages.

  • March 08, 2024

    Sorrento Gets OK For $2M Ch. 11 Funding Infusion, Asset Sale

    A Texas bankruptcy judge on Friday approved drug developer Sorrento Therapeutics Inc.'s bid for an asset sale and $2 million in funds to fuel its Chapter 11 case, saying they represented the only option outside of a transition to Chapter 7.

  • March 08, 2024

    5th Circ. Shoots Down New Trial For Oil Workers' OT Row

    A group of oil field workers missed their opportunity to unwind a jury verdict, the Fifth Circuit held, by waiting until two rounds of circuit court appeals were completed before filing a motion for a new trial.

  • March 08, 2024

    Texas Challenges EPA Methane Rule 'Overreach'

    Texas on Friday sued the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over sweeping methane emissions control requirements for oil and gas infrastructure that include the first-ever requirements for existing sources.

  • March 08, 2024

    Migrant Parole Program Survives GOP States' Challenge

    A Texas-led coalition of states lost their bid to challenge a Biden administration program letting Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans and Venezuelans temporarily work in the U.S., after a federal judge ruled Friday they lack standing to sue over the program.

  • March 08, 2024

    Thompson Coburn Duo Lead 'Army Of Women' In Documentary

    In waging an uphill battle against the city of Austin, Thompson Coburn LLP partners Jennifer Ecklund and Elizabeth Myers secured a groundbreaking settlement for sexual assault survivors whose cases were never prosecuted, but what they discovered was that standing up for the survivors meant more to them than that legal victory.

  • March 08, 2024

    Justices Urged To Review Immunity Law In Snapchat Abuse Suit

    A man who alleges that his high school teacher used Snapchat to send him sexually explicit material when he was 15 is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review a Fifth Circuit decision dismissing his claims, saying it's an ideal vehicle for the justices to fix an overbroad interpretation of Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.

  • March 07, 2024

    Ginnie Mae Says Texas Bank Can't Use Oral Promises In Suit

    The Government National Mortgage Association told a Texas federal court Wednesday that even if it made oral promises not to void a Texas Capital Bank's interest in a first-priority lien on a multimillion-dollar emergency loan, those promises don't hold up legally and the case should be dismissed.

  • March 07, 2024

    Petition Watch: Student Athletes, Oil Spills & Preemption

    The U.S. Supreme Court receives thousands of petitions for review each term, but only a few make the news. Here, Law360 looks at four petitions filed in the past three weeks that you might've missed: questions over whether student athletes have a business interest in being eligible to play college sports, how much oil is needed to qualify as an oil spill, whether an exemption to the Fourth Amendment applies to artificial intelligence and whether consumers can sue drug companies under state law for violating federal regulations.

  • March 07, 2024

    Xcel Energy Says It May Be To Blame For Texas Wildfire

    Xcel Energy Inc. said Thursday that its facilities may have been involved in igniting one of the massive wildfires ravaging the Texas Panhandle, though it said it disputes the notion that it was negligent in maintaining and operating its infrastructure.

  • March 07, 2024

    Caliber Says Ex-Exec's Terms With Predecessor Still Apply

    Caliber Home Loans Inc. has urged a Dallas federal court to reject a former executive's bid to trim a lawsuit accusing him of raiding the company's workforce when he defected for a competitor, arguing that a contract breach claim still stands even though he worked for a predecessor when he signed the contract at issue. 

  • March 07, 2024

    'Hatchet Wielding' Killer Has No Part In Netflix Suit, Court Told

    A Kentucky man who accused Netflix of wrongfully using his image in a true-crime documentary titled "The Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker" has asked a Texas federal judge to keep the real hatchet-wielding hitchhiker out of his lawsuit, saying the convicted murderer has nothing to do with his litigation against the streaming giant.

  • March 07, 2024

    Nike, Others Score Win In 'Ballin' Campaign TM Suit

    A Texas federal judge has officially thrown out a graphic designer's trademark infringement suit against companies like Nike Inc., agreeing with a magistrate judge's decision that found his use of the mark "ballin" was minor.

  • March 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Affirms Arbitration In Hurricane Coverage Feud

    The Fifth Circuit has ordered the owner of a New Orleans luxury apartment and retail complex to arbitrate a dispute with its domestic surplus lines insurers over coverage for $7 million in hurricane damage, ruling that arbitration is permitted under a carveout in conflicting Louisiana state law.

  • March 07, 2024

    Full Fed. Circ. Denies Intel's Bid To Escape $1.5B VLSI Retrial

    The Federal Circuit on Thursday stood by a panel's holding that Intel infringed a VLSI Technology computer chip patent, meaning the tech giant must face a trial to recalculate the $1.5 billion verdict originally issued by a Texas federal jury.

  • March 07, 2024

    Chemical Co. Says Arbitrator Set 'Impossible' Rule In Union Fight

    A chemical manufacturer has asked a Texas federal court to undo an arbitration award in favor of a former employee accused of using his union to gain confidential information from the company's investigation into his behavior, saying the arbitrator "fashioned a legal standard that makes it nearly impossible" for companies to monitor workplace investigations.

  • March 07, 2024

    5th Circ. Backs NLRB On Nurse Fired Over COVID Complaints

    The Fifth Circuit upheld on Thursday a National Labor Relations Board ruling finding a Texas home health company unlawfully fired a nurse who raised concerns about the company's handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, but cleared the company on the claim that it barred workers from discussing wages.

  • March 07, 2024

    Anadarko Keeps Win In Colo. Oil Biz Lease Fight

    A Colorado appellate panel on Thursday rejected an oil and gas production company's claims that an Anadarko Petroleum subsidiary wrongfully terminated nearly two dozen leases, with the judges finding the agreements could be terminated upon written notice "for any reason or for no reason at all."

Expert Analysis

  • 7 E-Discovery Predictions For 2024 And Beyond

    Author Photo

    The legal and technical issues of e-discovery now affect virtually every lawsuit, and in the year to come, practitioners can expect practices and policies to evolve in a number of ways, from the expanded use of relevancy redactions to mandated information security provisions in protective orders, say attorneys at Littler.

  • On The Edge: Lessons In Patent Litigation Financing

    Author Photo

    A federal judge's recent request that the U.S. Department of Justice look into IP Edge patent litigation, and that counsel be disciplined, serves as a reminder for parties asserting intellectual property rights — and their attorneys — to exercise caution when structuring a litigation financing agreement, say Samuel Habein and James De Vellis at Foley & Lardner.

  • 5 Litigation Funding Trends To Note In 2024

    Author Photo

    Over the next year and beyond, litigation funding will continue to evolve in ways that affect attorneys and the larger litigation landscape, from the growth of a secondary market for funded claims, to rising interest rates restricting the availability of capital, says Jeffery Lula at GLS Capital.

  • Disability Benefits Ruling Holds Claim Evaluation Lessons

    Author Photo

    In Haynes v. Principal Life Insurance, a Texas federal court recently overturned a disability benefits denial, providing both claimants and insurers with valuable insight on what constitutes a valid benefits claim, says Mark DeBofsky at DeBofsky Law.

  • 8 Privacy Law Predictions For 2024

    Author Photo

    As the new year begins, looking back to several of last year's privacy law developments may help companies forecast what to focus on when updating their privacy programs, including children's privacy, so-called dark patterns and the collection of data by connected cars, say attorneys at Sheppard Mullin.

  • 3 Power Rulings Change Outlook For Transmission Cos.

    Author Photo

    The cumulative effect of three December power cases that halted state actions that gave preference to incumbent transmission providers could level the playing field for independent developers, say Harvey Reiter and John McCaffrey at Stinson.

  • 4 Legal Ethics Considerations For The New Year

    Author Photo

    As attorneys and clients reset for a new year, now is a good time to take a step back and review some core ethical issues that attorneys should keep front of mind in 2024, including approaching generative artificial intelligence with caution and care, and avoiding pitfalls in outside counsel guidelines, say attorneys at HWG.

  • Environmental Justice: A 2023 Recap And 2024 Forecast

    Author Photo

    A 2023 executive order directing each federal agency to make environmental justice part of its mission, as well as the many lawsuits and enforcement actions last year, demonstrates that EJ will increasingly surface in all areas of law and regulation, from technically challenging to seemingly ordinary permitting and construction matters, say attorneys at King & Spalding.

  • 5 Privacy And Cybersecurity Resolutions For 2024

    Author Photo

    In 2023, companies grappled with an unprecedented array of data privacy and cybersecurity challenges that are likely to continue in 2024, meaning businesses will be well-served to incorporate strategies, such as data governance and website configuration, into their compliance programs, say Steven Stransky at Thompson Hine and Violet Sullivan at Crum & Forster.

  • Fed. Circ. Patent Decisions In 2023: An Empirical Review

    Author Photo

    The Federal Circuit decided 306 patent cases last year, which is still well down from the pre-pandemic norm of around 440, and on the whole the court's decisions were markedly less patentee-friendly in 2023 than in 2022, says Dan Bagatell at Perkins Coie.

  • What The Law Firm Of The Future Will Look Like

    Author Photo

    As the legal landscape shifts, it’s become increasingly clear that the BigLaw business model must adapt in four key ways to remain viable, from fostering workplace flexibility to embracing technology, say Kevin Henderson and Eric Pacifici at SMB Law Group.

  • 4 PR Pointers When Your Case Is In The News

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Texas Banking Brief: All The Notable Legal Updates In Q4

    Author Photo

    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.

  • After Headwinds, 2024 May See Offshore Wind Momentum

    Author Photo

    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.

  • Law Firm Strategies For Successfully Navigating 2024 Trends

    Author Photo

    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.

Want to publish in Law360?


Submit an idea

Have a news tip?


Contact us here
Can't find the article you're looking for? Click here to search the Texas archive.
Hello! I'm Law360's automated support bot.

How can I help you today?

For example, you can type:
  • I forgot my password
  • I took a free trial but didn't get a verification email
  • How do I sign up for a newsletter?
Ask a question!