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Texas
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August 15, 2024
Feds Say Texas Lacks Standing To Join Asylum-Limits Suit
The federal government is reiterating its arguments that the state of Texas should not be allowed to join a lawsuit challenging the Biden administration's newest limits on asylum seekers, arguing Thursday that a Texas federal judge's dismissal of the state's challenge to a 2023 asylum rule was instructive.
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August 15, 2024
Judge Wary Of Paxton's Bid To 'Annihilate' Houston Nonprofit
A Texas state judge indicated Thursday that he was hesitant to allow Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to file a suit seeking to take away an immigrant-led nonprofit's corporate charter, telling attorneys that Paxton was asking him "to go zero to 100" by seeking "annihilation" of the entity.
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August 15, 2024
Gas Co. Tells Chancery Texas Settlement Spikes Pipeline Duty
A settlement and Texas court's direction to vacate an earlier arbitration award has revived an Energy Transfer LP subsidiary's bid to scuttle a Delaware Court of Chancery order requiring it to build costly, high-pressure natural gas pipelines for free.
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August 15, 2024
Texas Trio Willfully Stole Lewis Brisbois Name, Judge Says
A Texas mediation service that named itself after BigLaw behemoth Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and told the firm to "come and take it" has infringed Lewis Brisbois' trademark and must pay its attorney fees from the bitter suit, which racked up over 300 docket entries in under two years, a Texas federal judge has ruled.
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August 14, 2024
Exxon Can't Beat Investor Suit Over Permian Basin Claims
A Texas federal judge kept a proposed investor class action against Exxon Mobil intact, saying in an opinion that the investors' allegations claiming Exxon overvalued its Permian Basin holdings by billions of dollars and fudged its public statements were strong enough for the case to move forward.
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August 14, 2024
DOJ Defends Boeing Plea Deal Over Families' Objections
The U.S. Department of Justice said Wednesday that Boeing's plea agreement is the best possible criminal resolution that holds the company accountable for defrauding regulators about the 737 Max 8's development, rejecting claims from crash victims' families that the "morally reprehensible" deal lets Boeing skirt culpability.
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August 14, 2024
Recreational Pot Contract Unenforceable, Texas Court Says
A Texas state appeals court has torched a cannabis farmer's $100,000 jury win, ruling that he can not collect against his former business partner because the marijuana crop he grew was federally illegal and specifically intended for recreational use.
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August 14, 2024
Sanctioned Ghanaian Co. Says Law Firm's Fees Too High
An African energy company has slammed international arbitration specialty law firm Three Crowns LLP in Texas federal court for claiming nearly $200,000 in fees after the company was sanctioned for lying to a Ghanaian court.
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August 14, 2024
Texas Atty Must Pay Volkswagen $200K In Fees For Patent Suit
A Texas federal judge has ordered litigation firm VDPP LLC and its counsel, Texas attorney William Ramey III of Ramey LLP, to pay Volkswagen $207,543 in fees stemming from a now-dismissed patent case after determining a fee multiplier that applies to "exceptional" cases was appropriate due to the suit's "obvious lack of merit."
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August 14, 2024
Texas AG Threatens Suit Over Dallas State Fair's Firearms Ban
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has threatened to sue the city of Dallas if it doesn't reverse a policy prohibiting state fair patrons from bringing firearms into the fairgrounds.
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August 14, 2024
Texas Sues HHS Over 'Arbitrary' Nursing Home Staffing Rule
The state of Texas on Wednesday challenged a new federal rule that sets minimum staffing standards at nursing homes, contending the Biden administration overstepped its statutory authority and crafted a rule almost impossible to meet because of nursing shortages.
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August 14, 2024
CFTC Hits Vitol With First-Of-Its-Kind Position Limits Fine
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued its first-ever fine Wednesday against a trader exceeding position limits by holding the same contract across multiple exchanges, penalizing Swiss energy and commodities company Vitol SA for its positions on cattle and crude oil futures.
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August 14, 2024
Lewis Brisbois, Atty Battle Over Immunity In Texas TM Case
Lewis Brisbois Bisgaard & Smith LLP and a Texas lawyer accused of ripping off the BigLaw firm's name battled over the issue of attorney immunity in post-hearing briefings Tuesday, with the firm writing that the Fifth Circuit "has made itself clear" that the lawyer can't be shielded from the case.
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August 14, 2024
Baker Botts, Sumner Schick Seek $14.3M In Fees For IP Win
Baker Botts LLP and Sumner Schick LLP are seeking nearly $14.3 million in attorney fees plus almost $1.8 million in costs for representing Computer Sciences Corp. in a trade secrets dispute where the IT company won $168.4 million after a Texas jury found Tata Consultancy Services willfully misappropriated CSC's proprietary information.
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August 14, 2024
Nelson Mullins Adds Chamberlain Hrdlicka Tax Pro In Houston
Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP continues expanding its tax team, announcing Wednesday it is bringing in another Chamberlain Hrdlicka White Williams & Aughtry tax expert, this one as a partner in its recently opened Houston office.
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August 14, 2024
Call Center Blamed In Elderly Connecticut Woman's Death
A customer service call center has been pulled into a wrongful death lawsuit against Frontier Communications of America Inc. by the estate of an elderly woman who fell in her basement and could not call 911 because her phone lines were down, according to an amended complaint filed in Connecticut state court.
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August 14, 2024
Oil Equipment Co. Says Ex-Workers Took Patent-Pending Tech
An oilfield equipment company has taken two of its former workers and the competitor they left for to Texas federal court over claims the ex-employees absconded with its patent-pending oil valve technology and then shared it and other trade secrets with their new employer.
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August 14, 2024
Winston & Strawn Adds McDermott Transaction Pros In Texas
Winston & Strawn LLP has expanded its offerings in Texas with the addition of two transactional attorneys as partners in its Houston office, the firm said in a Wednesday statement.
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August 13, 2024
Anesthesia Co. Says FTC Lacks Authority To Bring 'Rollup' Suit
U.S. Anesthesia Partners has told the Fifth Circuit the Federal Trade Commission lacks authority to bring its case directly in federal court without also filing an administrative case accusing the group of monopolizing the Texas anesthesiology market.
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August 13, 2024
Texas Judge Exits X's 'Boycott' Suit Against Ads Group, Unilever
A Texas federal judge overseeing litigation filed by Elon Musk's X Corp. accusing the World Federation of Advertisers, Unilever and others of conspiring to withhold advertising revenue from the company recused himself from the case Tuesday, following news reports that he owns stock in Tesla, another Musk-owned company.
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August 13, 2024
Take Me Out Of WDTX, Tech Supplier Cries
A Chicago tech manufacturer says LinkedIn profiles aren't enough to keep it from getting away from the Western District of Texas' U.S. District Judge Alan Albright in a patent case involving microchip patents brought by an ex-Microsoft executive's private equity-funded patent litigation outfit.
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August 13, 2024
Texas Court Affirms Sole Arbitrator In Oilfield Machinery Fight
A Texas appeals court affirmed on Tuesday that arbitration over more than $1 million owed on an invoice for oilfield machinery should be heard by a sole arbitrator, ruling that a subsequent agreement between a Mexican drill rig manufacturer and a Houston company trumped the wording in their initial contract.
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August 13, 2024
TMX Affiliate Sues Pa. Regulator To Block Potential $52M Fine
A Texas and Georgia-based affiliate of consumer lending company TMX Finance has sued the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities, challenging an order from the department that the company says seeks over $52 million in civil penalties over claims tied to loan agreements that allegedly carry interest rates as high as 720%.
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August 13, 2024
Jury Awards $51M To Family In Carbon Monoxide Leak
A Texas jury awarded a woman and her two children $51 million after they suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning in their apartment in 2015, finding in a Tuesday verdict that their apartment complex was responsible for the leak that allegedly left the children with serious brain injuries.
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August 13, 2024
Chamber Defends Texas Home For CFPB Late-Fee Rule Suit
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and other trade associations battling the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's $8 credit card late-fee rule told a Texas federal judge on Monday that the agency's latest bid to send the case to Washington, D.C., risks creating new rule challenge obstacles for local-level business groups and should be rejected.
Expert Analysis
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A Look At M&A Conditions After FTC's Exxon-Pioneer Nod
The Federal Trade Commission's recent consent decree imposing several conditions on Exxon Mobil's acquisition of Pioneer Natural Resources helps illustrate key points about the current merger enforcement environment, including the probability of further investigations in the energy and pharmaceutical sectors, say Ryan Quillian and John Kendrick at Covington.
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FTC Theories Of Harm After Anesthesia Co. Ruling
As Federal Trade Commission litigation against U.S. Anesthesia Partners proceeds following a Texas federal court's recent decision to dismiss a private equity sponsor from the suit, the case attempts to incorporate and advance some of the commission's theories of competitive harm from the final 2023 Merger Guidelines, say attorneys at Mintz.
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Class Actions At The Circuit Courts: May Lessons
In this month's review of class action appeals, Mitchell Engel at Shook Hardy discusses four notable circuit court decisions on topics from automobile insurance to securities — and provides key takeaways for counsel on issues including circuit-specific ascertainability requirements and how to conduct a Daubert analysis prior to class certification.
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Perspectives
Trauma-Informed Legal Approaches For Pro Bono Attorneys
As National Trauma Awareness Month ends, pro bono attorneys should nevertheless continue to acknowledge the mental and physical effects of trauma, allowing them to better represent clients, and protect themselves from compassion fatigue and burnout, say Katherine Cronin at Stinson and Katharine Manning at Blackbird.
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Tips For Advising CRE Owners Affected By Houston Storms
As Houston residents begin the arduous process of recovery after this month's devastating storms, attorneys should guide commercial real estate owners and managers toward immediate action under their insurance coverage to facilitate restoration and a return to normalcy, says Justin Ratley at Munsch Hardt.
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Cos. Must Stay On Alert With Joint Employer Rule In Flux
While employers may breathe a sigh of relief at recent events blocking the National Labor Relations Board's proposed rule that would make it easier for two entities to be deemed joint employers, the rule is not yet dead, say attorneys at Day Pitney.
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5th Circ. Bond Claim Ruling Shows Creditors Must Be Vigilant
In Raymond James & Associates v. Jalbert, the Fifth Circuit recently held that the bankruptcy debtor's indemnification obligations were discharged by the confirmed plan because the indemnified party failed to speak up, demonstrating that creditors must proactively protect their rights, says Joshua Lesser at Bradley Arant.
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Series
Playing Music Makes Me A Better Lawyer
My deep and passionate involvement in playing, writing and producing music equipped me with skills — like creativity, improvisation and problem-solving — that contribute to the success of my legal career, says attorney Kenneth Greene.
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How Attys Can Avoid Pitfalls When Withdrawing From A Case
The Trump campaign's recent scuffle over its bid to replace its counsel in a pregnancy retaliation suit offers a chance to remind attorneys that many troubles inherent in withdrawing from a case can be mitigated or entirely avoided by communicating with clients openly and frequently, says Christopher Konneker at Orsinger Nelson.
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One Contract Fix Can Reduce Employer Lawsuit Exposure
A recent Fifth Circuit ruling that saved FedEx over $365 million highlights how a one-sentence limitation provision on an employment application or in an at-will employment agreement may be the easiest cost-savings measure for employers against legal claims, say Sara O'Keefe and William Wortel at BCLP.
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Using A Children's Book Approach In Firm Marketing Content
From “The Giving Tree” to “Where the Wild Things Are,” most children’s books are easy to remember because they use simple words and numbers to tell stories with a human impact — a formula law firms should emulate in their marketing content to stay front of mind for potential clients, says Seema Desai Maglio at The Found Word.
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The State Of Play In DEI And ESG 1 Year After Harvard Ruling
Almost a year after the U.S. Supreme Court decided Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard, attorney general scrutiny of environmental, social and governance-related efforts indicates a potential path for corporate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives to be targeted, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.
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FTC Noncompete Rule Risks A Wave Of State AG Actions
The Federal Trade Commission's final rule language banning noncompetes may contribute to a waterfall enforcement effect in which state attorneys general deploy their broad authority to treat noncompetes as separate and independent violations, say Ryan Strasser and Carson Cox at Troutman Pepper.
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What The FTC Report On AG Collabs Means For Cos.
The Federal Trade Commission's April report on working with state attorneys general shows collaboration can increase efficiency and consistency in how statutes are interpreted and enforced, which can minimize the likelihood of requests for inconsistent injunctive relief that can create operational problems for businesses, say attorneys at Kelley Drye.
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When Oral Settlements Reached In Mediation Are Enforceable
A recent decision by the New Jersey Appellate Division illustrates the difficulties that may arise in trying to enforce an oral settlement agreement reached in mediation, but adherence to certain practices can improve the likelihood that such an agreement will be binding, says Richard Mason at MasonADR.