Texas

  • January 10, 2025

    Constellation Energy Buying Calpine In $26.6B Megadeal

    Constellation has agreed to acquire Calpine at a net purchase price of $26.6 billion, in a deal that will merge two of the largest power generation companies in the U.S., the companies announced Friday. 

  • January 09, 2025

    Tort Report: Philadelphia Tops Annual 'Judicial Hellhole' List

    Philadelphia's designation by a tort reform group as a top "judicial hellhole" and the nation's largest medical malpractice verdict ever lead Law360's Tort Report, which compiles recent personal injury and medical malpractice news that may have flown under the radar.

  • January 09, 2025

    IP Forecast: OpenAI, Microsoft Look To Toss NYT Case

    OpenAI and its backers at Microsoft will try persuading a New York judge to dismiss one of the major copyright suits against them, with arguments that using news stories to train the startup's artificial intelligence model is a "transformative" use. Here's a spotlight on where that case stands — plus all the other major intellectual property matters on deck in the coming week.

  • January 09, 2025

    Texas Hits TikTok With Another Suit Over Child-Online Safety

    Texas hit TikTok with another lawsuit in the Lone Star State court following similar consumer protection suits, accusing the social media giant — which is facing a ban in the U.S. — of deceptively marketing its purportedly addictive app as safe for minors despite letting explicit material run rampant on the platform.

  • January 09, 2025

    Steptoe & Johnson Boosts Dallas Headcount With 3 Attys

    Steptoe & Johnson PLLC boosted its Texas ranks Thursday with three seasoned attorneys who will bring in experience in mergers and acquisitions, lending, and commercial real estate, a move the firm claimed would help bolster its long term growth plan.

  • January 09, 2025

    5th Circuit Wrong To Toss Subsidy Fund, FCC Tells High Court

    The Federal Communications Commission urged the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn last year's Fifth Circuit decision gutting the FCC's multibillion-dollar subsidy fund, arguing the appeals court got it wrong in finding Congress unlawfully relinquished its taxing powers.

  • January 09, 2025

    Whiskey Maker Says 'Landry' Name Use 'Isn't Just About Me'

    The owner of a whiskey company accused of ripping off the name used by a host of hospitality brands owned by Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta testified that he started his company with the honest belief that the name "Landry" was available for use for liquor sales.

  • January 09, 2025

    J&J Spin-Off Says Talc Committee Can't Hire Brown Rudnick

    Johnson & Johnson's bankrupt spin-off called Brown Rudnick's bid to represent an official committee of talc claimants "an ethical violation," telling a Texas bankruptcy judge that the law firm's previous work for a group trying to toss the case clashes with the committee's support for its Chapter 11 plan.

  • January 09, 2025

    Texas Oil Well Operator's Ch. 11 Plan Approved With Releases

    Oil well operator Independence Contract Drilling received approval Thursday from a Texas bankruptcy judge for its Chapter 11 reorganization plan, which includes consensual third-party releases.

  • January 09, 2025

    Guards, ICE Detention Contractor Wage Deal Approved

    A detention officer's suit accusing the operator of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention center of unpaid preshift work will come to an end after a Texas federal judge signed off Thursday on a sealed settlement.

  • January 09, 2025

    Meta Gets Partial PTAB Win On 2 Electronic Device Patents

    The Patent Trial and Appeal Board has found that Meta Platforms Inc. was able to show that some claims in a pair of Eight kHz LLC patents were not valid, but upheld many other claims as part of a larger intellectual property fight between the parties.

  • January 09, 2025

    AI Startup Anthropic Seeks $60B Valuation, Plus More Rumors

    Artificial-intelligence startup Anthropic is seeking $2 billion in a new funding round that would value the company at $60 billion, while fashion giant Shein is now eyeing a mid-2025 initial public offering in London and Constellation Energy is lining up a $30 billion bid to acquire electricity provider Calpine. Here, Law360 breaks down the notable deal rumors from the past week.

  • January 09, 2025

    High Court Ruling Looms Over FERC Gas Enforcement Deal

    A TotalEnergies unit will pay $5 million to end a decadelong Federal Energy Regulatory Commission gas market manipulation probe, an enforcement case that was weakened by the U.S. Supreme Court's June ruling that limits the authority of in-house agency judges.

  • January 09, 2025

    EisnerAmper Adds Tax Pro As Partner In Dallas

    International business adviser EisnerAmper LLC announced it appointed a certified public accountant from Citrin Cooperman Advisors LLC to serve as a tax partner in the firm's private client services group based in Dallas.

  • January 09, 2025

    Reed Smith Steers Bauer On $625M Clear Channel Buy

    Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. has agreed to sell its Clear Channel Europe-North business to the U.K.'s Bauer Media Group for $625 million in cash, the companies said Thursday.

  • January 09, 2025

    Texas Appeals Court Frees Google Of Incognito Mode Suit

    A Texas appeals court wiped Texas' deceptive trade practices suit alleging Google misleads consumers about the privacy available through its "Incognito" mode, finding in a Thursday opinion the lower court doesn't have jurisdiction to hear the case.

  • January 09, 2025

    Texas Gov. Names New GC For Office Of The Governor

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott's deputy general counsel has been tapped to step into the role of general counsel for the governor after his predecessor, James P. Sullivan, was appointed to the Supreme Court of Texas earlier this week.

  • January 09, 2025

    Eversheds Sutherland Adds Hunton Energy Pro In Houston

    Eversheds Sutherland announced Thursday that a former Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP attorney with prior in-house experience at Exxon Mobil Corp. has joined the firm as a partner in Houston, strengthening its global energy offerings and its presence in Texas.

  • January 08, 2025

    Judge Calls For Trial In Long-Running Suit Against Thryv

    A Texas federal judge should hold that YellowPages.com operator Thryv Inc. can't challenge the final claim of Click-to-Call Technologies LP's patent for making anonymous phone calls but stop short of finding infringement, a magistrate judge recommended in the 12-year-old case.

  • January 08, 2025

    Fed. Circ. Grills USAA On Bid To Revive Patent In $218M Case

    The United Services Automobile Association faced a skeptical Federal Circuit panel Wednesday as it argued that an administrative board's invalidation of claims in its check deposit patent, which is part of a $218 million verdict against PNC Bank, conflicted with a prior decision upholding the patent.

  • January 08, 2025

    Edward Jones Fined $17M Over Customer Transition Fees

    Edward Jones has agreed to pay $17 million to end an investigation into alleged supervisory failures that may have led it to overcharge customers who transitioned from its brokerage division to its advisory division, state regulators announced Wednesday.

  • January 08, 2025

    Colo. Judge Certifies National Class Of Senior Care Investors

    A Colorado federal judge on Wednesday certified a nationwide class of stockholders in a securities suit alleging a senior health care company made misleading statements in an initial public offering that later caused stock prices to tank after a government audit exposed the falsehoods.

  • January 08, 2025

    ACLU Launches Media Campaign To Amplify Immigrant Voices

    The American Civil Liberties Union announced Wednesday that it is kicking off a new "Letters to America" multimedia campaign to amplify the voices of immigrants and asylum seekers speaking about their experiences traveling across the U.S.-Mexico border as the nation prepares itself for the second Trump administration's sweeping deportation plans.

  • January 08, 2025

    Musk Appeals $56B Pay Package Rejection To Del. High Court

    Tesla Inc. CEO Elon Musk and other top Tesla executives officially appealed to the Delaware Supreme Court on Wednesday a series of chancellor rulings that scuttled Musk's $56 billion, 10-year pay package and awarded a shareholder's counsel $345 million in fees in the yearslong derivative dispute.

  • January 08, 2025

    Texas Station Faces $369K Fine For Emergency Alert Failures

    A local Texas television station is under fire from the Federal Communications Commission for failing to run proper nationwide emergency tests in three separate years, according to a new forfeiture notice from the agency.

Expert Analysis

  • How Methods Are Evolving In Textualist Interpretations

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    Textualists at the U.S. Supreme Court are increasingly considering new methods such as corpus linguistics and surveys to evaluate what a statute's text communicates to an ordinary reader, while lower courts even mull large language models like ChatGPT as supplements, says Kevin Tobia at Georgetown Law.

  • The Fed. Circ. In August: Secret Sales And Public Disclosures

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    Two recent Federal Circuit rulings — Sanho v. Kaijet and Celanese International v. ITC — highlight that inventors should publicly and promptly disclose their inventions, as a secret sale will not suffice as a disclosure, and file their patent applications within a year of public disclosure, say Sean Murray and Jeremiah Helm at Knobbe Martens.

  • The State Law Landscape After Justices' Social Media Ruling

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    Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent NetChoice ruling on social media platforms’ First Amendment rights, it’s still unclear if state content moderation laws are constitutional, leaving online operators to face a patchwork of regulation, and the potential for the issue to return to the high court, say attorneys at Crowell & Moring.

  • What's Next For Federal Preemption In Financial Services

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    The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency's review of its preemption interpretations and growing pressure from state regulators signal potential changes ahead for preemption in U.S. financial services, and the path forward will likely involve a reevaluation of the entire framework, say attorneys at Clark Hill.

  • Avoiding Corporate Political Activity Pitfalls This Election Year

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    As Election Day approaches, corporate counsel should be mindful of the complicated rules around companies engaging in political activities, including super PAC contributions, pay-to-play prohibitions and foreign agent restrictions, say attorneys at Covington.

  • Why Attorneys Should Consider Community Leadership Roles

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    Volunteering and nonprofit board service are complementary to, but distinct from, traditional pro bono work, and taking on these community leadership roles can produce dividends for lawyers, their firms and the nonprofit causes they support, says Katie Beacham at Kilpatrick.

  • Firms Must Offer A Trifecta Of Services In Post-Chevron World

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    After the U.S. Supreme Court’s Loper Bright Enterprises v. Raimondo decision overturning Chevron deference, law firms will need to integrate litigation, lobbying and communications functions to keep up with the ramifications of the ruling and provide adequate counsel quickly, says Neil Hare at Dentons.

  • 5 Tips To Succeed In A Master Of Laws Program And Beyond

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    As lawyers and recent law school graduates begin their Master of Laws coursework across the country, they should keep a few pointers in mind to get the most out of their programs and kick-start successful careers in their practice areas, says Kelley Miller at Reed Smith.

  • Series

    Being An Opera Singer Made Me A Better Lawyer

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    My journey from the stage to the courtroom has shown that the skills I honed as an opera singer – punctuality, memorization, creativity and more – have all played a vital role in my success as an attorney, says Gerard D'Emilio at GableGotwals.

  • How Law Firms Can Avoid 'Collaboration Drag'

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    Law firm decision making can be stifled by “collaboration drag” — characterized by too many pointless meetings, too much peer feedback and too little dissent — but a few strategies can help stakeholders improve decision-making processes and build consensus, says Steve Groom at Miles Mediation.

  • Election Outlook: A Precedent Primer On Content Moderation

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    With the 2024 election season now in full swing, online platforms will face difficult and politically sensitive decisions about content moderation, but U.S. Supreme Court decisions from last term offer much-needed certainty about their rights, say Jonathan Blavin and Helen White at Munger Tolles.

  • Opinion

    Litigation Funding Disclosure Key To Open, Impartial Process

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    Blanket investor and funding agreement disclosures should be required in all civil cases where the investor has a financial interest in the outcome in order to address issues ranging from potential conflicts of interest to national security concerns, says Bob Goodlatte, former U.S. House Representative for Virginia.

  • The Ethics of Using Generative AI In Environmental Law

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    The rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence tools is challenging environmental lawyers, consultants and government agencies to determine when and how these tools can be responsibly, ethically and productively integrated into their practices to streamline research, predictive analytics and regulatory compliance, say Ahlia Bethea and Pamela Esterman at Sive Paget.

  • What NFL Draft Picks Have In Common With Lateral Law Hires

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    Nearly half of law firm lateral hires leave within a few years — a failure rate that is strikingly similar to the performance of NFL quarterbacks drafted in the first round — in part because evaluators focus too heavily on quantifiable metrics and not enough on a prospect's character traits, says Howard Rosenberg at Baretz+Brunelle.

  • Considering Noncompete Strategies After Blocked FTC Ban

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    A Texas district court's recent decision in Ryan v. Federal Trade Commission to set aside the new FTC rule banning noncompetes does away with some immediate compliance obligations, but employers should still review strategies, attend to changes to state laws and monitor ongoing challenges, say attorneys at Baker McKenzie.

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