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Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

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Janet Elliott

Janet has deep knowledge of Texas government, including the Texas Legislature and Texas Supreme Court. Her policy expertise includes public and higher education funding and policy, civil justice, pension and investment funds, and state budget. Janet's news media career has also included stops at the Houston Chronicle, The Wall Street Journal and Texas Lawyer.

Lease Operator Owns ‘Produced Water,’ SCOTX Says

The Texas Supreme Court addressed ownership of “produced water,” an oilfield byproduct made increasingly valuable by new treatment methods. Absent a specific conveyance, the court said in a closely watched case, a surface estate does not retain ownership of the water separated from hydrocarbons during hydraulic fracturing operations.

June 27, 2025 Janet Elliott

No Texas Jurisdiction Over Foreign Airplane Engine Maker, SCOTX Says

The Texas Supreme Court dismissed a lawsuit from a woman who was severely injured in a small plane crash in North Texas. The court found that she failed to produce evidence that the Austrian manufacturer of the plane’s engine specifically intended its product to enter the Texas stream of commerce.

June 20, 2025 Janet Elliott

Legislation Aims to Boost Texas as a Friendly Place to Incorporate and Settle Disputes

A new law makes it more difficult for shareholders to challenge corporate decisions through litigation. A second bill headed to the governor’s desk would enhance the fledgling Texas Business Court’s authority, although lawmakers decided for now against expanding the system to rural Texas. (Photo by Ricardo Garza)

June 4, 2025 Janet Elliott

Legislature Revives 25% Judicial Pay Hike After Frantic Negotiations

A longstanding statutory link between judicial pay and legislative pensions almost derailed a bill to increase district court judges’ salaries. Last-minute negotiations between the House and Senate led to an agreement to end the link by 2030. (File photo of Texas House Rep. Jeff Leach by Tony Gutierrez/AP)

June 3, 2025 Janet Elliott

SCOTX Reverses Negligence Verdict in Harvey Flooding Case

Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock highlighted deficiencies in the plaintiffs’ expert testimony on the question of whether a pipe fabrication plant’s drainage system contributed to flooding of 30 homes in Matagorda County.

May 23, 2025 Janet Elliott

Q&A with Lobbyist Amy Bresnen

Amy Bresnen began working at the Texas Capitol in the 2000s as a grunt in the army of college-age students that runs on Red Bull and ambition to complete the behind-the-scenes work critical to each session. The Texas Lawbook recently sat down with Bresnen in a quiet corner of the Capitol cafeteria to discuss her work.

May 15, 2025 Janet Elliott

House Bill Would Alter Attorney Fee Structure of Anti-SLAPP Law

A defamation lawsuit against Rep. Jeff Leach took center stage during a Texas House committee hearing on the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Lawmakers are struggling to address abuses of the popular law while still maintaining its protections for Texans exercising their First Amendment rights.

April 25, 2025 Janet Elliott

Bill to Limit Medical Cost Damages in Tort Cases Advances

Senators broke along party lines in advancing legislation to stop “nuclear verdicts.” Senate Bill 30 would limit recoverable medical expenses to 300 percent of Medicare rates, adjusted for inflation. Supporters said the bill is needed to bring down insurance rates, while critics said it would remove discretion from judges and juries to make decisions on facts in individual cases.

April 17, 2025 Janet Elliott

Anti-SLAPP Law’s Automatic Stay Under Fire at Capitol

The Texas Citizens Participation Act has helped media defendants and public advocates fight meritless lawsuits aimed at intimidating them into silence. Now, legislators are reviewing the anti-SLAPP law’s automatic stay of trial proceedings during an interlocutory appeal of a motion to dismiss. Critics of the 2011 law say it is too broadly written, allowing unscrupulous defendants to delay cases that have nothing to do with free speech. The high-stakes battle is playing out at the Capitol where supporters from across the political landscape face off against powerful business interests — with observers wondering if a compromise is possible.

March 25, 2025 Janet Elliott

SCOTX Considers Ownership of ‘Produced Water’

Advances in technologies to treat water produced from oil and gas fracking operations has made what was a worthless by-product into a potentially valuable resource. It’s now worth fighting for, as evidenced by arguments in the closely watched case of Cactus Water Services v. Cog Operating.

March 18, 2025 Janet Elliott

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Features

  • P.S. — Pro Bono Work Honored at State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting - Advancing access to justice in rural Texas, advocating for domestic violence survivors and ensuring Spanish speakers aren’t left out are among the pro bono initiatives for which lawyers and a judge were honored during the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio.   July 4, 2025Krista Torralva

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • McGuireWoods Names Tyler VanHoutan as New Houston Office Managing Partner - Keeping with McGuireWoods' practice of alternating people in its leadership roles, the firm has also appointed new office managing partners in Atlanta, Baltimore and San Francisco. The new appointments took effect this month.
  • Reed Smith Beefs Up Global Regulatory Enforcement Group, Hires V&E Partner 
  • Rey Anaya Valencia Begins Deanship at South Texas College of Law Houston
  • Willkie Adds Blake Winburne to its Houston Office
  • Hines CLO Joins Greenberg Traurig in Houston
  • Thomas Verity Vaults to Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Veteran Houston Partner Jumps from Latham to Simpson
  • Skadden Hires Two M&A Partners from White & Case
  • V&E Adds Three Partners: Two from Kirkland, One from Baker Botts
  • Houston Texans Associate GC Jumps to Munsch Hardt
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

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Barry Barnett
Wes Bearden
Emily Westridge Black
Michael Burke
Alicia Campbell
John Campbell
Madeleine Carpenter
Alexander Clark
Dawn Pittman Collins
Richard Finneran
Elizabeth Freeman
David Gail
Elizabeth Gibson
David Jones
Frank Lopez
Abbe Lowell
Neal Manne
Billy Marsh
Tom Melsheimer
Tasha Moser
Justin Nelson
Reed O'Connor
Kate Pennartz
John “J.” Pieratt
Danielle Reyes
Christopher Richardson
Randy Sorrels
Harry Susman
Larry Vincent
Victor Vital
Brent Walker
Matt Weybrecht
Melody Wilkinson
Alex Wolens

Firms in the News

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A&O Shearman
Bryan Cave
Cozen O'Connor
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Law Office of Liz Freeman
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
Sorrels Law
Susman Godfrey
Toyota
Troutman Pepper Locke
Willkie
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Winston & Strawn

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