Texas Supreme Court Tackles Major Land Condemnation Dispute
Case is being closely watched by utilities, pipeline companies and property rights advocates.
Texas AG and Johnson & Johnson Battle in Opening Statements
In opening statements today in the state’s $1 billion false drug marketing case against Johnson & Johnson, a lawyer for the company said he will present “real world” evidence that the antipsychotic Risperdal was widely used by medical professionals on adults and children because it works better than competing products.
Texas Supreme Court Upholds Limited Partnership Tax
The Texas Supreme Court ruled today that the franchise tax applied to limited partnerships is constitutional and is not a personal income tax.
Fifth Circuit Splits in Property Rights Case, Reverses Southern District’s Judgment
An apartment complex damaged by Hurricane Harvey sees a reversal in a constitutional takings case that the city of Houston shouldn’t have denied its request for a repair permit. The case returns to the Southern District for further proceedings to compensate the apartment complex.
Texas ER Docs Win Fifth Circuit Reversal Against the Blues
Fifty-six Texas emergency medical physician groups will get to pursue legal claims that two dozen Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans underpaid them for treating patients. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday that a Texas federal judge wrongly dismissed hundreds and hundreds of claims for tens of millions of dollars by ER doctors from Texarkana to Port Arthur and from Collin County to Odessa.
Oil, One Lawyer and Only 64 Souls: Fifth Circuit Weighs in on Loving County’s War of Neighbors
A West Texas justice of the peace, sheriff and constable walked into a Fifth Circuit courtroom. No joke. This is the story of six residents of Loving County — together, they account for about one-tenth of the county’s total population — who took their decade-long political dispute over allegations of voter intimidation, jury fraud, “lawfare” and even cattle rustling and turned it into a billion-dollar civil rights litigation. Such is life in Loving County, population 64, but only one lawyer. (2021 file photo by David Goldman/AP)
Haynes Boone Welcomes Two-Time SCOTUS Clerk to Appellate Practice Groups
Michael Qian clerked for U.S. Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Ketanji Brown Jackson before serving as counselor to the attorney general of the United States. His addition boosts the firm’s Supreme Court team.
Trade Secrets Case Offers a Roadmap on Preemption, Jury Charges
The lawyer who represents a dozen former DNOW employees said a recent opinion by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals reversed a significant trial award and reshapes the legal landscape in Texas for trade secret and fiduciary duty claims. The appeal resulted in more than $2 million in attorneys’ fees and costs for the ex-employees, who were accused of conspiring to steal DNOW’s trade secrets.
WhereverTV is Headed Back to Trial in its Infringement Claims Against Comcast
WhereverTV accused Comcast of infringing a patent covering its interactive program guide and was trying the case before a jury in April 2023. But before the jury heard closing arguments or began deliberations, a federal judge in Florida agreed with Comcast that it was entitled to judgment as a matter of law, ending the case. Now, the Federal Circuit Court has remanded the case for a second jury trial.
In Landmark Decision, SCOTX Holds that Produced Water Belongs to the Mineral Estate Lessee
The decision provides clarity for upstream and midstream entities, landowners and environmental tech startups grappling with the emerging value of what was once considered merely a wasteful byproduct — produced water — but now, through technological advances in recycling and mineral extraction, has the potential to become a new source of significant revenue.
Fifth Circuit Tells Judge O’Connor More Analysis Needed in Media Matters, X Corp. Venue Spat
A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit on Tuesday instructed U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor to conduct a more thorough analysis before deciding whether to grant a motion from Media Matters to move a lawsuit to the Northern District of California.
Beck Redden Bolsters Appellate Group With Hire From Troutman Pepper Locke
Beck Redden announced this week the hiring of Chris Dove, who focuses on commercial litigation in the energy, financial services and maritime sectors. He had spent more than two decades practicing at Troutman Pepper Locke and Locke Lord.