Fifth Circuit: FDA Cigarette Warnings are ‘Factual and Uncontroversial’ and ‘Pass Constitutional Muster’

R.J. Reynolds and other cigarette makers learned Thursday that forum shopping does not always pay off. The tobacco companies strategically filed a constitutional challenge to the FDA's newest cigarette warning labels in East Texas believing the jurisdiction to be favorable, especially on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which the companies viewed as pro-commercial free speech and increasingly distrustful of federal government regulation and overreach. But they figured wrong.

March 22, 2024 Mark Curriden

SCOTX Hears Arguments in Oncor Appraisal Disputes 

The justices had consolidated the oral arguments in two cases that involve disputes in Mills and Wilbarger counties. The cases are part of a large group of lawsuits filed by Oncor to fight the valuation of its transmission lines in 13 counties. The utility company argues incorrect data provided by a private appraisal firm to determine 2019 values led to a $7 million overvaluation of its property and a "windfall" of taxes for the local governments.

March 21, 2024 Krista Torralva

Fifth Circuit Says Challenge to SEC’s Gag Order Policy is ‘Procedurally Improper’

In a case that presented the court with an issue of first impression, the panel wrote that it would “decline to open that Pandora’s box of frivolous appeals” by exercising jurisdiction in the case. Christopher Novinger had unsuccessfully tried to undo the gag order provision he agreed to in July 2022, and failed again Tuesday.

March 20, 2024 Michelle Casady

SCOTX Hears Arguments in APA Challenge to PUC’s OK of Post-Uri Pricing Rule

The Texas Supreme Court must decide two things: Is the new protocol for setting prices in an electricity emergency a “competition rule” under the Public Utility Regulatory Act? And if it is, did the Public Utility Commission of Texas exceed its authority under either PURA or the Administrative Procedure Act in approving it?

March 19, 2024 Michelle Casady

SCOTX to Review MDL Transfer in Sex-Trafficking Case Against Facebook

The court responded to a call by former justice Scott Brister to clarify standards for a “tag-along” transfer to the existing Salesforce MDL in Harris County. Such direction has been lacking in previous reviews of MDL transfers over the past 20 years, Brister says.

March 18, 2024 Janet Elliott

Dallas COA Opinion Highlights How TCPA Framework Can be ‘Undermined’

This week a three-justice panel of the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas ordered Dallas County District Judge Staci Williams to hold a hearing on a motion to dismiss pending before her that was brought under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. The state’s anti-SLAPP law requires that a hearing on a motion to dismiss take place within 60 days, but Judge Williams’ staff told the relators in this case — who tried six times to get a hearing set — that, while it does its best to accommodate requests for hearings, its docket is “jammed packed” and “there is no way to SQUEEZE your motion into the requested docket.”

March 13, 2024 Michelle Casady

Fifth Circuit Panel Decries ‘Rambo’ Tactics in Reversal, Scathing Opinion

A three-judge panel including the chief judge issued a rare reversal of a trial verdict on the grounds of improper jury argument. Two Texas lawyers who resorted to name calling, including one who threw a tissue box at opposing counsel, “employed nearly every category of what we have previously held to be improper closing argument,” the judges wrote. 

March 12, 2024 Krista Torralva

Litigation Roundup: SpaceX Wants Full Fifth Circuit to hear NLRB Case

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Yelp prevails against the Texas attorney general’s office in a suit that accused the website of violating the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a Dallas-area law firm represents an insurance company accusing nearly 50 defendants of RICO violations related to New York workers’ compensation benefits, and a split Texas Supreme Court issues a ruling clarifying the tolling period in a healthcare liability claim.

March 11, 2024 Michelle Casady