Updated – Texas Court Rules PUC Price-Setting During Winter Storm Uri Unlawful

The Texas Public Utility Commission emergency rules in February 2021 that increased electric rates to $9,000 per megawatt-hour in response to the demand for power because of Winter Storm Uri were “invalid” and must be reexamined, a Texas appeals court ruled Friday. The Austin Court of Appeals ruled that PUC board members issued two unlawful rules — an “operation of executive fiat” — that allowed ERCOT to increase the emergency price of electricity 650 percent for five days. The decision, according to legal experts, could be a multibillion-dollar victory for some retail power companies.

March 17, 2023 Mark Curriden

The Evolving Landscape of Business Email Compromise Litigation — A Focus on Texas

Business email compromises remain one of the most prevalent internet-related crimes, with businesses and individuals suffering massive financial losses. This article examines how Texas law handles disputes between companies that have been defrauded by a third-party and the interaction of the contract law.

March 16, 2023 Victoria Oguntoye, Jacob Durst & Aurora Temple Barnes

Austin City Attorney Anne Morgan Doing Legal Work ‘That Makes the World a Little Bit Better’

Anne Morgan and the 60 lawyers in her office are analyzing about 2,000 pieces of proposed legislation being considered by lawmakers in the Texas Capitol. All this while handling the legal matters that come with one of the nation’s fastest growing cities. This is the first in a series of articles about the attorneys leading Texas’s major metros.

March 16, 2023 Nushin Huq

Midland Jury Rejects FLSA Overtime Claim Against Oilfield Services Co.

A trial team from Munsch Hardt successfully fended off the claims levied against client Flowco Production Solutions. Instead of raising the highly compensated employee exemption commonly seen in cases involving oilfield services, they told the jury these plaintiffs were exempt from overtime under the administrative employee exemption.

March 14, 2023 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: OAG Gets Deadline in Whistleblower Suit, Omni Hit with $25M Verdict in Sex Discrimination Suit

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Dallas lawyer secures a $29 million jury verdict in a talc case and the Texas attorney general gets a deadline to respond to a request from whistleblowers to reinstate their case pending before the Texas Supreme Court.

March 13, 2023 Michelle Casady

When Clients Make Bad Decisions: What’s a Lawyers’ Duty?

Our ethical rules do not seem to address this issue directly, but there are at least three, maybe four, ethical obligations (we’ll call them touchstones) that dance around an answer to the question.

March 13, 2023 Randy Johnston

Former Justice Michael Massengale’s Mission: ‘Set the Record Straight’ About Uvalde

As a Houston arbitrator and former appellate justice, Michael Massengale was the perfect lawyer for the Texas House investigatory committee to choose to help investigate and write the official report about that tragic day last May when so much went wrong and 19 children and two teachers were murdered. For the first time since the report was released, Massengale has given an in-depth interview to Texas Lawbook reporter Janet Elliott about his role in the investigation, the challenges he and the committee faced and his hopes for legislative improvements to police training and school safety.

March 13, 2023 Janet Elliott

Houston Chronicle: Lawsuit Accuses Gas Companies of Manipulating the Market During Winter Storm Uri

A former Enron trader is suing some of the nation’s largest energy and financial firms, claiming they diverted natural gas supplies and cut off production in a scheme to artificially drive up prices ahead of Winter Storm Uri in 2021. CirclesX Recovery claims firms including Energy Transfer, Kinder Morgan, BP, Conoco Phillips and CenterPoint Energy engaged in an Enron-style scheme to cut off gas production or divert supplies into storage days ahead of freezing temperatures that would eventually cripple the Texas power grid.

March 9, 2023 James Osborne of the Houston Chronicle