Texas’s 2025 legislative session marked a major shift in land‐use policy. With Gov. Greg Abbott’s signature on SB 840, the state joined a broader wave of reforms aimed at unlocking housing supply by curbing municipal zoning and regulation. These laws will work in concert to dismantle longstanding barriers to multifamily development by streamlining conversions of commercial properties, raising the bar for rezoning protests and reducing lot‐size mandates. Together, these measures represent one of the most sweeping efforts to expand housing options and revive underused urban assets in Texas cities.
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P.S. — Legal Aid Expands Across Texas with Volunteers, Grants and New Talent
In this edition of P.S., Texas legal aid organizations ramp up efforts to support communities affected by recent disasters. Texas RioGrande Legal Aid is calling on volunteer lawyers to assist flood survivors across Central Texas, while Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas launches its new mobile unit, the “Legal Aid Express,” to deliver on-the-ground disaster support to its region. SMU’s First Amendment Clinic received a $3 million endowment from the Stanton Foundation, with an additional $2 million challenge grant to expand its pro bono advocacy. Meanwhile, 17 University of Texas School of Law graduates received public interest fellowships, enabling them to serve underrepresented communities across the country. Finally, Sidley Austin’s Texas offices contributed to local hunger relief efforts as part of the firm’s “Summer of Service” campaign.
Five Firms Lead Pack on H1 Lateral Hiring
Despite seven business-focused law firms in Texas boosting their ranks significantly through new hires, new data shows that lateral partner movement slowed during the first six months of 2025 — though the decline looks steeper than it really was because the first half of 2024 was a record-setting year for partner moves. The Texas offices of three law firms — Dykema, Greenberg Traurig and Jackson Walker — led the pack by each hiring nine partners from competitors during H1 2025.
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.
Texas Fracking Sand Miner Files for Bankruptcy in NDTX
Citing $100 million to $500 million in liabilities and assets, FCI Sand Operation filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas on Wednesday.
Boston Jury Awards Couple $42M in Johnson & Johnson Asbestos Trial
Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder was allegedly the direct cause of mesothelioma for a Massachusetts couple, according to a Boston jury. Dallas-based attorneys with Dean Omar Branham Shirley represented the couple in the two-week jury trial, which resulted in a $42 million verdict for the plaintiffs.
Baker Hughes to Buy Chart Industries in $13.6B All-Cash Deal
Baker Hughes said on Tuesday it has agreed to acquire Chart Industries for $210 a share in cash, or about $13.6 billion, as the Houston energy technology company furthers its expansion in liquified natural gas and data centers. Also Tuesday, Irving-based Flowserve Corp. said it terminated its offer to acquire Chart because the Baker Hughes offer is a “superior proposal.”
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.
Litigation Roundup: Southwest Airlines ‘A-Lister’ Alleges Racial Discrimination
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Skechers draws a patent infringement lawsuit in the Eastern District of Texas over its line of slip-on shoes, Dallas-based Southwest Airlines is accused of race discrimination by a doctor who was removed from a flight, and the Fifth Court of Appeals clarifies the rules on supersedeas bonds in an appeal from a $30.7 million jury award.
Marita and Derek — A Shared Journey of Extraordinary Success and Partnership
Marita Covarrubias is a high-ranking Dallas lawyer at Tenet Healthcare who shares a name with a secret agent on The X-Files. Derek Lipscombe was a former Houston Astros bat boy turned award-winning newspaper reporter who is managing counsel for Toyota North America. Both lawyers of color, Covarrubias and Lipscombe have represented their multibillion-dollar corporations in bet-the-company litigation matters — from class-action lawsuits involving cybersecurity and data breaches to massive antitrust challenges — in courtrooms across the country, and both have become critical advisors to the top executives and board members at Tenet and Toyota. Earlier this year, Covarrubias and Lipscombe became the first husband-wife duo to receive the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. “Marita and Derek exemplify what it means to dedicate a lifetime of excellence, integrity and the betterment of the legal profession and the North Texas business community,” said Association of Corporate Counsel DFW Chapter President Alvin Benton, who is senior counsel for corporate compliance at Capital One in Dallas.