A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has decided that payments by oil exporters into an oil-spill remediation fund are unconstitutional export taxes. But the holding held not so much because one judge concurred only in the judgment and one dissented, evidently robbing the decision of precedential value.
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Kirkland Achieves the Uncommon, a Defense Win in a Waco Patent Case
An infringement claim against Epic Games, creator of the wildly popular Fortnite video game, is dismissed for improper venue by U.S. District Judge Alan Albright.
Status of Bar Wars: The Reincarnation?
The fact that a petition seeking U.S. Supreme Court review of a challenge to the mandatory Texas bar-association dues has been lumped together with similar disputes from Michigan and Oklahoma suggests the high court may have decided to tackle, once and for all, the extent to which state associations can compel lawyers to pay dues that may finance activities with which they disagree.
AZA Associate Sets Precedent in Fifth Circuit for Sexual Harassment Victims
Kelsi Stayart White set new precedent as an associate with the Houston-based AZA firm in the Fifth Circuit when a three-judge panel this month found for her client, a former Houston female firefighter. The unanimous holding broadens sexual harassment protection in part by allowing her complaint to proceed after she discovered an intimate video taken from her laptop had been circulating among her firehouse colleagues for nine years.
CDT Roundup: 13 Deals, 9 Firms, 106 Lawyers, $2.3B
In a week of relatively weak M&A traffic, the increased prominence of healthcare deals is, once again, front and center. The deals these days are not just for healthcare technologies or hospital real estate — the M&A market for professional care itself is becoming abundantly clear. That, and the week’s dealmakers in the CDT Roundup.
Former SEC Enforcement Lawyer Looks Back and Forward
Federal regulators will focus more resources on special purpose acquisition companies seeking to go public because the increased frequency of so-called de-SPACing could lead to a jump in improper accounting, financial misstatements and even fraud. That’s according to Rebecca Fike, who spent the past 10 years at the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office prosecuting violators of accounting and financial fraud, who said cryptocurrency, corporate governance and de-SPACing are “ripe for potential securities issues” to be investigated by the federal agency.
A Special Deal Too Good to Be True. And Was.
From the Texas Supreme Court: A client supposedly in Europe wants help with a debt collection and contacts a Houston lawyer by email, promising a $10,000 retainer. A bad scenario got worse. More than $380,000 wired by the lawyer to Japan: Gone. Plus: Two more cases from the SCOTX docket: SandRidge Energy Inc. v. Barfield and Baby Dolls Topless Saloons Inc. v. Gilbert Sotero.
Review: Business and Commercial Litigation in Federal Courts, Fifth Edition
The fifth edition has 26 entirely new chapters covering topics on no one’s radar screen four years ago but likely to be the subjects of the highest stakes litigation in the years to come.
Yetter Coleman Nabs Partner from Kirkland
Houston litigation boutique Yetter Coleman announced Tuesday that it has hired a complex commercial litigator from Kirkland. The new partner also has significant restructuring trial experience.
SEC Issues Draft Climate Change Disclosure Requirements — Updated
The biggest impact, according to legal experts, will be to corporations in the energy industry and those with a significant amount of greenhouse emissions. Experts from V&E, Winstead, Porter Hedges, Winston & Strawn, Bradley and Sidley share their insight and analysis on the new proposed rules.