More Stories

By overlaying a video game with the physical world, “Pokémon Go” creates a variety of situations in which companies may face legal action from game players as well as employees. The game’s owners, Japan-based Nintendo Ltd. and The Pokémon Company, have shielded themselves from lawsuits by requiring forced arbitration for any disputes arising from those who download the game. However, there are no such protections for unaffiliated companies that are dealing with all the existing and potential headaches – such as data breach concerns, business interruption and production loss and personal injuries – caused by “Pokémon Go” and its players.

Seven lawyers from Dallas and Houston were part of the Sidley Austin legal team that represented TSG Consumer Partners in its sale of IT Cosmetics to L’Oreal for $1.2 billion.

Merger-and-acquisition activity crawled along during the first half of 2016, but leading financial advisers in Texas predict an acceleration of deal flow and size before the end of year. Financial advisers from KPMG, Tudor Pickering Holt, Grant Thornton and Anderson King Energy say they expect private equity firms and traditional investors in the oil patch to return to the deal market later after sitting on the sidelines for the past 18 months.

Merger-and-acquisition activity crawled along during the first half of 2016, but leading financial advisers in Texas predict an acceleration of deal flow and size before the end of year. Financial advisers from KPMG, Tudor Pickering Holt, Grant Thornton and Anderson King Energy say they expect private equity firms and traditional investors in the oil patch to return to the deal market later after sitting on the sidelines for the past 18 months.

M&A lawyers in Texas who thought the first quarter was bad should brace for even worse news. Deal count was pathetically low during the second quarter of 2016 and the value of the transactions that were announced plummeted to lows the market has not seen since 2009 and the Great Recession. In addition, an increasing number of large deals being considered fell apart before closing.

Employers subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Act and related OSHA regulations are likely familiar with their obligations to record and report certain workplace injuries and illnesses. On May 11, 2016, OSHA published a set of revisions (the “Final Rule”) to the existing regulations concerning recordkeeping and reporting requirements for employers. This article provides a brief overview of the Final Rule and offers some suggestions to prepare employers for the revised record-keeping and reporting requirements.