DOJ, Four Law Firms Clash at D.C. Court of Appeals

Federal courts cannot review President Donald Trump’s executive orders denying security clearance to anyone or any group of people, even if those orders target all Asians or Hispanics, Catholics or Jews, a lawyer for the Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday.

“It is not reviewable,” Abhishek Kambli, a lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

But the attorney for the four law firms argued that President Trump’s EOs targeting them last year had nothing to do with national security, but instead were motivated by viewpoint discrimination.

May 14, 2026 Mark Curriden

News Analysis: Trump EOs v. Law Firms — All Eyes on Judge Neomi Rao

The court battle between the Trump administration and four corporate law firms, including Houston-based Susman Godfrey, is being argued Thursday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

While many legal scholars agree that the likelihood of winning the appeal decisively favors the law firms, the focus will be on appellate Judge Neomi Rao, a conservative jurist, former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and champion of the Federalist Society.

May 13, 2026 Mark Curriden

Chief Justice to Dallas Judge: Reconsider Mask Mandate

Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice James Blacklock has told a Dallas trial judge that she needs to reconsider her standing order requiring mask mandates and disclosure of personal health information before entering her courtroom.

May 13, 2026 Mark Curriden

Nicotine Pouches Are Tobacco Products, SCOTX Determines in Tax Appeal

The Texas Supreme Court on Friday dealt a blow to the maker of a nicotine pouch product, finding that the company’s VELO pouches are subject to the same duty levied on cigars, chewing tobacco and snuff. But the court did leave one door open for RJR Vapor.

May 8, 2026 Michelle Casady

History Rhymes as Tension Between Executive and Judicial Branches Climbs

An American president denounces the judiciary, accusing courts of usurping power and judges of being politically motivated. His supporters warn of judicial tyranny.

The political figures being described were President Thomas Jefferson, Alexander Hamilton and Samuel Chase, an associate justice of the Supreme Court.

“Fooled you, didn’t I? You thought I was talking about another day,” Nathan Hecht told an audience at the University of Houston Law Center.

April 22, 2026 Janet Elliott

Litigation Roundup: Texas Firms Win Appeal in Penile Implant Trade Secrets Case

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Winston & Strawn is representing the NFL Players Association in a federal lawsuit in Houston over the handling of a grievance and AZA and Beck Redden prevail on appeal in a California trade secrets dispute over a penile implant. 

April 20, 2026 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: SCOTX Undoes New MedMal Trial Order, Calls for TUFTA Cases

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a distributor of energy drink Alani is sued by the family of a 17-year-old girl who died after consuming the beverages, and Samsung tells a Texas judge the invalidation of a patent by a California judge means it's entitled to a new trial in a dispute that had ended with a $78 million verdict against it. 

April 13, 2026 Michelle Casady

DOJ: Only President — Not Courts — Decides if Susman Godfrey is National Security Threat

The Trump administration is trying to persuade a federal appeals court to restore President Donald Trump’s executive orders against Houston-based Susman Godfrey and three other law firms, arguing that a president’s power to declare the firms national security threats is "unreviewable" by the courts.

April 11, 2026 Mark Curriden

SCOTX Ends Winter Storm Uri Litigation Against Power Generators

Without writing a single sentence to explain why, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday officially ended any efforts by tens of thousands of Texas citizens and small businesses to sue power generators for personal injuries, wrongful deaths and property damages suffered during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.

The decision is a huge victory for large power generators such as Luminant, NRG, Calpine, Exelon and Sempra Energy, who argued that the lawsuits, which sought billions of dollars in damages, should be dismissed because the unprecedented weather, not the companies’ actions, was responsible for the injuries and damages.

March 27, 2026 Mark Curriden

Asked & Answered with Beck Redden’s Russell Post: Oral Arguments & Advocacy

In this edition of Asked & Answered, Beck Redden partner Russell Post shares how he went from resisting the idea of attending law school to contemplating a career as a law professor. For Post, who recently secured a win at the U.S. Supreme Court, becoming a law professor is no longer a goal of his, but teaching isn’t out of the question.

March 25, 2026 Alexa Shrake