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Expert Voices

Texas Business Court Countdown: Time to Update Your Forum Selection Clause?

Many litigants feel that Sept. 1 can’t come fast enough, and with it the promise to usher in a new era for high-stakes Texas commercial litigation. But others are quick to caution that, for all the anticipation, plenty of open questions remain. One way or another, every lawyer advising on a new contract that potentially qualifies for dispute resolution in the business court may confront the same question: Should we push for a forum selection clause that preemptively agrees to have new disputes heard in the new court?

Jury System Survives Challenges in Trump Case

In this guest article, Winston & Strawn’s Tom Melsheimer applauds the jurors who decided the New York State court trial of Donald Trump. “Trial lawyers can discuss and debate the result and argue about the tactics of both sides. That’s fair game,” he writes. “But anything but praise for the citizens who were effectively drafted into a fractious and controversial case? That’s just fake news.”

Be Careful Where You Seek Pre-Suit Discovery: Appellate Divide on TCPA Deepens

In Amarillo, Austin, and just recently Fort Worth, the party resisting pre-suit discovery under Rule 202 can (in the right circumstances) file a motion to dismiss under the Texas Citizens Participation Act (TCPA), requiring the petitioner to meet the TCPA’s evidentiary hurdles or risk paying the other side’s fees and getting sanctioned, all while potentially engaging in a protracted process that spoils the entire purpose of Rule 202 petitions. But both Houston Courts of Appeals have rejected the applicability of the TCPA to pre-suit discovery. Until the Texas Supreme Court resolves the split, where a pre-suit petition for discovery is filed can have a dramatic impact on the outcome.

SEC on the Lookout for Whistleblower Restrictions

The agency has been very active in whistleblower protection for the last 18 months — with seven cases generating more than $30 million in fines — and now appears to be kicking off an enforcement sweep looking at executive agreements for public companies to determine whether they somehow “inhibit” sharing information with the SEC. This is a timely issue for public company legal departments, especially since the SEC’s most recent cases have expanded what the agency thinks is problematic conduct.

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