An online travel agency has sued eight major hotel chains claiming an agreement to suspend competitive bidding on each other’s branded online search terms damaged its business. It’s a complex allegation of anticompetitive behavior and Lawbook litigation writer Natalie Posgate explains it.
Comments on EPA’s Proposed Amendments to Methane and VOC Emissions Standards Due Dec. 17
The EPA is seeking comments on proposed amendments of the 2016 New Source Performance Standards Subpart OOOOa requirements, including the fugitive emissions, well site pneumatic pump and professional engineer certification requirements. Lawyers at Thompson & Knight provide an overview.
Does An Unexpected Mid-Market Low Mean Trouble For M&A? Maybe. Maybe Not.
Fourth quarter mergers and acquisitions involving middle and lower middle market Texas businesses have hit an unexpected low. Texas lawyers say their businesses are currently thriving, but the drop shouldn’t necessarily be ignored. Claire Poole and Mark Curriden have their insights on a perplexing end for 2018.
Johnston Tobey Baruch Scores $5M Settlement Against San Antonio Firm
Texas-based 1776 Energy Partners has settled for nearly $5 million a legal malpractice claim against a San Antonio law firm after one of its lawyers botched a lawsuit so badly that they were forced to settle as defendants a suit the company had pursued as the plaintiff.
SCOTX To Decide Fate of $8M Jury Verdict For Astros Owner
When Houston Astros owner Jim Crane and another investor bought a new aircraft for $19.85 million in 2010, they apparently expected it to be…well, new. When they discovered two years later it had been equipped with a used left engine with a troubled history, they sued. Now the SCOTX is weighing whether the evidence supports their $8M verdict.
GC Ryder Leads Nexstar’s $6.4B Purchase of Tribune Media
Irving-based Nexstar Media Group Inc. will become the largest owner of local TV stations in the U.S. after its $6.4 billion acquisition of Tribune Media Co. announced Monday. The Lawbook’s Claire Poole discussed the deal with Nexstar GC Elizabeth Ryder who led the transaction.
Is the SCOTX about to Kill Punitive Damages Once and For All?
This week, the Texas Supreme Court is handling a business v. business case that could either reinstate one of the largest punitive damage verdicts in the court’s history or be the death of exemplary damages in many types of civil disputes in Texas. It features some of the best lawyers in Texas, including two former chief justices. The Texas Lawbook has details.
Dispute Involving Apache to Continue in Arbitration, Appeals Court Rules
An appellate court ruled Thursday that the arbitrability of a $15 million legal dispute between Houston-based Apache Corp. and Fort Worth-based Wagner Oil Company will have to be debated in front of an arbitrator in Houston, not a trial court in Fort Worth as WOC had hoped.