The Texas Lawbook

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White-Collar/Regulatory tease

Trump’s First 100 Days Marked by Record Number of Executive Orders

In his second term, President Donald Trump has issued more executive orders in the first 100 days — 35 of them focusing on energy, environmental and infrastructure efforts and law firms — than any other president in history, creating a flurry of governmental actions, broad economic implications and legal challenges, according to a panel of legal experts hosted by The Texas Lawbook.

SEC Says 3 DFW Residents Ran $91M Ponzi Scheme

Kenneth W. Alexander II, Robert D. Welsh and Caedrynn E. Conner are accused of defrauding more than 200 investors out of millions via a trust Alexander controlled called Vanguard Holdings Group Irrevocable Trust. The SEC filed the 37-page lawsuit against the trio in the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division, on Tuesday. 

House Bill Would Alter Attorney Fee Structure of Anti-SLAPP Law

A defamation lawsuit against Rep. Jeff Leach took center stage during a Texas House committee hearing on the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Lawmakers are struggling to address abuses of the popular law while still maintaining its protections for Texans exercising their First Amendment rights.

After Virginia Judge Found Google Operates Advertising Tech Monopoly, What Does it Mean for Texas Case? 

Google, which was recently found by a federal judge in Virginia to be operating a monopoly over advertising technology, is trying to convince a federal judge in Texas that it should not have to face a similar trial — albeit one that includes state law claims — in that state. In an interview this week with The Texas Lawbook, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Mark Lanier of Lanier Law Firm, said the states are “absolutely entitled to a jury trial.” 

Bill to Limit Medical Cost Damages in Tort Cases Advances

Senators broke along party lines in advancing legislation to stop “nuclear verdicts.” Senate Bill 30 would limit recoverable medical expenses to 300 percent of Medicare rates, adjusted for inflation. Supporters said the bill is needed to bring down insurance rates, while critics said it would remove discretion from judges and juries to make decisions on facts in individual cases.

Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Judge Calls Out ‘Constitutional Flaws in the FCA’s Qui Tam Device’

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the widow of an oilfield worker sues Apache Corp. over her husband’s heat-related death, lawyers for the driver of a vandalized Tesla tout a first-of-its-kind civil suit, and Judge Stuart Kyle Duncan takes aim at the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act in a concurring opinion where the court wiped out a $28.7 million jury award.  

DOJ Picks WDTX as Forum for CBA Suit Against American Federation of Government Employees

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, who is being asked to declare that eight federal agencies have authority to terminate the collective bargaining agreements with their employees. The lawsuit was filed one day after President Donald Trump issued an executive order exempting employees of the eight federal agencies bringing this lawsuit from federal labor law requirements, purportedly in an effort to “enhance the national security of the United States.” The Office of Personnel Management subsequently instructed those agencies “to take appropriate steps toward terminating their previously negotiated CBAs,” according to the lawsuit.

Texas Trial Team Secures $1.6B Final Judgment Against Pharmaceutical Firm

In June, a New Jersey jury hit Janssen Products with a $150 million verdict. The final judgment trebled damages and assessed a whopping $1.27 billion civil penalty but did ax about $30 million in damages to the states under the False Claims Act after the judge agreed with Janssen that not enough evidence was presented to sustain that portion of the award. Dallas boutique Reese Marketos was brought into the case two years ago to take it to trial.

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