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It ‘Far Exceeded Our Wildest Imaginations’ - Then-Texas Attorney General Dan Morales sued Big Tobacco for racketeering and fraud in 1996. Thirty years later, the litigation against the cigarette makers has proven to be an annual financial bonanza for the state of Texas — more than $15.8 billion so far and another $450 million payment expected any day now. And while less than one-tenth of one percent of the payments have gone to antismoking efforts, youth cigarette use overall has plummeted. In a two-part series, Mark Curriden, the former Dallas Morning News legal affairs writer who covered the tobacco litigation full-time for three years, looks back at the historic litigation and its impact three decades later. July 13, 2026Top Stories
Centerpiece
Blank Checks, Bolder Claims: SEC Declares CapM Comeback as SPACs Do Heavy Lifting - A low‑key SEC data dump on July 1 quietly declares a CapM “revival” based on first‑quarter numbers. A closer look shows the comeback is largely powered by SPACs, not new operating companies. So, how much of this recovery is substance, and how much is spin? July 12, 2026
Cuban Files Presuit Petition in Mavs Arena Row - Mark Cuban has some questions about how the majority owners of the Dallas Mavericks struck a deal to buy the Valley View Mall property — the proposed site of the team’s new home — and how that deal may impact his contractual rights. And he’s asking a judge in Dallas County to give him the chance to find some answers. July 9, 2026Expert Voices
Unsettled: Inconsistent Standards of Review for the Well-settled Defense Under the Hague Convention Fail to Protect Children - The Supreme Court's refusal to act leaves an acknowledged circuit split unresolved on the proper standard of review for the Hague Convention’s “well settled” defense, which is a doctrine with life-altering implications for vulnerable families seeking safety in the United States. This article analyzes the circuit split, the weaknesses of the “well settled” standard, and what reform could look like. July 10, 2026
Beyond Buenrostro-Mendez: The Fifth Circuit Completes New Framework for Mandatory Immigration Detention - The Fifth Circuit’s recent decisions in Buenrostro-Mendez v. Bondi and Sosnava-Rodriguez v. Ortega fundamentally reshape immigration detention law within Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. This article analyzes how the two decisions fit together, explains the constitutional significance of the Fifth Circuit’s newly imposed 90-day limit on mandatory detention without individualized review, and explores what these rulings mean for litigants, immigration judges, and the Department of Justice going forward. July 10, 2026
Stories You Might’ve Missed
‘The Golden Age for Corporate Law in Texas is Now’ (Updated) - Never in history have Texas corporate lawyers worked so many hours, charged such enormous rates and raked in more revenue and profits than they are right now. The Texas offices of more than three dozen law firms scored record-high revenues in 2025 — and many of them surpassed their old records by tens of millions of dollars, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data.
Citing increased demand for legal services and healthy hourly rate increases, 48 of the Lawbook 50 law firms generated more revenue and more profits in their Texas operations in 2025 than they did in 2024. April 30, 2026
