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Caterpillar Infringes on Five Patents, Bobcat Alleges in Suit - Farm and construction equipment manufacturer Bobcat claims competitor Caterpillar is infringing on five of its patents, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday in the Eastern District of Texas. The company has also filed actions against Caterpillar in the U.S. International Trade Commission, German court, and the Unified Patent Court of the European Union. December 2, 2025
Litigation Roundup: Google Wins Fee Battle Over ‘Frivolous’ Patent Suit - In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a businessman faces sexual assault allegations, a Texas attorney is ordered to pay fees to Google, and one of the plaintiffs in the private-equity dentistry lawsuit in Dallas was found in contempt for violating the temporary injunction. December 1, 2025
Warm Texas Welcome: Arizona Firm Joins Forces With San Antonio’s Schmoyer Reinhard - Phoenix-based Fennemore is entering the Texas legal market by combining with a San Antonio-based litigation and labor and employment firm. The move to tie up with Schmoyer Reinhard gives Fennemore its first major presence in the Lone Star State. Home to some of the world’s largest public and private companies, Texas offers a mix of practice work that aligns with the firm’s existing client base, Fennemore announced Monday in a news release. December 1, 2025
Targa Buys Stakeholder Midstream for $1.25B - Targa Resources said Monday that it agreed to acquire Stakeholder Midstream for $1.25 billion in cash, expanding the Houston midstream services provider’s footprint in the Permian Basin. Latham & Watkins represented Targa with a national team led by Houston partners Ryan Maierson and James Garrett. Willkie and Clifford Chance advised Stakeholder.
Willkie's Texas-based team was led by Houston partner Sarah McLean. Gerald Shrader has been Targa's general counsel since December 2023. December 1, 2025
Willkie's Texas-based team was led by Houston partner Sarah McLean. Gerald Shrader has been Targa's general counsel since December 2023. December 1, 2025
Holiday Hangover Hits the Deal Table - The abbreviated Thanksgiving week that ended Nov. 29 saw six deals reported to the CDT Roundup with a total reported value of $4.1 billion.
We'd compare it to last week's 20 deals for $5 billion, but there's really no comparison. It's easy to hide value in 14 M&A/Funding transactions. With only two M&A deals reported on the week, it's hard to hide anything.
It was the lowest number of M&A transactions since mid-June 2020. And there's no pandemic to blame it on.
That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup. November 30, 2025
We'd compare it to last week's 20 deals for $5 billion, but there's really no comparison. It's easy to hide value in 14 M&A/Funding transactions. With only two M&A deals reported on the week, it's hard to hide anything.
It was the lowest number of M&A transactions since mid-June 2020. And there's no pandemic to blame it on.
That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup. November 30, 2025
Texas Law Firms Start Announcing Year-End Associate Bonuses - Five Texas-based law firms and a number of national law firms with offices in Texas have announced that they are awarding their associates with year-end or holiday bonuses and special achievements ranging from $15,000 to $140,000. November 25, 2025Centerpiece
Mike Androvett Joins Texas Lawbook Foundation Board - The Texas Lawbook Foundation, a nonprofit that supports news coverage of pro bono, public service and diversity in the legal profession, announced Monday that longtime Texas legal media executive Mike Androvett is joining the foundation’s board of directors. Derek Lipscombe, managing counsel at Toyota North America and co-chair of the Lawbook Foundation, said Androvett “brings much needed professional expertise that will help promote the extraordinary efforts of Lawbook Foundation and pro bono, public service and diversity reporter Krista Torralva.” December 1, 2025
Texas GC Forum Awards 20th Annual Magna Stella Honors - The Texas General Counsel Forum recently honored 10 chief legal officers and senior in-house counsel with the 20th annual Magna Stella Awards, which recognizes success and leadership.
The awards ceremony, held Nov. 20 at the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort in San Antonio, unveiled the lifetime achievement award in honor of GC Forum CEO Lynn Bozalis, a beloved leader in the Texas corporate law community. November 28, 2025
Expert Voices
Application of the Economic Loss Rule in Texas - The economic loss rule provides a limitation on damages in cases alleging both breach of contract and certain other causes of action sounding in tort, by precluding a party’s recovery of damages when the only economic loss is the subject matter of the contract. In operation, the rule "restricts contracting parties to contractual remedies for those economic losses associated with the relationship, even when the breach might reasonably be viewed as a consequence of a contracting party's negligence." This article explores this rule and when it applies — as well as the exceptions to it. December 2, 2025
Stories You Might’ve Missed
The Legacy of Pennzoil v. Texaco 40 Years Later — The Civil Jury Trial of the Century - Pennzoil v. Texaco's legacy remains significant, as it changed how companies handle mergers and acquisitions, caused the Chamber of Commerce to designate Texas as a judicial hellhole in 1986 and directly led to two decades of massive tort reform efforts that dramatically limited the rights of Texans to sue businesses, doctors and insurance companies for wrongdoing. It also launched Texas trial lawyer Joe Jamail to national stardom and made him the richest trial lawyer in American history.
In this in-depth article, The Texas Lawbook provides a detailed timeline of the events involved in the historic litigation, as well as comments from more than a dozen lawyers about the legal strategies employed. November 18, 2025
