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Houston Judge Rejects $9B Bankruptcy Effort By J&J - Houston Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez ruled late Monday that multiple flaws require him to dismiss Johnson & Johnson’s third attempt to use the federal bankruptcy courts to rid itself of 90,000 cases filed across the country by women suing pharmaceutical giant for making and selling baby powder that they claim caused their ovarian and other gynecological cancers. In a 57-page opinion, Judge Lopez said his ruling to reject J&J’s efforts to create a separate subsidiary in Texas called Red River Talc for the sole purpose of funding a $9 billion resolution of its talc powder cancer litigation through the bankruptcy process was "not an easy one, [but] it is the right one.” March 31, 2025Mark Curriden
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Houston Appellate Court Asked to Revive Winter Storm Uri Market Manipulation Suit - CirclesX Recovery, which describes itself as a software and data analytics company, argues MDL Judge Sylvia Matthews granted a motion to dismiss its lawsuit accusing some of the biggest energy companies of manipulating the natural gas market ahead of the 2021 winter storm, “without any analysis or explanation as to how or in what respect Appellant failed to plead its claims.” April 1, 2025Michelle Casady
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. April 1, 2025Michelle Casady
Hooters Files For Chapter 11 Protection in NDTX - Hooters of America announced Monday night that it had entered a restructuring support agreement to sell its remaining company-owned Hooters locations to a specific group of its current franchisees. In conjunction with this move, Hooters of America and 29 other Hooters-affiliated debtors also announced that they had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Northern District of Texas. Lawyers from Ropes & Gray and Foley & Lardner are advising. April 1, 2025Nick Peck
Auto Group Files $150M Suit Against Ex-Biz Partner - Tate Group Automotive, run by three siblings, has turned to the Texas business court to resolve a $150 million dispute with one-time business partners Reynolds and Reynolds Company and Legacy Automotive Capital. The lawsuit brings claims for breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, misapplication of fiduciary property or civil theft, negligent misrepresentation, fraud, quantum meruit, tortious interference and civil conspiracy. March 31, 2025Michelle Casady
Rocket to Buy Texas-Based Home Loan Servicer for $9.4B - Rocket Companies announced Monday that it had agreed to merge and acquire Mr. Cooper Group Inc., a Dallas-based mortgage servicer, for $9.4 billion. Lawyers from Paul Weiss, Wachtell and Bradley Arant are advising the deal. March 31, 2025Nick Peck
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. March 31, 2025Michelle Casady
CDT Roundup: Deadline for Submitting Deals for M&A Rankings is Next Week - In this edition of CDT Roundup for the week ending March 29, there were 21 Texas-related transactions valued at a total $8.2 billion. The week prior had seen 19 deals for $6.5 billion. It was the third straight week of volume uptick since the 2025 low of seven deals for $2.2 billion for the week that ended March 8. This time last year, there were 12 deals for $9.3 billion. Also, The Texas Lawbook has new 2025 quarterly deadlines for deal submissions to qualify for its quarterly and annual firm and lawyer deal rankings. Firms and lawyers who wish to be considered for the first quarter and year-end Lawbook leaderboards for M&A and CapM must submit all of their first-quarter deals by April 7 at 5 p.m. March 31, 2025Nick Peck
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Defining the Client File — Using Fee Agreements to Establish Clear Boundaries in the Digital Age - What categories of documents are included in the “file” has never been defined. With technology creating a record of nearly everything a lawyer does on behalf of a client, a liberal interpretation of the rule would mandate expansive and intrusive disclosures. This can be particularly problematic if the client is an entity that experiences a change in control — perhaps even to a former adversary. This article discusses the use of attorney-client fee agreements to define and limit what documents will be included in the client’s “file” to resolve the ambiguity and minimize exposure to lawyers. April 1, 2025David Urteago
Swift and Rigorous — Texas Business Court’s Primexx Energy Ruling and Its Implications for Corporate Governance - Texas is at the forefront of a new era in corporate governance. As businesses question decades of wisdom that led to an unflinching resolve to incorporate in Delaware, everyone seems to be asking the same question about Texas, Nevada and other states: “What do you offer that’s better?” A recent decision from the Texas Business Court helps answer that question. March 25, 2025John Adams & Ben Barnes
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Winter Storm Uri — Four Years Later, Zero Jury Trials for 30,000 Victims of Historic Storm - The ground had not yet thawed four years ago when the Texas courts were slammed with an avalanche of lawsuits. More than 30,000 individuals and small businesses filed wrongful death, personal injury and property damage lawsuits against ERCOT and the energy companies accusing them of gross negligence that caused much of the power blackouts. A separate class action accused energy companies and financial institutions of using Winter Storm Uri to manipulate prices and generate billions of dollars in profits. Four years later, not a single witness deposition has been taken and not a single case has been set for trial. And a growing number of legal experts predict that none of those cases will ever be heard by a jury of Texas citizens. February 13, 2025Mark Curriden