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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
Top Stories
Judge Greenlights Jackson Walker Bankruptcy Fee Settlements - About four months after the U.S. Trustee and Jackson Walker informed the court they had reached a deal that would resolve the federal bankruptcy watchdog’s objections to nine settlements totaling about $4.7 million, the judge overseeing the case has recommended the settlements be approved. July 14, 2026Fourth Bellwether Trial in Watson Grinding Explosion MDL Against 3M Begins - Opening statements in the fourth bellwether trial against 3M Company — stemming from a fatal explosion that rocked a West Houston neighborhood in 2020 — had an air of déjà vu Tuesday as the plaintiffs’ lawyers urged jurors to find 3M at fault, while attorneys for the multinational conglomerate argued the actions, and inactions, of Watson Grinding and Manufacturing leadership was solely to blame. July 14, 2026
Ferguson Enterprises Acquires FloWorks in $1.6B Deal - The deal for the Houston-based valve distributor provides both tech and customer-base expansion for Ferguson's push into data center infrastructure air and water services. Orrick, Kirkland and Foley are advising. July 14, 2026
Fifth Circuit Judge Criticizes Colleagues Over En Banc Grant in Death-Row Discovery Fight - U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Jerry Smith recently authored a dissent arguing his colleagues are spending the court's en banc bandwidth on the wrong case. July 13, 2026
CDT Roundup: A Data Center Deal Tops an Eclectic Week - Data centers and the power to run them remained a primary deal-driver in a 14-deal, $4.6 billion week, but the CDT deal targets themselves were global and rather eclectic.
That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup. July 12, 2026
That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup. July 12, 2026
Centerpiece
Litigation Roundup: ExxonMobil Gets Directed Verdict in Baytown Refinery Home Damage Case - In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a jury in Austin determines a company that makes synthetic turf fields “fraudulently concealed” material defects in the product and awarded an injured former high school lacrosse player about $2.7 million, and we detail two cases involving issues of first impression. July 13, 2026
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
Expert 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
