In 1987, the Texas legislature enacted the Texas Dram Shop Act. Prior to such time, Texas law did not impose liability on sellers of alcohol who "over-served" intoxicated patrons. Rather, the over-served patron was considered responsible for his/ […]
Our energy law podcast is back from a brief hiatus for the Independence Day holiday with a quick look at the legal developments in oil-and-gas law that July has brought us so far.
Increasingly, class actions are—for all intents and purposes—won or lost at the certification stage. After all, if a class is certified, especially under the heightened standards for class treatment that have been articulated by the United States […]
Yesterday, the Secretary of the Interior, Ryan Zinke, signed an order that seeks to tamp down on delays in the permitting of federal land for oil-and-gas exploration and production activities. The Interior Department's press release is available here […]
On June 30, 2017, the Texas Supreme Court issued its opinion in United Scaffolding, Inc. v. James Levine, ___ SW3d ___ (Tex.2017) (No. 13-14-00377-CV; 6-30-17) (http://www.txcourts.gov/media/1438062/150921.pdf), overturning a seven-figure judgment for […]
Late last week, the Texas Supreme Court told a cautionary tale for operators with its unanimous opinion in Samson Exploration LLC v. T.S. Reed Properties Inc., which addressed the circumstance in which a well is situated within not just one pooled unit […]
In this week's edition of our energy law podcast, you'll learn about multiple decisions that came out of the Texas Supreme Court on Friday, which can directly impact your operations in the oil patch, as well as one of the first jury verdicts […]
On Friday, a deeply divided Texas Supreme Court—in a surprising turn of events—disturbed long-standing rules for interpreting mineral conveyances in its 5-4 decision in Wenske v. Ealy. There, when the Wenskes bought property in Lavaca County in 1998 […]
On June 12, 2017, Judge Gorsuch issued his first written opinion since taking the bench on the Supreme Court. In Henson vs. Santander Consumer USA, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously that a company that purchases defaulted loans and then attempts […]
Your non-solicitation agreement with your employees in the oil patch may have just been gutted by a new decision from a Texas court of appeals. Join me and employment lawyer Andrea Johnson for the latest episode of the firm's […]
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act ("FDCPA") authorizes private lawsuits and fines to deter abusive collection efforts by "debt collectors"—a term defined under 15 U.S.C. §1692a(6) to include anyone who "regularly collects or attempts to collect […]