Podcast - "Ready for Trial?"
Sunday Book Review: May 11, 2025, The Celebrating Texas Writer’s Month Edition
Daily Compliance News: April 7, 2025, The Whistleblowers Awarded Edition
12 Days of Regulatory Insights: Day 8 - Inside the Texas AG's Office — Regulatory Oversight Podcast
Legal Alert | Reign It In: Federal Court Enjoins DOL's Expansion of Davis-Bacon Coverage
Prelude to the Business Court and 15th Court of Appeals: More Questions Than Answers | Tyler Talbert | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Exploring Procedural Justice | Judge Steve Leben | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Focus Groups as a Trial-Preparation Tool | Elizabeth Larrick | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Tips for Persuasive Legal Writing | Luther Munford | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Winning Cases on Legal Issues Before and During Trial | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Why Judges Should Take the Legal Accountability Project Pledge | Judge Doug Nazarian & Aliza Shatzman | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Tackling Bullying in the Legal Profession | Scott Stolley | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
How Lawyers Should Approach Implementing AI into Their Practices | Tim Armstrong | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Emerging Ethical Issues For Lawyers Using AI | Derek Bauman | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Inside the Fourth Court of Appeals’ Clerk’s Office | Michael Cruz | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Business Courts and Other Highlights of the 88th Texas Legislature | Jerry Bullard | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
The Portia Project Podcast Crossover Episode | M.C. Sungaila | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
The Hill Country Podcast - Carter Keating - Advocating for Texas Agriculture
Don’t California My Texas! | Tim Kowal & Jeff Lewis | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
Checking in On the 88th Texas Legislature | Jerry Bullard | Texas Appellate Law Podcast
In Cromwell v. Anadarko E & P Onshore LLC the Supreme Court of Texas did what it so often does: In order to provide “legal certainty and predictability”, the Court considered the plain language of a contract in order to...more
A federal judge in Texas issued a decision on May 15, 2025, striking down portions of the EEOC’s Enforcement Guidance on protections against employment discrimination based on gender identity and/or sexual orientation....more
The so called “Anadarko Washout” involves a washout of oil and gas leases on undivided working interests owned by non-operating mineral cotenants. This particular species of lease washouts is based on two recent cases from...more
On May 23, the Supreme Court of Texas ruled that the maximum permissible interest on a loan must be calculated using the declining principal balance rather than the initial total principal amount. This decision was in...more
In this case (Scout Energy Mgmt., LLC v. Taylor Properties, No. 23-1014, 2024 WL 5249490 [Tex. Dec. 31, 2024]), the Texas Supreme Court held that vague notations on shut-in royalty check receipts cannot modify an unambiguous...more
On May 21, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, sitting en banc, released its opinion in EcoFactor, Inc. v. Google, LLC. In an 8-2 decision, the court reversed a $20 million jury verdict, holding that the...more
On May 16, in Texas v. EPA, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals rejected EPA’s nonattainment designation for two counties in Texas. What I find most interesting about the case is the reaction to it. Inside EPA (subscription...more
This decision surrounds the case of Alisha Strife v. Aldine Independent School District, in which the plaintiff, a U.S. Army veteran employed in the school district’s Human Resources department, requested an accommodation for...more
On May 16, 2025, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a significant ruling in a longstanding dispute between the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency...more
In this lease termination case (Pruett v. River Land Holdings, LLC, No. 03-22-00478-CV, 2024 WL 1745652, at *1 [Tex. App.—Austin Apr. 24, 2024, no pet.]), the Austin Court of Appeals was tasked with examining a cessation of...more
A recent Texas Supreme Court decision fully overturned a jury’s finding that a franchisor was liable for the criminal actions of a franchisee’s employee. This decision underscores the importance of a franchisor having clearly...more
The Business Court of Texas’ recent opinion in Atlas IDF, LP v. NexPoint Real Estate Partners, LLC offers important guidance on the meaning of a “qualified transaction” under Texas Government Code Chapter 25A and the...more
This recent case (Rock River Minerals, LP v. Pioneer Nat. Res. USA Inc., No. 08-23-00216-CV, 2024 WL 4528917 [Tex. App.—El Paso Oct. 18, 2024, no pet. h.]) explored whether an assignment of an overriding royalty interest,...more
Under Van Dyke, deeds with double-fraction royalty reservations referencing “1/8” are presumed to reserve a floating royalty interest unless clearly contradicted. Defenses like waiver, ratification, and limitations cannot...more
In affirming a district court’s denial of a petition to vacate an arbitration award, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit recently rejected the argument “that manifest disregard of the law remains viable as an...more
A lessee who halts production for less than 40 days and resumes without drilling or reworking does not terminate the lease. The continuous development clause keeps the lease active, and the cessation clause allows resumed...more
“Manifest disregard of the law” is no longer a valid basis to challenge arbitration awards, at least not in the federal courts of Texas, Mississippi and Louisiana. Rather, according to the Fifth Circuit’s decision in U.S....more
In a watershed ruling, the El Paso Court of Appeals extends "waste" liability under the Nat. Res. Code to commercial disposal well operator—potentially increasing exposure for this critical wastewater industry—while...more
In Valence Operating Co. v. Davidson1, the Court of Appeals for the Sixth Appellate District of Texas at Texarkana addressed whether the provision, “all Oil, Gas and other Minerals have been excepted and reserved by former...more
The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals recently affirmed summary judgment granted by the bankruptcy court in favor of commercial property insurer in a Winter Storm Uri claim, holding that the insured motel owners...more
In Ryan Eng’g, Inc. v. Mond Homeowners Ass’n, Inc., No. 14-23-00960-CV, 2025 Tex. App. LEXIS 1681, the Court of Appeals of Texas (Court of Appeals) affirmed a trial court ruling denying the Motion to Dismiss of defendant Ryan...more
This lease royalty case involved a dispute over whether the lessee was permitted to deduct volumes of gas used off the premises to power post-production activities on other gas produced from the same well. Carl v. Hilcorp...more
On April 3, 2025, a Texas state appeals court reversed a trial court order awarding Exxon Mobil $25 million under an umbrella insurance policy issued by Lexington Insurance Co. to Brock Services Ltd. The appeals court found...more
A pending case in Texas illustrates why COVID-19 business interruption claims need to be decided by juries in light of case-specific facts, not by judges using a one-size-fits-all approach. Originally published in Law360 -...more
We begin with a word from your sponsor. After enduring several generative AI tutorials, we urge you to keep on reading Energy and the Law. Why? Our blog is more accurate, at least a little “fun”, offers insightful musical...more