Newsletter

On March 21, 2022, the SEC released its long-anticipated rules aimed at increasing the “climate-related” disclosures public companies would have to make in their public filings.  While these are just proposals, the rules, if adopted, would require specific and extensive disclosures regarding the climate-related risks that a public company faces and how it intends to manage those risks…

Zoom Video Communications, Inc. and its CEO, Eric Yuan, are facing federal securities fraud claims.  Back in April 2019, Zoom stated in its SEC-filed Registration Statement and Prospectus that Zoom offered “robust security capabilities, including end-to-end encryption” for Zoom video meetings.  As CEO, Yuan signed the SEC filing.  Unfortunately, it turns out that statement was just not true…

Texas Pandemic Liability Protection Act Helps Employers Avoid COVID Related Lawsuits Brought By Their Employees. In June 2021, Texas Governor Greg Abbot signed the Pandemic Liability Protection Act (“PLPA”) into law, providing COVID-19 liability protections for a variety of organizations in the state, such as businesses, non-profits, health care providers, schools, and religious institutions…

It’s a new year, but it seems that much about COVID is staying the same.  The world is still dealing with the virus, and businesses are still grappling with the repercussions.  As the Omicron variant has arrived in the US and quickly spread, business owners and C-Suite executives are, once again, forced to make difficult choices…

As we wrap up 2021, COVID-19 continues to dominate the news.  There seems to be an endless number of COVID-related items to watch and monitor, including a new variant that is raising alarms.  Coincidentally, this new variant comes after the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released its vaccine mandate for companies with over 100 employees, requiring either vaccines or weekly testing for all employees who don’t have an exemption…

Climate change has been in the news a good deal recently.  Last week, for example, the executives from four major oil companies – ExxonMobil, BP America, Shell, and Chevron – testified on Capitol Hill concerning the extent (or lack thereof) of their companies’ efforts to publicize climate change…

Plaintiffs Blame Colonial Pipeline For Allowing Itself to Get Hacked. Ransomware attacks have been in the news lately, and that is a warning sign for business owners and management. In a ransomware attack, hackers use sophisticated software to lock out the employees of a business’s computer system, demanding payment to release the system back to the business… 

Insurance Company Does Not Have To Pay For Claimed Business Losses. A Dallas federal judge recently ruled that a Texas insurance company is not required to cover property damage claims brought under an “all risk” commercial property policy where the insured claimed that COVID-19 caused her business to lose money…

White House Issues Executive Order Aimed at Limiting Non-Compete Agreements. Order Likely to Face Legal Challenges From Business. President Biden recently issued an Executive Order, “Promoting Competition in the American Economy,” asking the FTC to, among other things, limit or ban the use of non-competes (and other agreements) that restrict worker mobility…

Decision Strengthens Companies’ Ability to Enforce On-Boarding E-Signatures. A recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court just made it easier for companies to rely on electronic signatures and digital contracts in enforcing arbitration agreements against their employees…