This is a follow-up to my previous article entitled “Other Important Deadlines to Calendar in Texas.” In that article, I noted under the section entitled “Designation of Responsible Third Party” that House Bill 274 was pending before the Texas Legislature and its passing could modify the designation of a Responsible Third Party (“RTP”). The Texas [...]
In many business and real estate transactions, large and small, it is common for the parties to sign a letter of intent (also taking the form of a memorandum of understanding or term sheet) to outline the key terms of their anticipated transaction prior to the negotiation and drafting of a final, definitive agreement. A [...]
Texas law generally allows a party to recover attorney’s fees from his adversary only when a contract or statute permits it. Even then, many considerations factor into a fee award, such as the very wording of the fee provision in a contract. For example, the form sales contracts promulgated by the Texas Real Estate Commission [...]
If the FBI has been prying into your client’s matters, and your opponent in civil litigation has caught wind of it and wants to use it against you, the federal Privacy Act might help protect your client. The Privacy Act and the FBI’s own rules generally will prevent “outsiders” from obtaining any records from the FBI pertaining to your client.
In a recent opinion from the Texas Supreme Court, Italian Cowboy Partners v. Prudential Ins. Co of America, __ S.W.3d __ (Tex. April 15, 2011), the Court addressed fraudulent inducement to contract claims and the effect of a merger or integration clause upon such claims. Merger clauses appear in many contracts and generally provide that the parties to the agreement have fully stated all terms of their agreements in the written document.
In an effort to resolve school finance reform issues and attempt to lower property taxes, the Texas Legislature adopted a comprehensive tax reform plan in 2006, whereby the state franchise tax was replaced with a revised business franchise tax, also known as the “Texas Margin Tax.” Previously, the state franchise tax applied only to corporations [...]