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On May 16, 2025, the Texas Supreme Court issued a decision ruling that, absent specific contractual language, surface owners retain ownership of the caverns created by salt mining operations.

On May 19, 2025, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche issued a memorandum announcing the creation of the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Civil Rights Fraud Initiative (the Initiative), which directs DOJ attorneys to utilize the False Claims Act (FCA), 31 U.S.C. § 3729 et seq., to combat knowing violations of civil rights law and the false certification of compliance with such laws by recipients of federal funds such as educational institutions and federal contractors.

The Texas Legislature has been debating several bills aimed at boosting dispatchable power in ERCOT while erecting new economic and permitting barriers for renewables.

On March 1, 2025, the Texas Business Court (the “Business Court”) implemented new local rules aimed at enhancing the efficiency and fairness of business dispute resolutions. Key changes include new provisions involving exchanging benches, supplemental jurisdiction waivers, corporate disclosure requirements, streamlined discovery dispute procedures, the concept of a Mediation Wheel, and a new guideline for the use of artificial intelligence. These rules, unanimously approved by all ten judges, mark a significant shift in the Business Court’s operational framework.

As we previously discussed and in alignment with the U.S. Treasury Department’s previous announcement, on March 21, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) issued an interim final rule that dramatically narrows the reporting requirements for beneficial ownership information (“BOI”) under the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”).

On February 27, 2025, the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (“FinCEN”) announced a suspension of enforcement actions related to the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”).

Driven by the demand for AI-ready cloud infrastructure, the market cap for global data center construction, currently valued at more than $250 billion, is set to double in less than ten years, reaching half a trillion dollars by 2034.

On January 13, 2025, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (“Texas AG”) filed the first-ever enforcement action under the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act (“TDPSA”) against insurance company Allstate and its subsidiary, Arity (collectively, “Defendants”).

On January 23, 2025, the Supreme Court granted the government’s motion to stay a nationwide injunction that was issued by a Texas federal judge in the case Texas Top Cop Shop, Inc. v. McHenry.

On January 13, 2025, the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security (“BIS”) issued its Framework for Artificial Intelligence Diffusion, an Interim Final Rule revising the Export Administration Regulations (“EAR”) to expand controls on advanced computing integrated circuits, commonly called microchips (“ICs”) and impose new licensing requirements for artificial intelligence (“AI”) model weights (the “AI Diffusion Rule”).

As we previously discussed, on December 5, 2024, the Department of Justice (“DOJ”), representing the Department of the Treasury, submitted a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, challenging a memorandum opinion and order issued by Judge Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

As we previously discussed, on December 3, 2024, Judge Amos Mazzant of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas issued a memorandum opinion and order granting a nationwide preliminary injunction against the Corporate Transparency Act (“CTA”), blocking implementation of the CTA in its entirety.