Author Archives: Jay Butchko
Federal Government Announces Major Changes to Water-Related Toxic Tort Prosecutions
As attorneys who work in toxic tort defense here in Texas, we frequently work on cases involving enforcement actions under federal environmental laws, such as the Clean Water Act (CWA), as our commercial and industrial clients can sometimes be the subjects of these enforcement actions, which are inevitably and significantly affected by the principles… Read More »
Texas Federal Judge Sides with Insurance Company in COVID Business Interruption Claims
COVID-19 has led thousands of businesses to file interruption claims with their insurance companies, seeking to have them cover losses they sustained due to the pandemic and associated closure orders, including here in Texas. Yet insurance companies have had no choice but to deny these claims, as business interruption insurance is designed to cover… Read More »
Fifth Circuit Reverses Important Insurance Defense Decision, Opening The Door to Insurers Having Duty to Defend Based On Fraudulent Petitions
After ruling on a different issue in the same case almost one year ago, in late July, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals made a very important insurance coverage decision by ruling in favor of appellants and reversing the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas’ decision in favor of the… Read More »
Will COVID-19 Leak Monitoring Waivers Provided to Texas Petrochemical Facilities Backfire & Result in Toxic Tort Claims?
Waivers provided to companies concerning pollution monitoring by both federal and state agencies due to the pandemic could very well end up resulting in toxic tort claims, whereby plaintiff communities bring claims alleging that they have suffered from exposure to toxic substances here in Texas. In March, the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) informed… Read More »
Embryo Disputes in Texas Family Law
As more and more individuals delay having children and starting families, and reproductive technologies such as IVF contribute to more than one million babies being born within the last 30 years or so, embryo disputes have also become more and more common in family law because the law sometimes has difficulty keeping up with… Read More »
Addressing Dissipation of Marital Assets in Divorce
For a number of couples, a pending divorce will unfortunately fail to be amicable, and instead end up being complicated, especially if it involves a battle over finances. In some of these cases, dissipation of assets becomes an issue, whereby some people start to engage in excessive spending on extravagances, such as providing large… Read More »
Child Custody Determinations & Litigation When Parents Live in Different States
As attorneys who assist clients with family law issues here in Texas, we frequently assist clients with child custody, which is one of the most difficult issues that we come across, especially when two parents live in different states. This comes up more frequently than you might expect, especially as more and more people… Read More »
Texas Federal Court Rules Against Amazon, Finding That It Can Be Sued for Third Parties’ Defective Products Sold On Website
The United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas recently weighed in on the heavily anticipated case against Amazon.com that could open the door to completely transforming product liability, finding that Amazon.com, Inc. can be held liable as a “seller” under Texas product liability laws for defective products sold by a third-party… Read More »
Divorce Can Significantly Impact Your Business Unless You Act
If you own or co-own a business, divorce can have a significant impact on your business and anyone and everyone connected to it. In addition to disrupting your day-to-day operations, it can interfere with business operations by not only taking time away from your work, but also by requiring that a significant amount of… Read More »
Texas Business Owners Take Insurance Companies to Court Over Business Interruption Claims
As we previously mentioned, a wave of insurance litigation was expected in response to Texas business owners being informed by their insurance companies that their business interruption insurance policies did not cover business closures and associated financial loss due to the COVID-19 crisis, which includes mandatory stay-at-home orders. That prediction came to fruition in… Read More »