These are some Texas-size legal fees

A newsletter by Reuters and Westlaw

By Diana Novak Jones, Mike Scarcella and Sara Merken

Good morning. Here's what's on tap: A slew of Texas law firms are raking in big fees in litigation initiated by the state against major companies. Plus, the FTC dusted off a little-used law in a new fight over alleged price discrimination, and BakerHostetler can't shake a racketeering lawsuit brought against the firm. Enjoy your Friday!

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REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration

Texas' appetite for litigation has been keeping several law firms busy working for the state in high-profile lawsuits against major U.S. companies, our colleagues David Thomas and Mike Scarcella report.

Keller Postman and McKool Smith billed the Texas attorney general's office a combined $142.6 million last month for their work on the state's 2022 consumer privacy lawsuit against Facebook parent Meta that led to a $1.4 billion settlement. Tapping attorneys from Mark Lanier's Lanier Law Firm and Kelley Drye & Warren, Texas this week sued 3M, Corteva and DuPont for allegedly concealing health and environmental risks of toxic PFAS "forever chemicals."  

Keller Postman's Zina Bash called the Meta accord the "largest settlement achieved by a single state in U.S. history." It isn't uncommon for states to hire private law firms to handle large cases using contingency contracts. Paxton's office has signed outside counsel contracts with at least 15 law firms since 2018, according to state records.

That's the number of sentences President Biden commuted on Thursday — setting a record for the most clemencies granted in a single day. Biden also pardoned 39 people convicted of non-violent crimes, saying they would have received shorter sentences if charged under today's laws and policies.

Shareholder lawyers are doing a bit of gloating after the U.S. Supreme Court tossed a second securities class action on Tuesday. That's understandable given the defense bar's high hopes that the justices would tighten pleading standards after granting petitions by Nvidia and Facebook. Plaintiffs lawyers told Alison Frankel that the dual dismissals may signal increased Supreme Court skepticism for securities class action issues, especially when cases are not clean and simple. But there's a counterargument, Frankel writes. Find out what it is here.

Bankruptcy courts will attempt to reach outcomes that are fair and equitable based on the unique circumstances of the cases before them, write Bethany Simmons and Noah Weingarten of Loeb & Loeb. While bankruptcy courts are bound by the same Bankruptcy Code, they may fill gaps in the statute in different ways. Read today's Attorney Analysis.

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