So you are a party to a new civil litigation case, which means you have either sued someone or just been sued. Your lawyer sends you an email that the Court has just set your case for a non-jury trial for a date in the future. In the same email, your lawyer asks if you
Business Litigation
Are You A Cybersquatter, Or Are You Just Being Cyberbullied?
By Andy Nikolopoulos on
The last decade has seen an unprecedented growth in technology, which has paved the way for internet globalization and given new meaning to the term “international commerce”. Consequently, the digital highway has become populated with modern day highwaymen out for a fast buck. These rogues, known as “cybersquatters”, are individuals who register domain name addresses…
Be Careful When Sending Out That Cease and Desist Letter To Protect Your Trademark
By Andy Nikolopoulos on
It has become an almost perfunctory practice. You catch wind of another business using a confusingly similar name. You then call a lawyer to immediately send out a cease and desist letter. More often than not, this would be the right play. But there are pitfalls to this strategy if you are not careful. In…
Piercing the Corporate Veil in Texas
By Tressie E. McKeon on
Texas has long been one of the best locations to start a business, and a big reason for this is the liability protection afforded by the business-friendly Texas courts. Most business owners seek to limit their personal liability if something goes wrong with the business. This leads to one of the questions I get…
Important Changes to the Landscape of Premises Liability Cases in Texas
By Andy Nikolopoulos on
The Texas Supreme Court in 2015 issued an opinion that should make it easier for defendants to win summary judgment in premises liability cases. In Austin v. Kroger Texas, L.P. (2015), the Court clarified that an invitee’s awareness of a dangerous premises condition does not bear on the issue of contributory negligence, but instead relieves…
Judges Hate “Gotcha Games”
By Fox Rothschild LLP on
In October, I wrote about How the Practice of Law is Like the NHL. This article was about how rule changes in the practice of law, and changing skill sets in the NHL have made finesse and skill more important than brawling. Recent experience has shown that this trend continues in law, and that…
The Next Frontier in ADA Access Litigation – Online
By Fox Rothschild LLP on
We invite you to read Part 1 and Part 2 in a series of posts by Fox partner Dori K. Stibolt, regarding the new trend in ADA Title III litigation involving web access for the visually impaired.
Many of these cases have focused on travel, hospitality and financial services companies. However, here in Texas,…
Protecting Your Copyright Is Both Easier and Harder Than You Think
By Andy Nikolopoulos on
One of the ironies in the business world is that the foresight and planning that goes into a creative work is often left behind when it comes to the subsequent protection of these efforts. Copyright protection is a concept that many are familiar with on a superficial level. But a lot of confusion exists as…
Here’s How To Enforce a Texas Non-Compete
By Fox Rothschild LLP on
I get questions all the time about the enforceability of noncompetes in Texas. I have to respond in the most-irritating lawyer-like way possible: I say that the enforceability of any particular noncompete all depends on the language of the noncompete and the facts of the case. That response predictably results in a long period of…
Protecting Your Business Name Is Not As Simple As Paying a Visit to GoDaddy
By Andy Nikolopoulos on
When starting a new business, it is easy to get caught up in the excitement of putting all of your creative energy into the development of the goods and services that will serve as the backbone of your enterprise. Unfortunately, it is also easy to put important and fundamental components of the business plan on…