KRCL Publications

An article written by Jason B. Binford entitled Bankruptcy and the Franchise Agreement was published in the June issue of the Dallas Bar Association's Headnotes.

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Recently, while recognizing that the attorney-client privilege is "the oldest of the privileges" under common law, the Court also weighed the potential suppression of relevant evidence under a strict rule of confidentiality.  The Court also analyzed several recognized components of the attorney-client privilege in Texas, including the joint client doctrine as well as the joint defense and common interest doctrines.

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An article written by Art Lambert entitled Take a Hard Look at Policy Manuals After NLRB Decisions was published in the April 1 issue of Texas Lawyer.

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The Texas Supreme Court approved new rules that will dramatically change the practice of civil law in Texas. The new rules establish a mandatory "expedited action" procedure for certain cases with limited amounts in controversy. The rules also provide a dismissal mechanism that is available in all cases. This Litigation Alert will address the expedited action procedure first, followed by an overview of the motion to dismiss practice.

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It has been more than four years since the District Court for the Northern District of Texas appointed Ralph Janvey as Receiver for the Stanford Entities—shutting down what the SEC alleged to be a $7 billion Ponzi scheme. In that time, R. Allen Stanford and some of his associates have been tried and convicted in criminal courts, while hundreds of civil lawsuits continue to creep forward. Most of the civil suits are consolidated for pretrial purposes into MDL 2099, in the Northern District of Texas. This litigation alert will briefly address the criminal convictions, followed by an update on the SLUSA appeal that KRCL wrote about in April. Lastly, this alert will report on some of the new complaints filed by the Receiver and the Official Stanford Investors Committee in February.

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Clients often simultaneously retain a lawyer and an accountant who work together to meet the client's legal needs.  For example, in the course of a transaction, the client may need an attorney to address legal issues and document the transaction and an accountant to analyze financial statements or advise on tax implications of the proposed structure of the transaction.  In litigation, the client may need an attorney to investigate, prepare, or defend a case and an accountant to participate in the investigation or act as a consulting or testifying expert throughout the case.  To be effective in this tri-partite relationship, the accountant necessarily becomes privy to materials and communications that are confidential and subject to the attorney-client and work product privileges.  The client holds these privileges and, with few clear and limited exceptions, no one else can waive them.

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Texas' Regulation of Compressed Natural Gas Dispensers Reaches Outside of Texas - In the prior Environmental Alert (2 of 3), we discussed Compressed Natural Gas ("CNG") regulations specific to Texas certification requirements and state-collected fees for licensing and permitting related to CNG installations and servicing. In this Environmental Alert (3 of 3), we focus on Texas' CNG regulations that impact out-of-state entities or persons manufacturing, handling installing, selling and repairing CNG equipment for use in Texas.

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"No man acquires property without acquiring with it a little arithmetic also."  Ralph Waldo Emerson, Representative Men 152 (1850).  This axiom regarding the interrelation of property ownership and valuation was recognized and incorporated into early Texas jurisprudence.  See e.g. Moody v. Castleberry, 151 S.W.2d 960 (Tex. Civ. App.—Texarkana 1941, no writ) (recognizing a prima facie qualification of horse owners to testify as to injured horses market value).  Historically, Texas has allowed property owners to testify as to their opinion of the market value of their property, even if these owners would not be qualified to give opinion testimony as to the value of other property.  This so-called "Property Owner Rule" allows a property owner to testify regarding damages to his property, but his testimony must refer to "market, rather than intrinsic or some other value of the property."  Such a requirement is normally fulfilled by asking the witness "if he is familiar with the market value of his property."  In practice, this has allowed claimants to provide unsubstantiated testimony and market value figures containing intrinsic elements.

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Texas Leads The Nation With Compressed Natural Gas Regulations - This alert, the second of three in this series, provides a brief introduction concerning regulations in Texas related to Compressed Natural Gas ("CNG") dispensers.

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With the explosion of natural gas exploration and production in the United States, several companies are moving forward with making Compressed Natural Gas ("CNG") more available to motorists nationwide.

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