News

Happy (early) New Year! Every year, January 1 brings with it a slate of new laws, and 2026 is no different. My criteria as to what constitutes a “top new law” are: what I find interesting, what will impact Heckman Law, PC clients the most, and how broad the change will be. These are focused largely on construction and real estate, but also with an eye toward business generally. Unless otherwise stated, these laws went into effect on January 1, 2026.   And I have done the same

Happy (early) New Year! Every year, January 1 brings with it a slate of new laws, and 2026 is no different. My criteria as to what constitutes a “top new law” are: what I find interesting, what will impact Heckman Law, PC clients the most, and how broad the change will be. These are focused largely on construction and real estate, but also with an eye toward business generally. Unless otherwise stated, these laws went into effect on January 1, 2026.   And I have done the same

In 2023, Texas adopted HB 19, establishing the Texas Business Courts ("TBC"). The TBC will operate in several metropolitan areas, the TBC...

(This post is part of a series called “Common Clauses,” focused on explaining so-called boilerplate provisions of contracts. Click the...

(This post is part of a series called “Common Clauses,” focused on explaining so-called boilerplate provisions of contracts. Click the...

(This post is part of a series called “Common Clauses,” focused on explaining so-called boilerplate provisions of contracts. Click the...

It’s a new year, and January 1 almost always brings with it new laws and regulations. In Texas, the big news has been for property taxes...

California has a number of new laws going into effect in 2023. This is my ranking of the top new business laws going into effect in 2023....

( This post is part of a series called “ Common Clauses ,” focused on explaining so-called boilerplate provisions of contracts. Click the...

Sometimes businesses choose to operate under names that are not their legal names. If the operating name differs from the legal name, the...

Most people have heard of community property, but many don't know exactly what it means (even those who live in community property...

( This post is part of a series called “ Common Clauses ,” focused on explaining so-called boilerplate provisions of contracts. Click the...

A big part of any business law practice is drafting, reviewing, and negotiating contracts. This requires familiarity with the parties,...

Back in February, the Supreme Court of the United States agreed to hear an appeal in the case known as 303 Creative LLC v. Elenis . 303...

A right of first refusal (sometimes a first right of refusal) is the right of someone to purchase something before anyone else. It is an...

ESG popped up in the news this weekend after Tesla's Elon Musk tweeted to his 80.2 million followers: "I am increasingly convinced that...

What is it? A fiscal year is a business's annual accounting period. Typically, this is the same as the calendar year (January 1 to...

What is an appeal? An "appeal" is the review of a case by a higher court. A typical appeal is, after a party loses at trial, they request...

When a dispute arises, I frequently ask my clients, “so what do you want?” It’s a simple question, but the answers vary from client to...

California and Texas each have a code of regulations. In fact, each state has such a code in one form or another. These are the rules put...