Press

IN BRIEF: Texas’ Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act On June 22, 2025, the Texas governor signed House Bill 149, the Texas Responsible Artificial Intelligence Governance Act (“TRAIGA”) to set standards geared towards ensuring responsible use of AI as it rapidly evolves. New restrictions and prohibitions on certain uses of AI will be in effect for both government agencies and private companies starting January 1, 2026, requiring businesses to reevaluate current policies and procedures. Key Components TRAIGA is applicable to private sector companies developing, marketing, selling, or otherwise providing AI-generated content or services to Texas residents and to government agencies using AI to interact...

LEGAL ALERT: The Growing Threat of Deepfake Evidence in Litigation An ever-evolving technology, Artificial Intelligence continuously presents new opportunities and novel concerns. One growing concern is the use of “deepfakes” in litigation. Deepfakes are AI-generated or manipulated videos, images, or audio files that convincingly depict events or statements that never occurred. The risk is twofold: litigants may offer falsified evidence or make baseless claims that their opponent has offered falsified evidence. Both scenarios can undermine a jury’s perception of authenticity and increase the time and cost of litigation. In response, the Advisory Committee on the Federal Rules of Evidence is considering amending Rule 901. Currently, Rule...

KESSLER COLLINS’ ATTORNEYS RECOGNIZED BY SUPER LAWYERS Dallas, TX - September 29, 2025 - Kessler Collins is excited to announce that Thomson Reuters' Super Lawyers has recognized Tony Barbieri and Gary Kessler as Texas Super Lawyers for 2025, and Chandler Roide as a Texas Rising Star for 2025. This recognition highlights the exceptional legal talent and dedication within our firm. These attorneys have demonstrated exemplary achievements, leaving no doubt that they have earned their spot on these lists. The recognition as a Super Lawyer or Rising Star is a testament to the legal excellence and peer recognition of attorneys. Super Lawyers selects...

In Brief: U.S. Department of Labor Reinstates PAID Program: What it Means for Employers The U.S. Department of Labor’s (“DOL”) Wage and Hour Division (“WHD”) recently announced the relaunch of the Payroll Audit Independent Determination (“PAID”) program. Supervised by the WHD, PAID provides employers with the opportunity to avoid litigation and instead self-audit, voluntarily report, and quickly resolve certain violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act (“FLSA”) and the Family and Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). The original program was implemented in 2018 under the Trump administration and discontinued in 2021. With its resurrection, FLMA violations are now included, and the WHD...

In Brief: OCR’s Recommendations for HIPAA Covered Health Care Providers On August 18, 2025, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced a settlement with BST & Co. CPAs, LLP (“BST”) over alleged violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) Security Rule. BST, a New York public accounting and consulting firm, serves as a HIPAA business associate by receiving financial data containing protected health information (“PHI”). The enforcement action brought by OCR stemmed from a ransomware attack discovered in December 2019, which impacted the PHI of BST’s covered entity client. The HIPAA Security Rule sets forth certain...

IN BRIEF: Today’s Tariffs and the Impact on Commercial Real Estate Tariffs have become a critical concern in commercial real estate, affecting both ongoing construction projects and the long-term cost structures of ownership and leasing. Historically, tariffs on imports and exports have triggered wide reaching economic effects, and tariffs imposed in 2025 by the Trump administration on certain imports from Canada, Mexico, China and other major U.S. importers are no exception. While these tariffs aim to protect domestic industries and promote economic independence, they will also likely burden developers, landlords, tenants, and contractors through higher material costs, longer lead times, and...

LEGAL ALERT: New Texas Telemarking Law to Expand Scope and Reshape Litigation On September 1, 2025, Texas Senate Bill 140 (“SB 140”) will take affect and significantly alter telemarketing laws under the Texas Business & Commerce Code by expanding the definition of telephone solicitation and allowing consumers to bring a private right of action against businesses. These changes bring more businesses into the scope of solicitation rules and bring new challenges for businesses engaged in telemarking, making it imperative that telemarketers understand the current requirements under Texas Law. Key Changes to the Law Under SB 140, the definition of telephone solicitation is...

IP and Copyright: Who Owns What ChatGPT Writes? By Lexton Garrett With the recent rise of artificial intelligence technologies and the apparent omnipresence of ChatGPT, many questions regarding ownership have emerged like, who owns what ChatGPT writes? And perhaps more importantly: Is what ChatGPT writes copyrightable? The ownership question has quite a simple answer: The user owns ChatGPT’s output. OpenAI’s terms of use specify that the user owns whatever ChatGPT writes, so long as ownership is permitted by law. But owning ChatGPT’s output does not necessarily mean that the user holds copyright in the output. In March 2023, the United States Copyright...

How to Stay Compliant with the FTC in the Influencer Era by Lexton Garrett Imagine you’re watching a YouTube video from your favorite YouTuber. Now imagine that in the middle of the video, the YouTuber starts talking about a particular product, and thanks the brand for sponsoring the video. After hearing this, you scroll down to the description and see #sponsored and #ad. Why do YouTubers do this? Well, it might surprise you to learn it’s actually against the law for YouTubers not to disclose a sponsorship. The Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) regulates how influencers may endorse a product or service. When...

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act and New Medicaid Work Requirements By Hannah Vandermeer The House Spending Bill, also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (“OBBBA”), passed on May 22, 2025, and became law on July 4, 2025. This bills contains several provisions that will affect healthcare, primarily Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) in the marketplace. An analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (“CBO”) estimates that Medicaid will experience at least $700 billion in cuts which will put many at risk of losing coverage. As Medicaid serves as the financial backbone of many behavioral health centers, these...