In 2025, the Lone Star State was once again at the forefront of some of the biggest legal stories of the year. Join Androvett Legal Media & Marketing as we take a look back at the Top 10 Texas Legal Stories that shaped the past year.
10. Ghislaine Maxwell’s Soft Landing at Club Tex/Fed
Socialite Ghislaine Maxwell, the longtime associate of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, was convicted in 2021 for her role in recruiting for and perpetuating the late financier’s notorious sex trafficking ring that exploited underage girls.
Originally sentenced to 20 years at a federal prison in Tallahassee, Florida, it was announced on Aug. 1 that Maxwell would be moved to a minimum-security facility on the outskirts of Bryan following private interviews with U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, a former personal attorney for President Trump. The decision triggered sharp backlash and intense scrutiny from victims, local residents, and lawmakers.
Federal Prison Camp Bryan (FPC Bryan) was designed to house short-term offenders facing sentences of five years or less and has one of the lowest security ratings in the federal prison system. Other notable inmates include Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Jen Shah of “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.”
Offering work release and educational programs, FPC Bryan lacks the high security typically reserved for sex offenders. Critics say Maxwell’s relocation doesn’t fit her crimes, arguing that the low-security setting fails to reflect the severity of her actions.
They also worry that the Justice Department may be granting Maxwell preferential treatment, describing as highly suspicious the timing of the move and the choice of a facility widely regarded as “one of the best” for serving time. Victims and advocacy groups warn that such leniency could erode public trust in a system meant to punish those who violate it.
With recent reports saying Maxwell plans to ask for release, it’s unlikely these calls will abate anytime soon.
9. H2-Oh Boy! Water Disputes Make Splash
Blessed with an abundance of natural resources, Texas has rarely found itself lacking for much, whether it be oil, natural gas, timber, or agricultural land. Until recently, that list also included the most important resource – water. But that claim has recently become a little hazy.
In the Rio Grande Valley, questions about potential mercury contamination to water sources surrounding the Starbase launch site near Brownsville linger following the withdrawal of a lawsuit against owner SpaceX over its discharge of industrial waste.
In Corpus Christi, frustrated City Council members canceled work on a planned but long-delayed seawater desalination plant that would have quenched the water needs of the city’s refinery hub. The move forced companies to lean heavily on the municipal water supply, already stressed to cover the needs of residents by a nearly decade-long drought.
Meanwhile, businesses are leading the charge to protect water rights in East Texas. Leaning into Texas’ groundwater “rule of capture” doctrine, Dallas entrepreneur Kyle Bass filed permits seeking to drill on his ranches for millions of gallons of groundwater from the Carrizo-Wilcox Aquifer. However, residents and local officials from communities located throughout the Piney Woods objected, expressing fears for their water security. Sanderson Farms and poultry and cattle producers led a fight in state court, helping to defeat or at least delay Bass’ efforts.
The final ruling on Bass’ request to drill could reverberate far beyond East Texas, setting precedents for water management statewide, as critics urge the Legislature to revisit and modernize the “rule of capture.”
8. Gateway Church Founder Faces Reckoning
Just two years ago, Robert Preston Morris, a prominent charismatic leader who once served on President Trump’s evangelical executive advisory board, was the face of Southlake’s Gateway Church.
The 2024 announcement that Morris was stepping away from the megachurch he founded caught many by surprise. Surprise turned to shock as allegations surfaced that Morris had sexually abused a minor over a four-year period in the 1980s while a traveling evangelist. Indicted in March by a multi-county Oklahoma grand jury, Morris pleaded guilty Oct. 2 to five counts of lewd and indecent acts with a child.
The victim, publicly self-identified as Cindy Clemishire, says the abuse began in December 1982, when she was 12 and Morris was staying with her family in Oklahoma, and continued over several years. As part of a plea agreement reached with prosecutors, Morris was given a 10-year suspended sentence with the first six months to be served in the Osage County Jail. Morris will also be required to register as a sex offender for life, pay restitution and incarceration costs, and is subject to probation under Texas supervision.
Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond described Morris’ crime as particularly egregious because it involved “a pastor who exploited his position of trust and authority.” After Morris was sentenced, Clemishire released a statement saying, “Justice has finally been served,” and expressed hope that sharing her story would encourage other abuse survivors to speak out.
7. Taking Sports Battles to Court
From Texas A&M’s, Texas Tech’s and North Texas’ regular-season college football success to Houston’s and Dallas’ draw announcement for next year’s FIFA World Cup, Texas sports fans had a lot to cheer about in 2025. Unfortunately, the sports headlines weren’t all positive.
With Dallas Mavericks fans still reeling from the shocking trade of superstar Luka Doncic in February, not even the arrival of rookie standout Cooper Flagg could distract attention from a string of off-court challenges facing the team.
First came the Legislature’s rejection of legalized gambling in Texas, a major setback for Mavericks ownership, which has made no secret of its desire for a new arena within a North Texas casino/resort.
The team’s push for a new arena also placed it at legal odds with the NHL Dallas Stars, which shares operations of the American Airlines Center with the Mavs.
In an apparent attempt to force the Stars into a buyout that would give the NBA franchise complete control of the AAC, the Mavericks filed suit claiming the Stars defaulted on the operational agreement when it moved its corporate headquarters to a Dallas suburb. A countersuit sought to nullify the argument, asserting that under new majority owners Miriam Adelson and Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks are now based in Nevada. The faceoff between the teams is certain to be headed to court.
Houston was no stranger to ownership disagreements either. Astros owner Jim Crane and former owner Drayton McLane Jr. have been at legal odds since 2013 over the financial collapse of the team’s regional sports television network, with Crane seeking $440 million in damages from McLane and McLane countersuing Crane for millions. But after just one day of testimony before a Harris County jury in July, the two billionaires reached a confidential settlement to end the cases.
6. Texas Goes All-In for Business
Numerous developments in 2025 helped transform Texas into more than just a business-friendly state and make it a center for capital markets, specialized commercial adjudication, and modernized corporate law.
The Texas Business Court in September celebrated its first year of operation with roughly 180 cases filed in its first five open divisions. Based on that success, the Legislature enacted House Bill 40 at midyear, expanding the court’s jurisdiction and reach and establishing statutory and operational changes intended to streamline case assignments.
The biggest market story was the continued expansion and infrastructure establishment of the Texas Stock Exchange (TXSE). TXSE earned SEC approval to get everything in place to begin trading in Dallas in 2026, hiring key management officials and securing major financial backers. With a goal of providing an alternative to the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ, the expansion is expected to influence significantly how corporate counsel plan strategies in large commercial cases.
In addition to these major developments, the Texas Legislature completed a substantial modernization of the Texas Business Organizations Code (TBOC). Senate Bills 29, 1057 and 2411 will raise the thresholds for derivative actions, limit or eliminate liability for company officers over acts taken in an official capacity, streamline approvals of mergers and other major transactions, and much more.
2025 delivered a three-pronged push: a beefed-up business court that is influencing litigation strategies, a new regional exchange that is expected to alter stock exchange dynamics, and a modernized TBOC that gives in-state and relocating companies new choices and increased opportunities, issues that will keep litigators, corporate transactional teams and compliance officers busy throughout 2026.
5. Immigration Court Crisis Fuels Chaos
As U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement continues to ratchet up its detainment and removal efforts, citizen resistance has grown, too.
While Texas has yet to experience the widespread demonstrations seen in Portland and Chicago, the state has had its share of attacks on ICE facilities, including the September sniper attack in Dallas in which three immigrants and the shooter were killed and a July ambush in Alvarado.
With more than 3.6 million immigration-related cases in a courthouse logjam nationwide, judges are being asked to manage impossible daily workloads. Unlike federal and state judges, immigration judges lack essential staff, interpreters and clerks to do the job, forcing them personally to manage, evidence, record proceedings and issue complex, real-time, decisions, which severely compromises due process.
As a result, an increasing number of immigrants are being detained for weeks without their basic needs being met and their legal and procedural rights granted under the Constitution ignored. Fears are being compounded by reports of significant abuse, including beatings and sexual abuse at detention facilities, most notably at Fort Bliss’ Camp East Montana center in West Texas, which houses nearly 3,000 detainees. Alleged secret deportations that often defy standing court orders are only compounding the chaos.
4. Election Has Expected, Unexpected Consequences
Fallout from the 2024 election continues to reverberate across Texas, affecting everything from how state congressional districts are drawn to policies around public spaces. The issues have set the stage for legal clashes that are likely to continue into 2026.
The fight over redistricting remains the issue with the highest stakes. The battle began in August when the Texas Legislature, at the behest of President Trump, approved a new congressional map designed to hand Republicans control of 30 of the state’s 38 congressional districts, up from the current 25. That sparked a chain of other redistricting moves nationwide.
On Nov. 18, two federal judges barred Texas from using its new map for 2026, citing evidence of racial gerrymandering. But on Dec. 4, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily paused that ruling while the appeals process plays out, putting the new map back in place and setting off a chaotic filing scramble for midterm candidates.
Although Texas has been long viewed as one of the nation’s most business-friendly states, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against Johnson & Johnson and Kenvue, the makers of Tylenol, accusing the companies of deceptively marketing the medication to pregnant mothers despite reported risks to children. At the center of the lawsuit is the unproven claim from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that acetaminophen can cause autism and ADHD. J&J already faces hundreds of personal injury lawsuits filed by families across the country and consolidated into federal multidistrict litigation.
Social issues, from bathroom access to school curricula and funding to local civil rights protections, have also been thrust to the forefront following the 2024 election. Not even Texas streets have been spared, as Gov. Greg Abbott ordered cities to remove rainbow crosswalks and other symbols of pride or lose state funding. The state calls it a safety issue; opponents call it a political move designed to remove symbols of the LGBTQ+ community and its history. The San Antonio nonprofit Pride San Antonio has threatened to sue as cities such as Dallas and San Antonio have requested an exemption from the new policy.
3. Redefining Religious Liberty
Texas has become a lightning rod for debate over religious liberty, with recent legislation and local disputes drawing national attention.
In June, Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 10 into law, requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in all public school classrooms. Civil rights organizations describe the law as state-endorsed religion and say it undermines the separation of church and state. They also express concern that the posters could alienate students whose families observe different faiths or no faith at all. Lawsuits challenging the law are ongoing.
Smaller communities across the state are also confronting the question of where the religious lines should be drawn.
In North Texas, efforts by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to build the Fairview Texas Temple have prompted intense debate regarding zoning and design, and the church had to revisit its plans before permits could be approved. The announcement of the proposed EPIC (East Plano Islamic Center) City drew fire from Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has filed a lawsuit to halt the development of the master-planned Islamic community. Although officials expressed concern about changing local identity, critics worry religious liberty is being curtailed by overzealous zoning and regulatory pressure.
Civil rights advocates are also sounding alarms. In November, Gov. Abbott authorized efforts to shut down the Council on American-Islamic Relations, calling the advocacy and civil rights group a “foreign terrorist organization.” In addition, the rollback of legal protections for the state’s LGBTQ+ community has led to reports of hostile rhetoric, including threats tied to Pride festivals and growing fear among marginalized communities, adding to the considerable worry among defenders of both religious freedom and civil rights.
2. Growing Threats to the Judiciary
The Texas judiciary experienced unprecedented threats and security concerns in 2025, highlighted by a significant increase in courthouse incidents.
Legal observers believe the growth of violence coincides with a documented decline in public trust and confidence in the courts, making judges more vulnerable to physical and verbal attacks. In addition, social media platforms spread threats and misinformation, creating a more dangerous environment in which judges’ personal information is often easily accessible.
A state report issued earlier this year showed 1,080 courthouse security incidents in fiscal 2024, a stunning 142% spike over the 448 reported in 2023. Prisoner escapes and incidents of disorderly conduct also showed sharp increases. Particularly troubling was the jump in the number of guns and other weapons seized in courthouses across the state – 581, up from 122 in 2023, according to the Texas Office of Court Administration.
Meanwhile, federal judges, prosecutors and court officials also face an increase in violent threats. The bipartisan sponsors of the federal Countering Threats and Attacks on Our Judges Act, passed by the U.S. Senate and awaiting approval in the House, attribute the increase to today’s highly polarized political environment and rhetoric that undermines public confidence by dismissing judicial rulings as corrupt or biased. The bill would establish and fund databases at the state level to track threats, provide technical and physical security assistance and research best practices.
1. Families Seek Justice in the Camp Mystic Flooding Disaster
The harrowing personal accounts and images in the aftermath of the July 4 Hill Country floods horrified Texas and the nation.
At least 135 people lost their lives to the overnight flooding, including, perhaps most tragically, 25 young campers and two teenage counselors at Camp Mystic. Also lost in the flooding was the owner of the Christian summer camp for girls.
Investigations into local emergency preparedness and response are proceeding, and numerous lawsuits have been filed by families of Camp Mystic victims, guests at RV campgrounds and residents along the Guadalupe River.
Camp Mystic plaintiffs claim camp leadership failed to evacuate the girls as floodwaters rose, misrepresented cabin locations within the Special Food Hazard Area as safe, and either ignored or failed to adequately prepare for flood warnings or make necessary preparations. Attorneys for the camp argue that the scale and suddenness of the surge and broader local failures such as an absent flash-flood warning system were to blame for the loss of life.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys have filed claims for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligence, gross negligence, negligence per se, negligent undertaking, premises liability, wrongful death and survival actions. The families are seeking more than $1 million in damages, which includes exemplary damages, and have demanded a jury trial.
The lawsuits have already led to increased scrutiny of camp safety standards, spurring new state rules for summer camps.