AG Watch: Texas Charts A Course on Investigative Authority

Partner and State Attorney General practice chair Paul Singer, Special Counsel Abigail Stempson and Beth Chun, and Senior Associate Andrea deLorimier authored ​“AG Watch: Texas Charts A Course on Investigative Authority” for Law360. The article is part of a regular column in which each installment features observations on one state’s attorney general enforcement trends. In this edition, the authors cover the recent decision by the Texas Supreme Court in Texas v. PFLAG Inc., that held up the Texas attorney general’s civil investigative demand authority under the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act. 

“The Texas Supreme Court’s decision strengthens the attorney general’s CID authority under the DTPA by reaffirming that investigative demands may issue based on reasonable belief — not proof — and by limiting courts’ roles at the CID stage. By rejecting merits-style review and emphasizing statutory confidentiality protections as an answer to privacy concerns, the court raised the bar for early CID challenges.”

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