Houston Business & Commercial Law Blog

After a lower court ruled in favor of a steel company, a federal appeals court affirmed the decision that the employer had not broken the law when terminating a salesman's job. The employee had alleged that the company fired him because he took time off under the provisions of the Family and Medical Leave Act.

During the salesman's leave, a supervisor accessed his company email account. An email that the man sent to a customer stated that the company was expediting an order, but the supervisor confirmed that the salesman had not even put the order into the company's system. The salesman then lied to the supervisor when asked about the order. After confronting the man with the email evidence, the company decided to terminate his employment for the lie and other documented customer complaints he received.

Emergency rooms in Texas and around the country save thousands of lives each year, but providing this treatment can be costly. Many of the nation's ERs are staffed by nurses, doctors and specialists provided by Envision Healthcare, which has been accused by United Healthcare of using unscrupulous billing practices to overcharge both hospitals and patients. Envision responded to the allegation by filing a lawsuit against UnitedHealthcare on March 12. In the lawsuit, Envision concedes that its emergency treatment bills are high, but the company blames the costs on UnitedHealthcare.

According to the Envision lawsuit, ER costs are soaring because UnitedHealthcare will no longer accept new Envision providers. This means that patients treated by Envision ER doctors are frequently asked to pay out-of-network charges. According to Envision, UnitedHeathcare is refusing to admit new doctors into its program in order to improve its negotiating position and lower its costs.

Over the past two decades, commercial real estate has seen average returns that consistently hover in the double-digit realm. In fact, a 20-year average shows 10.1 percent returns on an ongoing basis. Despite the reliable profitability of the sector, some Texas investors may be concerned about the potential for a downturn in the market

It's important to note that commercial real estate is a cyclical market that naturally involves some periods of growth and decline. In 2016, returns fell below that 10.1 percent number for the first time since the financial crisis eight years before. Some projections show that 2018 and 2019 results will also fall below double digits. However, the numbers still show ongoing growth and do not indicate a systemic downturn. Projections continue to indicate that investment in the sector is positive and growth-oriented.

Like many aspects of the commercial sector, commercial real estate in Texas is being affected by the changes brought to the retail environment by the success of e-commerce. Major online retailers like Amazon have become prominent sources of day-to-day products as well as specialty items. Increasingly, consumers are making fewer trips to retail stores in person and purchasing more of their goods online.

A number of big-box and department stores have seen an impact from the growth of e-commerce; stores from major chains like JCPenney, Macy's, Sears and CVS have closed as in-person sales drop. However, other stores and retail experiences have benefited from providing unique experiences to in-person customers that cannot be replicated by online shopping. Despite the rise of virtual businesses, there remains a significant amount of opportunity for commercial real estate investors in the retail sector.