Since I still haven’t taken down my Christmas tree or lights, despite my wife’s justifiable and persistent encouragement to do so, I suppose its not too late to offer my annual legal predictions for the outdoor advertising industry for 2020. I recently re-read my 3 Legal Predictions for 2019 published […]
Insider published in its November 25th edition an article on Caltrans’ Political Sign Restrictions. In particular, Caltrans, a quasi-government transit system, has imposed time restrictions on political advertisements, specifically prohibiting them on its facilities except during the 90 days before an election. Norcal Outdoor Media initiated litigation after Caltrans refused […]
On November 6, 2019, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit denied the petition for rehearing en banc in Thomas vs. Bright. In doing so, the Federal Appellate Court set the stage for an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, or more likely, to a legislative fix of […]
Chris Cowlbeck and his staff at IBOUSA have once again scheduled a productive, educational, and fun conference at the beautiful Graceland Guest House in Memphis on October 2 through 4. I’ll be presenting on the “Practical Aspects of Billboard Condemnations: A Case Study under Texas Law” in the afternoon session […]
By Richard Rothfelder In the August 29th edition of Insider, I discussed the Texas administrative rules making process, including how the Texas Transportation Commission is incorporating recently passed legislation on new and grandfathered sign heights into its rules. The Texas Administrative Procedures Act (“APA”) encourages public participation and transparency throughout […]
Insider has previously published articles about the on-going legislative and administrative processes for establishing new and grandfathered heights for signs in Texas, including in the June 5, 2017, February 26, 2018, and May 30, 2019 editions. The most recent development was the passage in the 86th Texas Legislative Session of […]
Prior to the enactment two years ago of Texas Transportation Code Section 391.038 by the 85th Legislature, there was no Texas or Federal law governing the height of signs. There is still no Federal law on sign height, but the Texas Legislature passed effective September 1, 2017 Section 391.038, which […]
By Richard Rothfelder, Rothfelder and Falick Insider published an article summarizing the 1998 Missouri Court of Appeals decision in Superior Outdoor Advertising vs Snadon, which provides some helpful guidelines for the collection of delinquent accounts. Insider has visited this important, and unfortunately common, problem confronting the outdoor advertiser previously, including […]
Billboard Insider reported yesterday on the Texas House Transportation Committee hearing on HB 3368 seeking to establish a 42.5’ maximum height on new billboards. I attended the hearing, and testified on behalf of several clients that the proposed legislation should be rejected as unconstitutional. Here’s the backstory. Prior to the […]
By Richard Rothfelder, Rothfelder and Falick Our law firm is currently handling a billboard condemnation case, in which the recent controversy over President’s Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to fund the border wall involves the same basic legal principles. Specifically, our client is facing the usual situation where his […]
