See Our Solutions
From the first agency letter to the final appellate decision.
Regulatory Law
When a Texas agency misapplies the law or gets it wrong, Cobb & Gervasi steps in — with the inside knowledge to challenge agency action at every level.
Texas businesses face TxDOT, TDI, TCEQ, TPWD, GLO, PUC, RRC, and dozens of other regulatory bodies, each with its own procedural rules and political dynamics. Bill Cobb spent years inside the Texas Attorney General's Office representing state agencies in enforcement litigation — giving our firm unparalleled insight into how agencies build their cases and where they break down.
We represent businesses before Texas state agencies, at SOAH, in district court, and in appellate proceedings. We also counsel clients on the front end — shaping rules during the comment and rulemaking process, advising on compliance obligations, and structuring operations to minimize regulatory exposure before problems arise.
- SOAH contested case hearings
- Challenges to agency rulemaking & statutory interpretation
- Judicial review of final agency decisions
- Emergency injunctive relief against agency action
- Enforcement defense across Texas regulatory agencies
- Attorney General opinion requests
- Pre-enforcement counsel & compliance strategy
- Texas Comptroller tax & audit disputes
"Texas agencies make mistakes. They overreach. They misapply their own rules. Businesses need lawyers who understand exactly how to expose those mistakes."
License Defense & Economic Liberty
Government has no business telling you how to earn a living — unless it has a lawful reason. We fight excessive licensing, unconstitutional regulation, and economic protectionism that keeps entrepreneurs and businesses from competing fairly.
When a Texas agency threatens your license, permit, or right to operate, the consequences can be existential. But government overreach doesn't stop at license revocation. Excessive licensing requirements, protectionist regulations designed to favor incumbents, and unconstitutional barriers to entry harm entrepreneurs and small businesses every day. Cobb & Gervasi provides aggressive representation — defending existing licenses and challenging unlawful barriers to economic freedom.
- Emergency stays & injunctive relief
- SOAH contested case representation
- Professional & occupational license defense
- Business permit & certification defense
- Healthcare facility licensing actions
- Financial services regulatory defense
- Environmental permit challenges
- Judicial review of adverse decisions
- Challenges to unconstitutional licensing requirements
- Economic protectionism & barrier-to-entry litigation
- Certificate of need challenges
- Occupational freedom constitutional claims
- Regulatory takings of business value
- Due process & equal protection claims
"The right to earn an honest living is fundamental. When government stands in the way without lawful justification, we fight back."
Government Contracts
Bid protests, contract defense, and procurement disputes — with unforgiving deadlines and complex rules that demand experienced counsel.
Government contract law in Texas is unforgiving. Bid protest deadlines are short and inflexible. Cobb & Gervasi has significant experience representing losing bidders seeking to protest awards and winning bidders seeking to protect them.
- Bid protest filings & defense
- Emergency injunctive relief to halt improper awards
- Termination for default disputes
- Change order & scope disputes
- Payment disputes with government entities
- Suspension & debarment defense
"Protest deadlines in Texas government contracting are not suggestions — they are drop-dead dates. Contact us the moment a procurement decision goes wrong."
Attorney General Investigations & Civil Investigative Demands
A Civil Investigative Demand from the Texas Attorney General is one of the most serious documents a business can receive. How you respond in the first days matters.
Bill Cobb served as Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation at the Texas Attorney General's Office, responsible for initiating, approving, negotiating, and settling investigations for violations of Texas Antitrust, Consumer Protection, and civil Medicaid fraud laws. That experience from the inside is a unique asset for businesses facing AG scrutiny today.
- CID response strategy & management
- Document production & privilege protection
- Consumer protection investigation defense
- Texas Antitrust investigation defense
- Civil Medicaid fraud investigation defense
- Trade secret & confidentiality protection
- Parallel proceeding coordination
- Pre-enforcement compliance review
- AG enforcement litigation defense
"We know what the Attorney General's Office is looking for — because we've looked for it. Contact us the day you receive a CID."
Open Records & Open Meetings
Texas's sunshine laws cut both ways. The Public Information Act and the Open Meetings Act are powerful tools for accountability — and serious threats to businesses whose information or interests are caught up in government decisions. Cobb & Gervasi litigates both, on both sides.
The Texas Public Information Act gives the public broad access to government records. For businesses that hold government contracts, operate in regulated industries, or submit information to agencies, a single records request can expose confidential commercial data, trade secrets, and strategic information. Once the AG rules and the agency discloses, the damage cannot be undone — and the window to act is measured in days. We know the open records process from the inside: the exception briefings, the deadlines, the mandamus proceedings.
The Texas Open Meetings Act requires governmental bodies to conduct business in public, with proper notice, and in strict procedural compliance. Closed sessions without legal justification, decisions made outside properly posted meetings, walking quorums — these violations can void government action entirely, expose officials to criminal liability, and give affected businesses standing to challenge decisions in court.
Cobb & Gervasi represents businesses on both sides: protecting confidential information from harmful disclosure, compelling records from agencies that resist transparency, challenging defective government action under TOMA, and advising clients on compliance before disputes arise.
- Mandatory exception briefing & AG ruling advocacy
- Confidential commercial information protection
- Trade secret protection proceedings
- Third-party notice & intervention
- Litigation to compel or enjoin disclosure
- Emergency relief to prevent premature disclosure
- Writ of mandamus proceedings
- PIA request strategy & advocacy for requesters
- Challenging government action taken in violation of TOMA
- Improper closed session & executive session disputes
- Defective notice & posting challenges
- Voiding of decisions made in procedurally defective meetings
- Emergency injunctive relief to halt TOMA violations
- Walking-quorum & serial-deliberation claims
- Criminal referral & enforcement matters
"Once confidential records are disclosed, the damage is done. And once a government body acts in a defective meeting, your window to challenge it is short. Speed matters on both."
Property & Eminent Domain Litigation
When the government threatens your property, Texas law gives you rights worth fighting for. Cobb & Gervasi protects those rights — whether your land is tied up in a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction, caught in an improper annexation, or threatened by condemnation.
Texas municipal law is full of procedural traps that can stall or kill a real estate project. ETJ release petitions and disannexation petitions are two of the most consequential — and most overlooked — tools available to landowners. When a city's extraterritorial jurisdiction stands in the way of a project, or when annexation no longer serves the landowner's interests, Texas law provides mechanisms to fight back. We litigate and negotiate these disputes with cities and counties across the state, alongside the broader landscape of property rights and regulatory takings claims that affect Texas businesses.
- ETJ release petitions under Chapter 42, Texas Local Government Code
- Disannexation petitions & challenges to improper annexation
- Challenging municipal annexation authority
- Development agreements & ETJ negotiation
- Land use & zoning disputes with cities and counties
- Municipal consent & development approval disputes
- Eminent domain & condemnation defense
- Just compensation valuation disputes
- Regulatory takings & inverse condemnation
- Pipeline & utility right-of-way disputes
- Property rights constitutional litigation
- State & federal appellate advocacy
"A city can tie up your property for years without ever condemning it. Know your rights before you sign — or surrender them."