License Defense & Economic Liberty
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."
Insights on License Defense & Economic Liberty
24 articles · View all on the blog →
Know When to Hold’em: Are poker clubs legal in Texas?
Private poker clubs have spread across Texas, but their legality depends on uncertain gambling-law defenses and uneven local enforcement.
Can a Texas agency deny me an occupational license because of my criminal history?
Texas agencies can consider criminal history in licensing decisions, but the law imposes limits and creates appeal rights.
Why can’t I buy alcohol in my city or county?
Texas alcohol sales depend on local-option elections, creating a patchwork of wet, dry, and partially wet jurisdictions.
In vino veritas: Is “Texas wine” really made with Texas grapes?
Texas wine labeling depends on federal and state rules, including how much of the wine must come from Texas-grown grapes.
Taken at Face Value: Can a company sell my biometric data?
Texas regulates biometric identifiers and imposes consent, retention, and disclosure limits on companies collecting faceprints and other biometric data.
Pour One Out for Walmart v. TABC: Retailer ends federal lawsuit challenging Texas liquor law
Walmart ended its federal fight against Texas’ public-corporation ban on package store permits.
- Please don’t be my neighbor: How to stop a concrete batch plant from opening in your backyard
- Hold My Beer: Texas bars face closure, license suspension during COVID-19
- Craft Breweries Not So Hoppy After Court Ruling
- Gina McCarthy, “You’re Fired!”
- You'd Better Plan, Baby, Plan!
- Down Into the Ground Goes the Bubblin’ Crude
- Texas High Court Eliminates Sales Tax Exemption for Wellbore Equipment, Yet Potentially Extends Exemption to Additional Equipment
- EPA Acted Unreasonably When it Failed to Consider Costs in Rule-Making— but Supreme Court Declines to Hear Whether those Rules Require Vacatur
- Texas Supreme Court Clears the Air: Houston Ordinance Preempted by State Law
- Texas Supreme Court rules incorporation of defective products does not constitute physical injury under the standard form commercial general liability policy
- States Successfully Challenge EPA Emissions Budgets, Requiring Re-Examination by EPA
- Fifth Circuit Affirms EPA Approval of Texas’s Flexible Permit Program (Again)
- EPA Must Consider Cost When Regulating Power Plants
- Bottoms Up! Maker’s Mark Defeats “Handmade” Class Action
- “All Natural” Labeling Class Fails for Lack of Ascertainability of Class Members
- Advertising Products as “Handmade” or “Handcrafted”? Beware: The Tito’s Vodka Class Action Continues…
- Should Texas Insurers Revisit Removal in Bad Faith Cases?
- Texas Supreme Court Prohibits Discovery of Other Insured’s Claim Files