Open Records & Open Meetings
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."