The Rise and Fall of the Texas Venue Surge — 18 Years of Federal Circuit Mandamus

In re Google LLC, No. 2026-157 (Fed. Cir. Oct. 6, 2026) (nonprecedential order)

Official response and confirmed impact

In early October, 2026, the Federal Circuit granted Google's mandamus petition and ordered USC v.

Google transferred from Judge Albright's (former) Austin docket to the Northern District of California.

And now, with Judge Albright off the bench, everyone has calmed down a bit. To continue reading, become a member. Already a member?

This was the court's first mandamus grant since In re Honeywell in January 2024. The court had denied the prior 100+ mandamus petitions.

The recent drought followed much more actions by the court in 2021 and 2022.

Every mandamus grant since 2019 (45 total) came from a Texas district court case, seeking a venue ruling.

For Texas venue petitions filed 2021 through 2023, the court granted about 44%. Since then it has granted only 4%: one petition, Google's.