Baker Botts Leads Major Antitrust Trial for Waste Control Specialists

By Mark Curriden – (May 25) – Antitrust trials are usually dominated by dreadfully boring expert testimony over economic models and vertical v. horizontal agreements. Van Beckwith is representing Valhi subsidiary Waste Control Specialists of Dallas against the U.S. Justice Dept. in the first antitrust trial of the Trump era. About 180 West Texas jobs and $367 million are at stake. This trial conducted earlier this month was anything but boring. In fact, it got personal. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

President Trump’s Tax Reforms: What Alternative Asset Managers Need to Know

By Carl Seiler and Michael Cramer of Blue River Partners – (May 24) – Love it or hate it, the president’s current tax proposal could have a substantial impact on the alternative asset industry.

Seiler and Cramer highlight a number of the President’s proposed reforms and analyze the potential real-world implications for certain taxpayers and, specifically, the alternative asset industry.

Huntsman Hires No TX Lawyers (That we Know of) in $14B Clariant Merger

By Natalie Posgate – (May 23) – Two Swiss firms and three U.S. firms are involved in the mega-merger. One is Texas-based, but its deal team is unknown. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

SEC Charges Texas Investment Firm & CEO with Fraud

By Mark Curriden – (May 22) – Katy-based Bryant United Capital Funding and its CEO are operating an illegal real estate mortgage investment scheme that defrauded more than 100 investors out of millions of dollars, according to SEC documents that were unsealed Friday in federal court in Sherman. The SEC accuses BUCF and its leader, Thurman Bryant III of Frisco, with securities fraud and making false statements to investors.

The End Is Nigh For The ‘Rocket Docket’ — Or Not

By Allen Pusey – (May 22) The U.S. Supreme Court reversed a 27 year-old ruling Monday that had allowed great freedom for plaintiffs in their choice of venues for intellectual property disputes. The high-anticipated ruling threatens to put a damper—if not an end—to the thriving intellectual property “rocket docket” in the Eastern District of Texas. Last year, nearly four in every ten IP lawsuits were filed in the EDTX. But lingering questions about the high court ruling in TC Heartland v. Kraft leave some really smart lawyers wondering if it changes anything at all. Read their perspectives in The Texas Lawbook.

David Peavler Exits SEC for HD Vest Financial

By Mark Curriden – (May 19) – The SEC announced Friday that Associate Director David L. Peavler is leaving his position as head of the enforcement division in the agency’s Fort Worth Regional Office to be the new general counsel at Irving-based HD Vest Financial. Peavler was involved in some of the biggest and most important enforcement actions in recent years.

Porter Hedges Advises Houston Company in $512M Acquisition by Lowe’s

By Natalie Posgate – (May 19) – Retail home improvement giant Lowe’s Companies said Thursday that it will purchase Houston-based Maintenance Supply Headquarters, a distributor of maintenance, repair and operations products to the multifamily housing industry, for $512 million.

V&E Advises Noble in Marcellus Exit

By Natalie Posgate – (May 19) – Houston-based Noble Energy said Thursday that it will exit the Marcellus Shale by divesting its midstream assets in the Marcellus Shale to a portfolio company of Quantum Energy Partners for $765 million. Noble will now focus its efforts on the DJ Basin and Delaware Basin, two areas that are hot trends in the oil & gas industry.

Wylys Appeal Billion-dollar Judgment to Fifth Circuit

By Mark Curriden – (May 18) – Dallas entrepreneur and philanthropist Sam Wyly and his sister-in-law Dee Wyly have asked the federal appeals court to reverse a ruling by a bankruptcy judge who found that the Wylys committed tax fraud and levied nearly $2 billion in tax judgments against the duo. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

Texas GCs: The Billable Hour is Alive & Well

By Mark Curriden – (May 17) – The death of the billable hour has been predicted for two decades. Skyrocketing rates often exceeding $1,200 an hour are causing corporate GCs to revisit alternative fee agreements again. But a new Texas Lawbook survey of 46 general counsel shows companies are hesitant to abandon the billable hour. This article examines the issue and provides insights from GCs for AT&T, Lennox International, Mark Cuban Companies, Halliburton, CEC Entertainment, Classic Industries, MetroPCS, Riverstone Holdings and Yum! Brands.

Texas Lawyers: Vote for Chad Baruch for State Bar President

By Randy Johnston – (May 18) – The run-off election for president-elect of the State Bar of Texas is one of the most important in recent history and lawyers have a real opportunity to make a difference with their vote. My partner, Chad Baruch, is the best choice. In this article, I show why, including his plans to help lawyers address the increasing challenges to profitability presented by non-lawyer providers of legal services.

Paving the Way for Economic Growth: Reforming the Notorious U.S. Tax System

By Sheena Shaghaghi and David Gair of Gray Reed & McGraw – (May 18) – Reforms of the U.S. tax system are considered to be a central issue of the current administration. Shaghaghi and Gair describe how the changes proposed in the House Republicans’ “Blueprint” – released last June - will benefit corporations and create a framework that is conducive to job creation and wage increases.

DFW relocation options abound, with job growth and developable land

J.C. Penney sells California hub for $131M

IPO or PE? Chuck E. Cheese owner looking for up to $2B exit (Video)

Willis & Sellers Keep ‘Legal Issues from Distracting’ the Business of Interstate Batteries

By Mark Curriden – (May 17) – Dallas-based Interstate Batteries CLO Chris Willis and GC Kelvin Sellers have been busy during the past two years. They opened operations in China and acquired a 19 percent ownership in a firm that recycles lead acid batteries, while also maintaining the company’s sponsorship of NASCAR driver Kyle Busch and the Joe Gibbs Racing team.

“We work hard to keep legal matters from distracting the business,” Willis says. This article peaks inside the legal department at Interstate.

Texas Lawbook Exclusive: Several Legacy & Nat’l Law Firms in TX Have ‘Best Year Ever’

By Mark Curriden – (May 9) – In the annual ledgers of corporate law firms in Texas, 2016 was an excellent year. For more than a dozen law firms operating in the state, it was the best year ever. Twenty-nine of the 40 corporate law firms in The Texas Lawbook 40 survey increased revenues from their Texas operations. Half of those 29 law firms are headquartered outside the state. Fourteen law firms saw revenues in Texas jump by 10 percent or more. Nine of the 14 are firms based elsewhere.

In this in-depth article, The Lawbook looks at the financial data of 40 leading law firms operating in Texas.

Lions of the Texas Bar Revisited

By Mark Curriden – During the next three months, The Texas Lawbook revisits our year-long project featuring the Lions of the Texas Bar. Each of the articles has been updated. Many of the articles include new video featuring these great lawyers. We hope you enjoy this project as much as we enjoyed getting to know each and everyone of these Lions.

The Death of a Lion: Henry Gilchrist Dies at 92 – Updated

By Natalie Posgate – Henry Gilchrist, a legendary transactional lawyer who represented Clint Murchison and the Dallas Cowboys and helped raise the profile of the legal market in Dallas, passed away over the weekend. He was 92.

Aside from for the countless high-profile transactions he worked on, Gilchrist was also highly respected for his professionalism and character.

"The basis of being a lawyer is that you’ve got to recognize that it takes hard work, but don’t let it be at the neglect of your family and your church and community life," Gilchrist once said in regard to what his advice was to young lawyers. "Be respectful of others that are working for you, treat them as real people and be nice to everyone."

A memorial service is scheduled for Wednesday, May 24 at 4 p.m. at Highland Park United Methodist Chuch in Dallas.

>Previous Lawyers and Firms > > >

Scott Breedlove
Chad Everingham
Michael Gaertner
Toby Galloway
Michael Hawes
John Keville
Tony Magee
Tom Melsheimer
William Munck
David Peavler
Wasif Qureshi
Mazin Sbaiti
Shamoil Shipchandler
Michael Smith
John Wander
T. John Ward

Akin Gump
Baker Botts
Carter Scholer
Gruber Elrod
Jackson Walker
Kelly Hart
Locke Lord
Munck Wilson
Siebman Burg
V&E
Ward, Smith & Hill
Winston

The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker reports M&A activity and securities offerings handled by lawyers based in Texas, even if those transactions involve non-Texas-based companies. The Corporate Deal Tracker ranks matters by deal/offering count primarily and value secondarily. The data includes the announcement date, the names of the companies involved and the lawyers and their law firms. These charts are up to date as of December 31, 2016.

Please contact us if you see any information that is inaccurate or missing.

Click on each Chart to see a full listing:

V&E and Latham Take Lion’s Share of 2016 Offering Work

By Natalie Posgate – (May 11) – Though the type of securities offerings that companies issued differed from 2015 to 2016, the Texas law firms and lawyers behind the offerings stayed pretty close to the same, according to new data from The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker. To no one’s surprise, most lawyers ranked at the top are all Houstonians. But one Dallasite broke the mold on the issuer’s side.

This article names the individuals dominating securities work and has a breakdown of how each firm’s capital markets work in 2016 compared to the previous year. (Spoiler alert: two firms handled 65 percent of all securities offerings in the 2016 database).

Corp. Deal Tracker: TX Capital Markets Lawyers Got off the Sidelines in 2016

By Natalie Posgate – (May 3) – Capital markets lawyers mostly sat on the sidelines through the better part of the recent energy slump, watching their M&A partners at least get some deals done. New data from the Corporate Deal Tracker, however, shows CapM practitioners are back in the starting lineup and busier than ever (particularly for the S-1 process) as oil companies rebound in a stabilizing commodity environment. They may even score more three-pointers as IPOs make a comeback. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

Corporate Deal Tracker: Mid-Sized, Private Deals Take the Cake in Deal Volume

By Natalie Posgate – (April 13) – This latest installment in the 2016 Corporate Deal Tracker series breaks down the value range that most Texas-based lawyers' M&A work fell under. It also reveals which law firms did the most small deals, mid-sized deals, and bonus: who did the most deals with confidential values.