Lead Stories
Kelly Cope Named Hover Energy GC
By Mark Curriden – (Sept. 25) – Dallas-based renewable energy company Hover Energy has hired Reliance Holdings USA general counsel Kelly Cope to lead its corporate in-house legal department.
Corp. Deal Tracker Weekly Roundup: 80 Texas Lawyers Worked on $4.88B in M&A Deals & Security Offerings
By Claire Poole – (Sept. 25) – Eight M&A and private equity transactions with a total combined deal value of more than $4 billion. The three securities offerings – one IPO and two debt offerings – raised about $770 million. Last week showed that the energy sector remains a vibrant deal market.
Blockchain and Smart Contracts
By Mark W. Rasmussen, James A. Cox and Gwen R. Higley of Jones Day – (Sept. 25) – Businesses and entrepreneurs thrive on North Texas’ culture of innovation, and it’s important for businesses and their lawyers to understand the opportunities and risks that come with change. Blockchain and smart contracts are emerging technologies that have the potential to disrupt industries.
South TX Jury Awards $100M to Matrix Petroleum in Eagle Ford Dispute
By Natalie Posgate – (Sept. 25) – A jury in La Salle County has awarded $100 million to Houston-based Matrix Petroleum after finding that Repsol-owned Talisman Energy committed accounting fraud and breached an agreement the two companies had to drill wells in the Eagle Ford Shale.
Erin Nealy Cox Nominated to be NDTX U.S. Attorney
By Mark Curriden – (Sept. 23) – The Trump Administration has nominated cybersecurity expert and former prosecutor Erin Nealy Cox to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
White-collar criminal law experts praised Nealy Cox’s nomination, saying she will bring leadership and management to an office that needs it and hopefully push prosecutors to be more aggressive in pursuing financial fraud cases.
SEC Suspends Public Trading of Addison Firm over Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts
By Mark Curriden – (Sept. 22) – The SEC has suspended the trading of securities of Addison-based Grupo Resilient International in an apparent concern over the accuracy of some of the company’s press releases. The federal agency states that it has “questions regarding the adequacy and accuracy of statements” Grupo officials made in a Sept. 7 press release regarding the company’s efforts to help disaster recovery efforts in South Texas related to Hurricane Harvey.
Kent Sullivan Named New TX Insurance Commissioner
By Mark Curriden – (Sept. 22) — Texas Gov. Greg Abbott appointed former judge and Jackson Walker partner Kent Sullivan to be the state’s Insurance Commissioner. Sullivan served as a justice on the Texas Court of Appeals from 2008 to 2010 and was First Assistant Attorney General under then-Attorney General Abbott.
Taking the Fifth in Civil Trade Secret Litigation: Win the Battle but Lose the War?
By Craig Tyler and Wendy Wang of Vinson & Elkins – (Sept. 20) – Oliver North and Mark McGwire are notable examples of people who asserted their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination by refusing to answer questions. Now, trade secret litigation between Google’s self-driving car division and Uber has a new twist. Anthony Levandowski is asserting the Fifth to avoid producing 14,000 trade secret documents he allegedly stole from Waymo.
Is this a trend and is it strategically smart? Or will it backfire by providing plaintiffs with an evidentiary hammer when the case is decided by the judge or jury. History is not on Uber’s side.
SCOTX Considers Future of Lawsuit against Payday Lenders
By Janet Elliott – (Sept. 19) AUSTIN – When Cash Biz didn’t get paid on time, the payday lender sought help from the criminal justice system. Now faced with lawsuits for its overstep, the company is claiming a right to arbitration, but the Texas Supreme Court is going to have a say about that.
Winston Scores Touchdown & Field Goal in Ezekiel Elliott & IP Cases in Same Courtroom – Updated
Tom Melsheimer was in his second week of trial defending Tech Pharmacy in a $350 million patent dispute against Plano-based AlixaRx when he suddenly switched from defense to…
East Texas is Patent Capital No More
East Texas has lost its status as America’s top place to sue for patent infringement. Delaware is the new king of patent litigation. During the past four months,…
TX AG Sues Three Businesses for Price Gouging; Hundreds More Cases May Follow
Three Texas businesses – two service stations and one motel owner – violated state consumer protection laws prohibiting price gouging during times of natural disaster, the state attorney…
M&A Round Up: AKK, V&E Find Plenty of Deal Work
The week after Labor Day signified the return to work for a lot of Texas deal lawyers, despite the residual damage in Houston from Hurricane Harvey. Herewith are…
Bankruptcy Judge Approves Oncor Deal with Sempra
U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Sontchi has given his approval for Energy Future Holdings to sell its 80 percent ownership stake in Oncor to Sepra Energy for $9.45 billion…
Features
Texas Lawbook Surpasses 9,000 Subscribers & 2,000 Corporate In-House Counsel
By Mark Curriden – (Sept. 22) – I am pleased to announced that The Texas Lawbook officially surpassed 9,000 paid subscribers in August – more than 2,000 of them are corporate in-house counsel and general counsel. The 25 largest law firms in Texas and more than 35 corporate in-house legal departments have subscriptions for all their lawyers. In addition, tens-of-thousands of more business leaders read Texas Lawbook articles that are republished in the Dallas Business Journal and Houston Chronicle. This article is an update on recent developments at The Texas Lawbook and plans for the months ahead.
Locke Lord Boosts Dallas Corporate Practice with New Partner Neil Rajan
Rajan was previously at Vinson & Elkins, where he was a senior associate.…
Polsinelli Strengthens Houston Health Care Practice, Adds Mark Armstrong
In addition to maintaining regulatory compliance, Armstrong says a key issue facing his clients is…
Bell Nunnally Brings on Two Senior Attorneys
Jacob Pollack joined the firm’s private clients and estate planning group as a partner, while…
Cantey Hanger Announces New Leadership for Business, Tax and Estate Practice Group
Doug Clayton and Julie Bergkamp have been tapped for chair and vice-chair, respectively.…
Weil Attorney Kevin Crews Selected to Leadership Arts Institute
Crews, a senior associate in Dallas, has been selected for the Business Council for the…
T&K Dallas Partner Timothy Hudson Joins IADC Membership
The International Association of Defense Counsel membership is by invitation-only and includes about 2,500 people…
Polsinelli Shareholder Henry Talavera Appointed to ABA Hispanic Commission
Talavera, a member of Polsinelli’s employee benefits and executive compensation practice, will help the ABA…
National Consumer Finance Law Firm Opens in Texas with Former GC of Cash America
Hudson Cook, a national consumer finance law firm, announced today it has selected three attorneys…
Oklahoma Law Firm Lures Two Gardere Partners to Open Dallas Office
This is the third office and first outside of Oklahoma for the 130-attorney law firm…
Texas Appellate Bar Leader Lands at Haynes and Boone
Mike Hatchell, a leader of the Texas appellate bar, has joined forces with longtime friends…
K&L Gates Adds Oil and Gas Litigation Duo in Fort Worth
Joseph Regan and Adam Plumbley both lateraled over from Winstead.…
