NFL Events VP: Seating Fiasco a ‘Debacle’

By Natalie Posgate – (March 4) – Key NFL executives testified early this week in a federal trial against the league involving the infamous seating fiasco for the 2011 Super Bowl in Cowboys Stadium. One executive, Frank Supovitz, called the situation a “fiasco,” and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell informed jurors that he did not talk about the fiasco two days before the big game, despite being briefed by public relations executives about the topic beforehand.

Check here for updates throughout the trial from The Texas Lawbook.

V&E Represents PAA in $800+ Million Pipeline JV

By Natalie Posgate – (Feb. 27) – Houston-based Plains All American Pipeline and Tulsa-based Magellan Midstream Partners have joined forces to construct a crude oil pipeline from the Denver-Julesburg Basin to Cushing, Oklahoma.

Zoe Littlepage: A Career of Winning Verdicts and Sending Messages to Corporate Boardrooms

By Kerry Curry – (Feb. 27) – For more than 25 years, Houston trial lawyer Zoe Littlepage has been involved in some of the biggest and most complex disputes with medical device makers and pharmaceutical companies. She’s taken scores of cases to trial and won hundreds of millions of dollars for her clients. The ABA TIPS Section earlier this month honored Littlepage with its Pursuit of Justice Award, which recognizes lawyers and judges who excel in providing access to justice for all.

Why Texas Will Never Recognize Underground Water Migration as Trespassing

By David Baay of Sutherland Asbill – (Feb. 27) – To the disappointment of many landowners, the Texas Supreme Court avoided controversy by instead focusing on the issue of which party bears the burden to prove consent as it relates to the claim of trespass. Although there will be future cases that try to bring the issue back to life, it will continue to be a difficult road for plaintiffs to establish a claim for trespass for deep subsurface wastewater migration. If one day they do prevail, the stakes will be high.

Smartflash Scores $533 Million from Apple in Patent Infringement Case

By Natalie Posgate – (Feb. 25) – An East Texas federal jury ruled late Tuesday that Apple infringed three patents created by a Tyler-based data storage technology company and must pay $532.9 million for doing so. The hometown victory is a step forward for Smartflash and its owner, Patrick Racz, who has also sued some of Apple’s peers on similar infringement claims, including Samsung, Google and Amazon.

Updated - Exxon Mobil’s William Buck to Lead Houston Pro Bono Effort

By Mark Curriden – (March 5) – William Buck, the GC of Exxon Mobil Corporation’s Upstream Companies, has a message for corporate legal departments: Do your fair share of pro bono. The new Houston Bar Foundation chair, who specializes in transactional law, says, "I plan to remind all companies that we in-house lawyers also have pro bono obligations. We in-house lawyers are more than capable of handling some of these pro bono needs."

Robert Hart has the Coolest Lawyer Job on Earth – Meet Mark Cuban’s General Counsel

By Mark Curriden – (Feb. 24) – For nearly three decades, Hart has been Cuban's friend and chief legal adviser. “Mark goes at a very fast pace,” he says. “He’s out there everywhere. My job is to be his backstop... fill in the holes behind him. I’m here to help Mark do what he does best, but to make sure that he avoids legal pitfalls."

In this in-depth profile, Hart discusses the challenges of being Mark Cuban's top lawyer, the complexity of the deals he's handled and the millions of dollars he spends annually on outside legal fees. Cuban, of course, also weighs in.

“[Robert's] job is to be super conservative and to piss me off... but also to protect me,” Cuban says. "Here’s the thing: When I don’t follow Robert’s advice, it usually bites me in the ass.”

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Eric Albritton
Michael Avenatti
David Baay
Thad Behrens
Doug Bland
Brad Caldwell
Dan Garner
Robert Hart
Zoe Littlepage
Tom Melsheimer
Paul Wageman

Albritton Law Firm
Caldwell Cassady & Curry
Eagan Avenatti
Fish
Haynes and Boone
Hunton
Littlepage Booth
Mark Cuban Companies
Sutherland Asbill
V&E
Winstead

‘Shadow Banking’ Leads to Plunge in Texas Business Bankruptcy Filings

By Mark Curriden – DALLAS (Jan. 13) – Business bankruptcy restructuring in Texas declined 20 percent in 2014 and plummeted more than 56 percent during the past five years. Experts point to a booming economy, low interest rates, an unprecedented access to cash through the emergence of a shadow banking system and the ballooning cost of litigating a case in bankruptcy court. But the streak may end in 2015 thanks to falling oil prices.

“There is going to be a horrible re-awakening in March when E&P companies are required to reset their borrowing basis based on reserves,” says William Snyder of Deloitte. “We will see massive hemorrhaging in the smaller oil and gas companies. By May and June, we are going to see a lot of pain out there."

TMI on Social Media? How to Keep Company Policies Lawful

By Kerry Curry – (Feb. 13) – A quiet work complaint voiced over beers at a corner pub 10 years ago can now go viral on Facebook or Twitter. The popularity of social media brings risks for employers who should tread carefully when placing social media limits into a company policy. The National Labor Relations Board is watching. It is a very fluid area of the law that employers should watch, legal experts said.

Tread Carefully When Writing a Social Media Policy

By Kerry Curry – (Feb. 13) – The NLRB has plenty to say about companies’ social media policies and it hasn’t been too complimentary. The agency believes a significant number of social media policy restrictions are unlawful. We list six red flags that companies need to know. “My advice is to be very aware of the recent guidance from the NLRB,” said General Datatech GC John Ansbach.

Posting, Tweeting, Tagging #Gagging

By Shamoil Shipchandler & Terence Hart of Bracewell & Giuliani – (Feb. 13) – Hey, did you know that you can get yourself in a whole lot of trouble on social media? No, seriously, you can! Wait, you already knew that? Everyone knows that? Well then, why does it keep happening?