TPG Capital Hires Fort Worth SEC Lawyer as Corporate Compliance Leader – Updated

Mark Curriden – (Jan. 29) – JoAnn Harris is about to get a big raise. The private equity firm is expected next week to name the SEC assistant director of enforcement as its new deputy director of corporate compliance. “TPG’s footprint is around the globe,” Harris told The Texas Lawbook. “It is definitely going to be a challenge, but it will be fun.”

TX-Based Firms Begin Paying Associate Bonuses

By Natalie Posgate – (Jan. 28) – Associate bonuses in Texas are starting to publicly surface. Tuesday, Vinson & Elkins Chairman Mark Kelly sent out a firmwide memo announcing the bonus amounts the firm’s associates will receive for 2014, which he said will be in associates’ accounts by the end of the week. V&E’s bonus amounts, the first from a large Texas-based law firm to be in the public domain, match if not exceed most national or New York law firms that have announced their numbers already.

Morgan Lewis’ Allyson Ho Scores First SCOTUS Win

By Natalie Posgate – (Jan. 28) – Last month, Allyson Ho celebrated a milestone conquest: completing the first two U.S. Supreme Court oral arguments in her career, which took place within three weeks of each other. This week began with another conquest. The Supreme Court returned its opinion for Ho’s first case, M&G Polymers USA, LLC v. Tackett, and it was in her client’s favor.

De Boulle Prevails in Trademark Case

By Natalie Posgate – (Jan. 26) – Diamonds are a girl’s best friend, but a Dallas federal court decided last week that the precious stone could elicit quite the opposite effect between brothers trying to run their own jewelry businesses under their family name.

Energy Future Holdings GC: The Need for Legal Aid is Critical

By Stacey Doré – (Jan. 29) – We have a motto in our legal department – “See It. Own It. Solve It.” This also applies to our pro bono service by helping to solve the legal problems facing those less fortunate in our communities. I believe that as members of a unique and special profession, we can and should do so much more.

This article also includes a list of scores of individual lawyers and law firms that gave more than $1.1 million to Equal Access to Justice in 2014.

GC Finds that Life’s a Blog

Patricia Baldwin – This lawyer leads two lives. As Amy Howell, she is General Counsel of Zimbra, an email software company near Dallas. As Natasha Osteen, she is the blogger behind “Smells Like Butterscotch,” a sometimes irreverent, often hilarious and always relevant look at life, faith, fear, humor… well, you name it. So, obviously, the first query is: What gives, Amy Natasha Osteen Howell? She laughs and tells The Texas Lawbook about her double-identity adventures.

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Jack Balagia
Randy Block
Ron Cami
Bill Chamblee
Elizabeth Daane
Stacey Doré
Ryan Farha
Toby Galloway
Laura Benitez Geisler
JoAnn Harris
Allyson Ho
Barrett Howell
Mark Kelly
Jon Leatherberry
Nicola Nobeiche
Tim Powers
Heather Perttula Randall
Robert Tobey
David Woodcock
John Zavitsanos

AZA
Bracewell & Giuliani
Chamblee Ryan
EFH
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Haynes and Boone
Kelly Hart
Latham
Morgan Lewis
ORIX
Performance Legal Placement
TPG Capital
Trinity Industries
V&E
Weil
Zimbra Inc.

‘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."

2014 was the Year of the Deal – Texas M&A Hit Record Levels

By Mark Curriden – HOUSTON (Jan. 2) – Texas companies were involved in more mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and joint ventures in 2014 than in any year in history, shattering the previous record set before the financial crisis. Led by a trio of mega-deals, the accumulated value of 2014 M&A exceeded the dollar totals of all transactions from 2013 and 2012 combined. The Texas Lawbook has the exclusive data as well as an analysis of the M&A market.

Record Texas M&A, But Who is Doing the Legal Work?

By Mark Curriden – HOUSTON (Jan. 2) – Mergermarket reports that a handful of large corporate law firms are benefiting greatly from the M&A boom of 2014. Three Texas firms - V&E, Baker Botts and Bracewell - are leading their fair share of the deals. Out-of-state firms, including Latham, Jones Day and Kirkland, score big, too. The Texas Lawbook exclusively lists the top 20 M&A firms and there are some surprises.