© 2017 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
(May 2) – Thompson & Knight has added Houston trial partner Kenneth Held, the firm announced yesterday.
Held was previously at litigation boutique Schiffer Odom Hicks. He notes that while he was able to attract great cases at Schiffer Odom, T&K offers the “best of both worlds.
“T&K is a big firm that is still committed to its trial practice,” he said. “I needed a larger platform to get the kind of securities litigation I’m interested in.”
Held focuses his practice on securities litigation, energy litigation and class action defense, including consumer and shareholder class action suits.
In energy-related matters, he has handled price reopener disputes, long-term gas supply contract disputes, crude oil quality disputes, joint operating agreement disputes, and purchase agreement price disputes.
Held says securities experts are watching closely to see how enforcement priorities might change at the SEC under the new administration and recently confirmed chairman Jay Clayton.
One specific area of securities litigation that Held is monitoring is related to the Trulia ruling by a Delaware judge in January 2016, which laid out new standards for settling merger class actions. He says the subject matter is currently being taken up by different jurisdictions.
The key questions Held is looking at are how the Trulia standards will impact the number of class actions filed in public company mergers in the first instance and whether defendants will have more incentive to litigate versus settle if proposed settlements aren’t upheld.
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