Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The week that ended Oct. 11 saw 14 deals reported with a total value of $17.4 billion, nearly two-thirds of which was attributable to Fifth Third Bancorp acquiring Comerica in a stock swap valued at $10.9 billion. It was a bit of a drop-off from the 21 deals valued at $20.8 billion for the week prior and less in volume but better in value than the 22 deals valued at $8.4 billion this time last year.
That and more in this week’s CDT Roundup.
A jury in the Eastern District of Texas on Friday morning delivered to a company that accused Samsung Electronics of infringing four patents exactly what it asked for: $445.5 million in damages for the telecommunication giant’s willful use of the technology it hadn’t paid for.
In this week’s edition of P.S., the Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas is reviving its in-person Builders of Justice Progressive Dinner and Awards Program in McKinney, honoring local advocates for expanding access to justice. In Houston, the Bar Association’s Days of Service engaged about 300 lawyers and benefitted more than 14,000 people through community service projects. Meanwhile, Texas RioGrande Legal Aid is encouraging early donations for El Paso Giving Day to support its wide-ranging civil legal work across 68 counties, and the Association of Corporate Counsel San Antonio makes a donation to the San Antonio Legal Services Association. Rounding out this issue, Bracewell hosted 25 Aldine ISD students for a law career panel in partnership with Momentum Education.
The Lee Cusenbary Award is presented to one in-house lawyer or legal department and one private lawyer or law firm that exemplify exceptional ethical behavior in the practice of law. This award has been a proud chapter tradition since 2008.
Citing the shutdown of the federal government, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order Wednesday staying all proceedings in the litigation brought by U.S. law firms related to presidential executive orders seeking to punish them for representing clients that President Donald Trump opposes. Meanwhile, 1,400 miles southwest, the U.S. Trustee in Houston has asked the federal court to issue the same order in the government’s litigation against the Jackson Walker law firm related to the romance scandal involving former bankruptcy judge David Jones in the Southern District of Texas.
Vinson & Elkins advised ARM Energy Holdings on the decision, which will link Texas gas fields with Sempra’s Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project on the Texas Gulf Coast.
Cincinnati-based Frost Brown Todd, which has operations in Dallas and Houston, announced Wednesday that it is merging with the Newark-headquartered law firm Gibbons. The merged firm will be called FBT Gibbons and will have about 800 lawyers in 25 offices across the country.
White & Case bolstered its M&A and energy group by hiring veteran Houston dealmaker Ian Goldberg, the firm announced in a news release. Bringing considerable experience with complex energy transactions, Goldberg also advises on energy transition, from carbon capture to renewable projects.
The justices fired off questions about olive oil, wine, banana bread and podiums in trying to suss out where the line should be drawn on what constitutes a product “made of tobacco or a tobacco substitute.” The decision on whether nicotine pouches can be taxed as a tobacco product could have wide implications as the popularity of the products continues to grow.
The lawyer representing the owners of a luxury home furnishings store in Conroe who argued the facility next door violated a restrictive covenant called the decision a “complete victory” for his clients. The 193-mile long Blackfin Pipeline is intended to ship gas from Colorado County, just west of Houston along Interstate 10, to Jasper County, just north of Beaumont.
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