Corporate Deal Tracker: Law firms in which Texas lawyers were the lead legal advisors for the buyers, sellers or targets of a merger, acquisition, divestiture or joint venture during the first six months of 2021.
Texas Law Firm PPP Lending Less in 2021, But More Than Reported in 2020
Newly released data from the Small Business Administration reveals the full extent to which Texas law firms relied on Payroll Protection Plan loans to stay afloat while adjusting to the widespread disruptions of the Covid-19 pandemic. But the data also shows that law firms in Texas rebounded enough to leave a fair amount of federal money on the table. The Texas Lawbook has the numbers.
HollyFrontier and Holly Energy Partners Add Sinclair Dinosaur for $1.8B
Dallas-based HollyFrontier Corporation and Holly Energy Partners are paying $1.8 billion to add Sinclair Oil’s iconic brand and distribution network to their operation.
Mergermarket: Top 50 M&A Deals H1 2021
Below are the top valued 50 M&A transactions for the first half of 2021 involving one or more Texas-headquartered companies. The data compiled by Mergermarket and provided exclusively to The
SCOTX Walks Back Demand for PUC Review in Common Law Cases Against Utilities
In 2018 the Supreme Court of Texas established a precedent requiring common law cases involving the operation of utilities, even those involving personal injury, to be reviewed by the Public Utilities Commission before reaching the courts. In three opinions filed since Friday, the court has been recalibrating that requirement. The Lawbook’s Allen Pusey reviews those cases and the issues that caused the court to take a new look at its own precedent.
SCOTX: The World’s Largest Retail Operation Is Not a ‘Seller’
When is a seller not a seller in Texas? When it advertises products online, takes money for them and delivers them to customers, according to the Texas Supreme Court. That opinion was delivered Friday in response to a certified question regarding Amazon.com from the U.S. Fifth Circuit. It was not a unanimous view, as The Lawbook’s Allen Pusey explains.
SCOTX Reaches ‘Wayback’ To Reject Narrowing of Out-of-State Jurisdiction
Invoking a web archive and a social media page as evidence of “purposeful availment,” the Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that a Connecticut company could be sued in Texas, despite its claim that it never had any intention of doing business here.
Fifth Court of Appeals Affirms Summary Judgment Denial in D Magazine Libel Case
The defamation suit brought by a woman accused by D Magazine of living in University Park while on a federal food program took a step closer to trial last week when the Fifth Court of Appeals refused to dismiss her case against the Dallas publication. The court ruled that enough issues of fact have been raised by the plaintiff to preclude a summary judgment. Allen Pusey has details.
Justice Eva Guzman Resigns From Texas Supreme Court
The first Hispanic woman elected to statewide office in 2010, Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman announced Monday that she is resigning from the state’s highest court this coming Friday. Guzman, who has been a judge in Texas for 22 years, gained a reputation as an aggressive questioner during oral arguments. The Texas Lawbook’s Allen Pusey has the details.
SCOTX Supports Electronic MAAs; Justice Boyd’s Dylanesque Dissent
When the Texas Supreme Court reversed a trial court on an issue over electronic signatures, Justice Jeffrey Boyd had a problem. The court had already decided the case, he noted in dissent, 90 years ago. The Lawbook’s Allen Pusey reviews Judge Boyd’s singular opinion in which he takes Bob Dylan along for the ride.