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Allen Pusey

Allen Pusey is a senior editor and writer at The Texas Lawbook.

Allen Pusey

Prominent legal and investigative journalist Allen Pusey is a senior editor and writer at The Texas Lawbook.

Prior to joining The Lawbook, Pusey was the editor and publisher of the ABA Journal, which is the nation’s largest circulation legal publication. Before his decade with the Journal, Pusey spent 26 years as a reporter and editor at The Dallas Morning News, where he was a special projects editor and covered the Supreme Court of the United States.

A former director at the Center for Public Integrity, Pusey brings extraordinary experience and knowledge of the legal industry to The Texas Lawbook. Our readers are now the beneficiaries of his amazing talent as a writer and editor.

You can reach Allen at allen.pusey@texaslawbook.net or 202.669.4398.

To Launch New Dallas Office, Dechert Snags McDermott Duo Behind Tesla’s $1 Trillion Contract

Veteran corporate lawyers and dealmakers Wilson Chu and Joanna Lin have left McDermott to launch Dechert’s new Dallas office, following their high-profile work advising Tesla on Elon Musk’s $1 trillion employment contract. Their move was quietly noted in Dechert’s announcement of 20 partner hires for new offices in Dallas and Chicago, and existing ones in key U.S. markets, marking another shift amid McDermott’s ongoing post-merger reshuffling.

Allen Pusey

Two Tapped by President Trump for Bench in WDTX

Andrew Davis, an Austin litigator who had served as a staffer on the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee, and Judge Chris Wolfe, a Tarrant County trial judge since 2018, have been named to federal bench vacancies in Austin and Waco.

Allen Pusey

Agency Recommends $9.6M in Fines for Houston-based Midstream for 2022 Deepwater Spill

The U.S. Department of Transportation announced Monday that it is recommending a fine of more than $9.6 million against a Houston-based company for a November 2023 deepwater oil spill off the coast of Louisiana. The penalty is the result of an investigation by the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safe Administration and the recommended levy of $9,622,054 is described as the "largest civil penalty ever proposed" by the agency.

Allen Pusey

In AI Gold Rush, Capital Markets Learn to Live Off Data

In the shengxiao, the year 2025 was represented by the snake. As the sixth of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, the snake represents both mystery and transformation.

For capital markets lawyers that is exactly what 2025 was supposed to be, a year of pipeline deals, AI-driven demand and a new presidential administration primed to relieve public companies from the inordinate burdens associated with their public-ness.

Well, it was. And it wasn't.

It's been a busier year than those passed. But capital markets have changed and are changing. The yearly stats say so. And so do the lawyers who make their living assembling them.

Allen Pusey

Energy Lenders Fall Back in Credit Survey

Energy-lending banks are projecting 2026 average oil prices of $55.44 per barrel, a $1.50/BBL decline from projections six months ago, according to the latest Energy Bank Price Deck Survey from Haynes Boone released Dec. 17.

Allen Pusey

JAPEX Acquires DJ Basin Assets for $1.3B

Willkie Farr & Gallagher advised JAPEX and Kirkland & Ellis advised Verdad Resources Intermediate Holdings on the deal, which includes more than 100,000 acres of tight oil assets in Colorado and Wyoming.

Allen Pusey

Winston & Strawn to Merge with Taylor Wessing UK to Form Global Business Firm

Winston & Strawn announced Monday that it has agreed to a trans-Atlantic merger with Taylor Wessing, the global business law firm ranked among the top 20 law firms in the United Kingdom.

Winston & Strawn's Dallas and Houston offices ranked 18th in combined Texas lawyer headcount and 15th in Texas-based revenue with $215 million for 2024.

Allen Pusey

Dallas Fed Survey Reveals Anxiety in Manufacturing, Services and Retail

The latest tranche of Texas Business Outlook Surveys from the Dallas Fed was released and the outlook self-described — at least among the Texas manufacturing, services and retail sectors surveyed — is not one of unbridled optimism. Kevin Henderson, a founding partner of SMB Law, says, "We still see a ton of M&A activity in the SBA space, but when talking to current business owners, things are definitely not as rosy as they have been in the past in terms of excitement on outlook. People are nervous about tariffs and overall economic impact and how it will affect their businesses."

Allen Pusey

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