Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The week ending May 10 was, to say the least, brisk. Depending on how you count, there were 21 transactions valued at $21.5 billion or 24 valued at just over $30 billion. Either way, that's pretty fair traffic compared to last week's 11 deals for $4.2 billion. But it seems in keeping with last year's 22 deals for $14 billion at about this time. Maybe deals just wanted to close themselves for Mothers' Day.
In the cash-and-stock deal, Dallas-based Sunoco has agreed to to maintain a headquarters in Canada, along with Canadian employment, with Stikeman Elliott, Vinson & Elkins and Weil advising Sunoco on the transaction. But the deal is likely to be challenged in court by Parkland's largest stockholder.
We saw a major DFW brand, Sabre, make a $1.1 billion divestiture, a shipping logistics acquisition, a good-sized banking deal, funding for a social care navigation platform, the acquisition of a Mexico-based supply chain platform and a $400 million PE commitment to a new E&P.
The Baylor Law School grad moves to Haynes Boone after six years at Morgan Lewis — with the last five as managing partner of the firm's Dallas office.
Southlake-based Sabre, plans to use the proceeds from the all-cash transaction to reduce debt and focus on its core business objectives. Haynes Boone and Davis Polk advised on the deal.
As we reported on the day of the event, the 2025 Bench Bar Conference for the Northern District of Texas held April 11, began with a bit of a bang. U.S. District Judge David Godbey caused an early stir by describing the level of personal threats against himself and against other judges and their families as a threat to judicial independence. Here are a few other notable outtakes from conference.
Marek had been a frequent presence on corporate teams at Vinson & Elkins, including some of the firm's largest deals in 2025. Marek had been with V&E since his graduation from University of Texas School of Law in 2014.
The event was described as a “fireside chat,” intended as a brief, informal Q&A session to kick off the 8th Annual Bench Bar Conference for the Northern District of Texas. The discussion featured NDTX District Clerk Karen Mitchell and NDTX Chief Judge David Godbey. They began by addressing the dynamics of the district and common challenges related to budgeting and policy, including the impact of AI. However, the conversation also took a more serious turn as they talked about the issue of judicial death threats. “Non-elected, active citizens will send me death threats and publish my personal information on the internet and encourage like-minded people to try to kill me,” he said. “That’s a different ballgame.”
The 2025 Katten Middle-Market Private Equity report released Thursday was based on bullish post-election December business optimism. But the early and aggressive moves by the Trump Administration forced the report sponsor, Katten, to reassess its data — to the point of authorizing a "flash survey" to gauge whether optimism had survived.
Below is a list of qualified capital markets transactions reported to The Texas Lawbook during 2025. The list is organic, designed to grow as deals are reported. So if you have deals
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