Amid uncertainty about the new administration, top Texas litigators who specialize in white-collar criminal law and securities enforcement say healthcare fraud will continue to be a top priority for federal prosecutors, though immigration cases will likely see a surge. The Texas Lawbook asked eight leading white-collar specialists what they see as the most important legal trends in the state and what they predict regarding white-collar prosecutions this year. Cybersecurity, foreign bribery, elderly abuse and privacy law violation offenses are best bets. But then again, it is President Trump, so who knows?
Q&A: Rob Ellis of Southwestern Energy
For Premium Subscribers As assistant general counsel of Southwestern Energy, Rob Ellis has notched big victories. None bigger than last October when Ellis and his team of lawyers at Yetter
Southwestern Energy’s Rob Ellis: ‘An Impressive Mix of Smarts and Emotional Intelligence’
As assistant general counsel of Southwestern Energy, Rob Ellis has notched big victories. None bigger than last October when Ellis and his team of lawyers at Yetter Coleman sued a chemical company whose operations on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River allegedly trespassed and interfered with the underground drilling operations of a Southwestern Energy subsidiary. A three-week trial resulted in a unanimous verdict awarding Ellis’ company $70 million in damages. Citing the huge courtroom victory and his service to the greater Houston community, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston chapter and The Texas Lawbook have awarded Ellis the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (five or fewer lawyers).
Dallas Judge Reduces $7.3 Billion Award in Murder of 83-Year-Old Charter Spectrum Customer
In his four-page judgment, Judge Juan Renteria stated that the plaintiffs “voluntarily remitted a substantial amount of the exemplary damages.”
Sources: Veteran Dallas Prosecutor Front-runner To Be Next NDTX U.S. Attorney
Federal prosecutor Leigha Simonton, head of the Northern District of Texas’ Appellate Division, is widely praised by colleagues as smart, hard-working, and an exemplary leader. ‘She would be a great choice,’ says Erin Nealy Cox of Kirkland & Ellis, Simonton’s former boss.
‘It Is High Time’ To Halt Inheritance Litigation by Albert Hill III, Judge Declares
U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay rejected yet another lawsuit by ‘Al Three,’ an embittered descendant of oil magnate H.L. Hunt, and said he’s considering sanctions against the ‘vexatious litigator’ and his lawyers.
Exit Interview: Erin Nealy Cox
On the day she announced her resignation as U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Erin Nealy Cox sat for an exclusive interview with Mark Curriden and Bruce Tomaso of The Texas Lawbook. The interview touched on a broad variety of topics, from dealing with COVID-19 to the opioid crisis to her legacy after three years in office to the pipeline of white-collar fraud cases she initiated that, she says, will come to fruition in the next few years.
Erin Nealy Cox Steps Down: ‘I gave it all I could for as long as I could’
Calling it the “Job of a lifetime,” Erin Nealy Cox says in an interview with The Lawbook that the work she’s most proud of will not end when she leaves Jan. 8.
Forest Park Surgeons and Hospital Officials on Trial for Alleged Kickback Scheme
Jury selection is expected to start today for five doctors and four other Forest Park hospital officials standing trial in federal court for being involved in an alleged illegal kickback scheme that put tens of millions of dollars into their pockets. Healthcare lawyers across the country are closely monitoring the case. Texas Lawbook correspondent Bruce Tomaso is covering the trial and will provide gavel-to-gavel coverage.