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Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

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Krista Torralva

Krista Torralva covers pro bono, public service, and diversity matters in the Texas legal market.

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Krista Torralva

Krista Torralva covers pro bono, public service, and diversity for the Texas Lawbook Foundation and The Texas Lawbook. Previously, she covered courts for The Dallas Morning News. Krista has spent the bulk of her decade-plus-long career covering criminal courts in Texas and Florida. Her reporting includes the high profile federal terrorism trial against the Pulse nightclub shooter’s widow in Orlando, which ended in a rare acquittal. Her civil courts coverage has included the long-winding Texas voter ID lawsuit, legal battles over local Covid-19 mandates and school board disputes. Krista's work has been recognized by the State Bar of Texas' Gavel Awards, the Texas Association Press Managing Editors, the National Headliner Awards program and various local chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The daughter of a Naval officer, Krista grew up traveling every few years but calls Corpus Christi home and talks about the Texas Gulf Coast every chance she gets. She lives in Dallas’ North Oak Cliff with her husband, Fares Sabawi.

Krista graduated from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Dallas Firm Defeats $150M Lawsuit Against Energy Transfer in New York Trial 

Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann secured a major win for Energy Transfer in a complex fraud and breach of contract claim mounted by investment funds associated with Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC and the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board. After a three-week trial in New York, the judge ruled Jan. 17 that Energy Transfer was not liable on any counts, effectively avoiding a potential $200 million judgment including pretrial interest.

January 22, 2025 Krista Torralva

Workrise Associate GC Kelsey Williams Revolutionized Company’s Legal Strategy and Collections

Kelsey Williams almost didn’t become a lawyer. She bucked her parents’ efforts to persuade her to follow in her father’s footsteps. But it was in a specific moment during her undergraduate literature studies that she realized she may be a natural fit for the legal profession. Today, her peers say she has a “signature brand of meticulous and thoughtful legal work” that has transformed Workrise’s profitability and stability. And she is a finalist for the 2024 DFW Senior Counsel of the Year Award. 

January 21, 2025 Krista Torralva

Premium Subscriber Q&A: Kelsey Williams

In this premium subscriber Q&A, Workwise GC Kelsey Williams discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.

January 21, 2025 Krista Torralva

Baker Botts Boosts International Disputes and Antitrust Practices with High-Profile Hires

Ben Love returns to Texas after working out of Boies Schiller Flexner’s New York and Washington D.C. offices. Former Texas-based lawyer Edward Duffy joins Baker Botts from the U.S. Department of Justice.

January 21, 2025 Krista Torralva

Energy Transfer and Far West Texas Gas Companies Settle Lawsuit One Week Before Trial

Energy Transfer, represented by Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann, filed a lawsuit in April 2022 against Culberson Midstream Equity and Moontower Resources Gathering alleging a breach of their 2018 contract because the gas gatherers didn’t deliver committed gas. Culberson and Moontower, represented by Reese Marketos, filed a counterclaim also alleging a breach of contract.

January 16, 2025 Krista Torralva

Quinn Emanuel Elevates Christopher D. Porter to Co-Chair of National Trial Practice 

Christopher D. Porter, already co-managing partner of Quinn Emanuel’s Houston office, was recently named co-chair of the national trial practice group. Porter boasts more than 16 years as a trial lawyer with a practice focused on business litigation.

January 15, 2025 Krista Torralva

Veteran Trial Lawyer Mary-Olga “Mo” Lovett Exits King & Spalding to Launch Self-Titled Firm

Mary-Olga “Mo” Lovett, formerly a partner at King & Spalding and a past senior vice president at Greenberg Traurig boasts more than 30 years of experience as a trial lawyer. Owning her own firm has been a lifelong dream, she said.

January 14, 2025 Krista Torralva

Six Lawyers Jump from Bradley to Sheppard Mullin

Partners Gene Besen, Elisha Kobre and Scarlett Singleton Nokes, as well as special counsel Stephen Moulton and associates Rebecca James and Courtlyn Ward, have joined Sheppard Mullin’s governmental practice. The team’s practice grew exponentially at Bradley and a move to Sheppard Mullin was a strategic decision to grow their practice further in a larger firm, Besen said. 

January 13, 2025 Krista Torralva

Social Media Influencer’s Texas Lawsuit Against Rival Could Pave the Way for Future Copyright Cases

A lawsuit filed by Sydney Nicole Gifford, a former Austin resident who promotes Amazon products, against fellow Austin-area influencer Alyssa Sheil survived a motion to dismiss last month. Lawyers who spoke with The Texas Lawbook said widespread attention on the case is likely to incite other influencers to contact lawyers and explore legal avenues, including litigation, to safeguard their brand aesthetics, even though those same legal observers expressed skepticism about the case’s viability moving forward.

January 10, 2025 Krista Torralva

Johnson & Johnson Cleared of Causation in Mesothelioma Trial, But Jury Still Attempts to Award $22M in Punitive Damages

A Pittsburgh jury returned a confusing verdict Monday in a mesothelioma trial involving Texas lawyers on both sides. Jurors handed a defense verdict to the pharmaceutical giant but went on to answer questions about punitive damages that they shouldn’t have. J&J is nevertheless claiming the verdict as vindication.

January 9, 2025 Krista Torralva

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Features

  • P.S. — Haynes Boone Tops Law Firms in United Way Giving in Houston; King & Spalding, Baker Botts Follow - In this edition of P.S., Jackson Walker has established the Jackson Walker Endowed Scholarship Fund in Memory of Emma Hackney at SMU Dedman School of Law, honoring a former associate in its banking and finance practice who was killed in a car wreck last year. The scholarship “represents the very best of who Emma was: a warm, kind and thoughtful person who put others ahead of herself,” said Justin Shipley, a finance partner in the Dallas office where Hackney worked.  

    The San Antonio Legal Services Association held its annual luncheon this week, bringing together attorneys, judges, business leaders and community advocates committed to expanding access to civil legal services for low-income Texans in San Antonio and surrounding counties. Find out who was recognized at the premier fundraising event. 

    The Haynes Boone offices in Houston and The Woodlands raised a record $185,000 through a year-long campaign benefiting the United Way of Greater Houston. The effort is part of a broader campaign among law firms, with Haynes Boone ranking as the top contributing law firm.
    April 10, 2026Krista Torralva

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Spencer Fane Adds 75 Lawyers in Merger with Tulsa-based Conner & Winters - Kansas City business law firm Spencer Fane is combining with Tulsa-based Conner & Winters, which has more than 75 attorneys practicing from offices in Northwest Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, specializing in energy, construction, health care, litigation, finance, and other commercial matters.
  • Omar Samji Heads Back to Gibson Dunn
  • Two More Partners Move to King & Spalding’s Dallas Office
  • Heim, Payne & Chorush Adds Trademark Attorney as Of Counsel
  • Hamilton Wingo Adds Former Assistant U.S. Attorney as Partner
  • Winston & Strawn Co-Chair Moves to Yetter Coleman
  • Munsch Hardt Announces New Texas Office
  • O’Melveny Snags Doug Lionberger from Holland & Knight
  • The Bassett Firm Joins Chartwell Law Platform
  • Munsch Hardt Hires Dallas Corporate Trio from Conner & Winters
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

Hover right to see full list

Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

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