The Texas Lawbook

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.

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.

Q&A with Trial Lawyer Charla Aldous 

Two peppy chihuahua mixes trail Charla Aldous through her Dallas office. Lucy and Loretta Mae are adopted rescue dogs who are considered as much law firm staff as any of the human employees. Aldous’ rescuer spirit has translated to her decadeslong career as a trial lawyer pursuing social justice. In one of her earliest cases, recognizing her guardian-like persona, clients gifted her a gold-plated angel lapel pin, which she wears in trials to this day. “I've been doing this for 37 years, and strangely enough, I still love it,” Aldous said in a November interview with The Texas Lawbook.

Krista Torralva

Kirkland & Ellis Partner Launches IRISI, Empowering North Texas Teens Through Leadership Camps

Daniel Hernandez Alvarenga’s mother noticed a change in her 17-year-old son when she picked him up from the Dallas airport following a two-week stay at a rural camp nearly 2,000 miles away in Maine. Indeed, Hernandez had changed. The Dallas high school student gained energy, ideas and hope, he said in a testimonial video published by IRISI, a non-profit organization founded by Kirkland & Ellis Dallas partner Michael Considine and his wife, Megan Considine, that raises scholarships to send teenagers to camp. Irisi, which since 2023 has sent about a dozen North Texas students to the Seeds of Peace Camp in Otisfield, Maine, officially launched this year. 

Krista Torralva

Conservative Group Targets American Airlines’ Diversity Contracting Program in New Lawsuit

The American Alliance for Equal Rights, headed by political conservative Edward Blum, has filed a lawsuit against Fort Worth-based American Airlines and its supplier, alleging the airline’s diversity policy for awarding certain contracts violates civil rights law. Blum, who took down affirmative action in college admissions, has recently been targeting diversity programs in law firms and corporations, including Southwest Airlines in a lawsuit last year alleging a charitable program that provided free tickets to low-income Hispanic students flying home to visit their parents is illegally discriminatory.

Krista Torralva

Q&A with Trial Lawyer Jessica Dean

Dean Omar Branham Shirley was in back-to-back trials last year across the country against Johnson & Johnson over allegations the pharmaceutical giant's talc-based baby powder contained cancer-causing asbestos. During an October interview with The Texas Lawbook in her Dallas home, name partner Jessica Dean was in between trips to Boston and Pittsburgh to try cases. “I believe, in a lot of the cases we work on, we allow someone who’s lost their life to bad conduct to be remembered in all sorts of fun ways: in the minds of jurors, in the minds of judges,” she said. “A case can live for years.”

Krista Torralva

O’Melveny & Myers and First Liberty Institute File Lawsuit Over Denied Church Permit, Alleging Religious Liberty Violations

O’Melveny & Myers lawyers have joined Plano-based First Liberty Institute on a federal lawsuit accusing the city of Santa Ana, California, of violating a Chinese- and Taiwanese-American Christian church’s religious liberty rights. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Central District of California, accuses the city of violating the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, as well as the First Amendment. O’Melveny is working on the case pro bono. 

Krista Torralva

Q&A with Trial Lawyer Daryl Washington

Washington began his legal career working in mergers and acquisitions for Jackson Walker. A former wide receiver for the Grambling State University football team, Washington also represented professional athletes and college coaches, where he got a taste of litigation. But he wanted to be a fulltime trial lawyer.

Krista Torralva

Dallas Boutique Nabs Former Appeals Court Justice Amanda Reichek

Former Fifth District Court of Appeals justice Amanda Reichek has joined Dallas law firm Tillotson Johnson Patton as a partner after losing her re-election bid in November. Reichek, who previously worked in plaintiff-side employment law and union-side labor law, expressed excitement about returning to a small firm setting and joining a "top-notch" legal team. The firm’s name partner, Jeff Tillotson, praised Reichek's knowledge and skill, noting she adds tremendous value to their already strong appellate group.

Krista Torralva

Lawsuit Alleges North Texas Jail’s Book, Magazine Bans Violate Free Speech, Due Process Rights

The Human Rights Defense Center is suing Grayson County and the sheriff, claiming the facility’s rejection of books, magazines and other materials sent to inmates violates the organization’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The lawsuit, filed in September, argues that the jail’s policies prevent inmates from receiving important legal literature, with no clear process for challenging rejections. U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant had questions for both sides during a hearing Monday on the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction.

Krista Torralva

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.

Krista Torralva

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