The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

American Airlines Insiders Provide Exclusive Behind-the-Scenes Recap of Historic Bankruptcy and Merger

Long-time American GC Gary Kennedy and other in-house and outside counsel in the American Airlines bankruptcy and merger with US Airways on Tuesday provided the most extensive behind-the-scenes tour of the historic reorganization. They discuss undercover flights to New York on a competitor's airline, angry calls with AMR board members, outside legal fees of $500,000 a day and closed door arguments between senior lawyers at the two airlines.

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

Mark Cuban Cleared of All Insider Trading Charges: The Full Story

After nearly three and a half hours of deliberation, nine jurors found Dallas billionaire Mark Cuban innocent of insider trading Wednesday afternoon. The verdict marks the end of the three-week trial, just days before the federal courts will run out of cash if the government shutdown continues. The six-year legal battle is likely the most expensive case the SEC has ever taken to trial. The heart of the dispute dates back to 2004 when Cuban had an eight-minute phone conversation with Mamma.com CEO Guy Fauré. During the call, Fauré asked Cuban if he wanted to participate in a private placement investment the company was conducting to raise capital. During a recorded video deposition, Fauré testified he began the conversation saying, “Mark, I’ve got confidential information,” to which Fauré said Cuban replied, “Uh-huh, okay, go ahead.” Cuban testified he doesn’t recall anything from the conversation except that he was angry. Fauré said in his deposition that at the end of the call, Cuban said, “Well, now I’m screwed. I can’t sell.” The infamous statement was a key piece of the SEC’s argument that Cuban recognized that the information he received was confidential and that he could not trade on it until after it went public. Throughout the trial, Cuban denied that the information he received was confidential, that he agreed to keep it confidential and that he agreed to restrict trading. "People who wanted access to that information could get it," the expert witness said. The Texas Lawbook is in the courtroom for every minute of the SEC's insider trading trial against Mark Cuban and we have full details.

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

West Fertilizer Explosion Lawsuits Coming

The death and destruction caused by the explosion at the West Fertilizer Plant is likely to cost the owners of the plant, its insurance carriers and the makers and operators of the equipment storing the anhydrous ammonia hundreds of millions of dollars in legal compensatory damages, according to lawyers who are following the case closely. The first lawsuits are expected to be filed next week.

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

ABF Experts: Texas Tort Reform ‘Isn’t Worth the Squeeze’ — Updated

Tort reform is causing a detrimental effect on injured Texas' citizens and the trial lawyers who represent them. Laws that capped damages in personal injury and medical malpractice verdicts are causing lawyers to reject many legitimate cases because the expenses now exceed the damages lawyers could recover for clients, according to two studies and a panel of legal experts presented at the ABA meeting in Dallas this past week.

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

SMU Ousts Law Dean John Attanasio, Spurs Backlash By Prominent Alumni

SMU senior leaders have informed Attanasio that his contract, which expires in May, will not be renewed and that the university is taking immediate steps to find a successor, The Texas Lawbook has learned. The decision prompted 56 prominent alumni to sign a letter to Turner supporting Attanasio and asking the university to reconsider. A member of the Dedman Law School executive board has resigned and two others have said they are considering resigning because they were not informed by Ludden or Turner about the move and think it is the wrong decision.

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

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