The Texas Lawbook

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Mark Smith

Mark covers white-collar and regulatory matters.

Mark Smith

Mark covers white-collar and regulatory matters for The Texas Lawbook.

‘Picking the Right Word’: Troutman Pepper Locke’s Paul Coggins Talks Trials, Fiction Writing

Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas and Troutman Pepper Locke partner Paul Coggins spends his mornings writing legal thrillers before stepping into court to defend complex white-collar cases. With a new Cash McCahill novel hitting shelves and a securities-fraud trial on his docket, the veteran advocate reflects on decades of practice in Texas and why trial strategy and fiction writing draw on the same craft.

Mark Smith

White-Collar & Regulatory Roundup: Attorney Charged in $1.45M Tax-Lien Ponzi Scheme

In this September edition of White-Collar & Regulatory Roundup, federal prosecutors say David Gilchrist ran a property tax-lien investment scheme that collected $1.45 million from roughly 20 investors, then forged notary deeds to mislead SEC investigators and urged a potential witness to leave the country. Gilchrist, a licensed Texas attorney since 1983, faces wire fraud, aggravated identity theft and witness tampering charges, plus a parallel SEC civil suit.

Mark Smith

Frisco Clinic Owner Convicted in $17M TRICARE Fraud Scheme that Funded Gold-Plated Cybertruck

A Fort Worth federal jury convicted Kevin Curry on all nine counts of a healthcare fraud and kickback scheme that bilked TRICARE out of more than $17 million, with prosecutors saying he used stolen doctors' identities and fabricated records to bill for unnecessary treatments. Curry's case was one of seven North Texas prosecutions tied to a recent DOJ healthcare fraud takedown that charged 455 defendants in schemes exceeding $6.5 billion nationwide.

Mark Smith

Akerman Adds Former Texas Securities Regulator to Austin Litigation Team

Ronak Patel spent 14 years at the Texas State Securities Board, where he helped lead auction-rate securities investigations and took part in global settlement talks that Akerman says delivered about $50 billion in relief for investors. Now a litigation partner in Austin, he says he brings a regulator's view of enforcement to his work with financial services clients.

Mark Smith

Road to Ruin: Subprime Lender’s Troubles Include Many Turns

A year after Tricolor collapsed into bankruptcy, the SEC’s new fraud case is the latest multimillion-dollar turn in the problems faced by the subprime auto lender that have left it in liquidation and at the center of criminal fraud charges against its former executives. 

Mark Smith

Texas Immigration Court Backlog Tops 321,000 Amid Judge Shake-Up

Texas immigration courts are carrying one of the nation’s largest backlogs as the system has undergone a sweeping shake-up of more than 200 judges, coinciding with a rise in deportation orders. Nearly 3.2 million cases were pending before U.S. immigration courts as of June 2026, including 321,006 in Texas, the third-highest total in the country.

Mark Smith

Texas Regulator’s New Leader Targets Scams, Embraces Tech

Newly appointed Texas State Securities Board Commissioner Jeramy E. Heintz said he planned to ensure that the 69-year-old agency continues to modernize its operations by leveraging emerging technologies to remain a national model for other state regulators in protecting investors and markets.

Mark Smith

Oil Theft Ring Sold Stolen Permian Crude at Deep Discounts

Five men and a woman have pleaded guilty to conspiring to steal thousands of barrels of crude oil from Permian Basin producers and often selling it to other defendants in the conspiracy for a fraction of its value, according to U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould for the Northern District of Texas.

Mark Smith

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