Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
A strong Texas municipal bond market and continued questions around state regulations related to environmental, social and governance policy kept Texas public finance attorneys busy last year.
The bill would prohibit an insurer from using a score based on environmental, social or governance characteristics — commonly referred to as ESG — to charge a rate different than the rate charged to another business in the same class for essentially the same hazard. But its success depends on whether there's a problem to begin with. And some Texas insurance practitioners think that really isn't the case.
The son of Mexican immigrants, Arturo Michel grew up in Chicago, earned a degree from University of Michigan Law School, worked in San Antonio for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund and then moved to Houston to work at Bracewell in its public law group for 18 years. Michel is now in his second tour as Houston City Attorney. The Texas Lawbook interviewed Michel about his biggest challenges, the current legislative session and what he seeks in outside counsel.
As a third-year associate at Norton Rose Fulbright, Christian Menefee attended an election night watch party in November 2016 that ended in a way no one in attendance expected. But it also was the night that changed his life and career path. Exactly four years later, Menefee became the youngest lawyer and the first African American to be elected county attorney of Harris County. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Menefee discusses his first two years as Harris County’s top legal officer, the current Texas legislative session, how he hires outside counsel and his plans for reelection. Photo credit: Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Chronicle
When Andy Segovia was voted to be San Antonio's chief legal officer in 2016, Councilman Joe Krier told him he was about to "take up the business of professional cat herding." The Lawbook interviewed Segovia, a former in-house lawyer for GM, about how it's going, the current Texas legislative session and his establishment of the city's department of diversity, equity and inclusion. Photo credit: John Davenport /San Antonio Express-News
Anne Morgan and the 60 lawyers in her office are analyzing about 2,000 pieces of proposed legislation being considered by lawmakers in the Texas Capitol. All this while handling the legal matters that come with one of the nation’s fastest growing cities. This is the first in a series of articles about the attorneys leading Texas’s major metros.
The slight drop in the number and value of new bond issues in Texas last year was more a reflection of the market than infrastructure needs in one of the fastest-growing states in the nation. The Lawbook's Nushin Huq and Texas bond experts examine the year-that-was. She also has rankings for the firms behind the issues and underwriters for what was — in spite of the decline — a very busy year.
Whatever the outcome of Tuesday's mid-term election, the results will likely have great influence over U.S. energy policies in years to come. The various directions of those policies were discussed in a webinar involving partners at Akin Gump. Nushin Huq has their observations on the possibilities.
Energy transition attorneys are gearing up for an uptick innovation investment and M&A activity expected to be spurred by the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA, signed yesterday by President Biden, contains $369 billion of climate and clean energy provisions, as well as $60 billion for environmental justice initiatives and provides incentives for substantial investments in rural communities. Significant to the Texas economy, the new law significantly rewrites the tax incentives for renewable energy and climate change mitigation under the federal tax code.
The well-documented influx to Texas of folks from other states brings with a whole new set of needs: more schools, more roads, more public facilities of every kind. In 2021, public finance attempted to keep pace with nearly 2,100 issues worth more than $61 billion. Bond attorneys expect a vigorous 2022, but a few caution lights are beginning to flicker. Some are wondering if the raw need for infrastructure improvements can overcome a fickle public appetite for new projects and increasingly intrusive legislative scrutiny. Nushin Huq reports.
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