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Mark Curriden

Mark Curriden is a lawyer/journalist and founder of The Texas Lawbook. In addition, he is a contributing legal correspondent for The Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Business Journal.

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Mark Curriden

Mark Curriden is a lawyer/journalist and founder of The Texas Lawbook. In addition, he is a contributing legal correspondent for The Houston Chronicle and the Dallas Business Journal.

Mark is the author of the best selling book Contempt of Court: A Turn-of-the-Century Lynching That Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism. The book received the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award and numerous other honors. He also is a frequent lecturer at bar associations, law firm retreats, judicial conferences and other events. His CLE presentations have been approved for ethics credit in nearly every state.

From 1988 to 1994, Mark was the legal affairs writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, where he covered the Georgia Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. He authored a three-part series of articles that exposed rampant use of drug dealers and criminals turned paid informants by local and federal law enforcement authorities, which led to Congressional oversight hearings. A related series of articles by Mark contributed to a wrongly convicted death row inmate being freed.

The Dallas Morning News made Mark its national legal affairs writer in 1996. For more than six years, Mark wrote extensively about the tobacco litigation, alleged price-fixing in the pharmaceutical industry, the Exxon Valdez litigation, and more than 25 cases before the Supreme Court of the United States. Mark also authored a highly-acclaimed 16-part series on the future of the American jury system. As part of his extensive coverage of the tobacco litigation, Mark unearthed confidential documents and evidence showing that the then Texas Attorney General, Dan Morales, had made a secret deal with a long-time lawyer and friend in which the friend would have profited hundreds of millions of dollars from the tobacco settlement. As a direct result of Mark’s articles, the U.S. Department of Justice opened a criminal investigation, which led to the indictment and conviction of Mr. Morales.

For the past 25 years, Mark has been a senior contributing writer for the ABA Journal, which is the nation’s largest legal publication. His articles have been on the cover of the magazine more than a dozen times. He has received scores of honors for his legal writing, including the American Bar Association’s Silver Gavel Award, the American Judicature Society’s Toni House Award, the American Trial Lawyer’s Amicus Award, and the Chicago Press Club’s Headliner Award. Twice, in 2001 and 2005, the American Board of Trial Advocates named Mark its “Journalist of the Year.”

From 2002 to 2010, Mark was the senior communications counsel at Vinson & Elkins, a 750-lawyer global law firm.

Mark’s book, Contempt of Court, tells the story of Ed Johnson, a young black man from Chattanooga, Tenn., in 1906. Johnson was falsely accused of rape, railroaded through the criminal justice system, found guilty and sentenced to death – all in three weeks. Two African-American lawyers stepped forward to represent Johnson on appeal. In doing so, they filed one of the first federal habeas petitions ever attempted in a state criminal case. The lawyers convinced the Supreme Court of the United States to stay Johnson’s execution. But before they could have him released, a lynch mob, aided by the sheriff and his deputies, lynched Johnson. Angered, the Supreme Court ordered the arrest of the sheriff and leaders of the mob, charging them with contempt of the Supreme Court. It is the only time in U.S. history that the Supreme Court conducted a criminal trial.

You can reach Mark at mark.curriden@texaslawbook.net or 214.232.6783.

Celanese GC Lynne Puckett Led DFW’s 2022 M&A Transaction of the Year

As a CIA intelligence officer focusing on Eastern Europe in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Lynne Puckett “got a ringside seat to the dissolution of Eastern Europe as communist-controlled in 1989. It was also when she realized she wanted to go to law school.

Three decades later, Puckett is the general counsel of Celanese Corporation, an Irving-based global chemical and specialty materials company with a market cap of $12 billion. In November 2022, Puckett and her legal team closed an $11 billion acquisition of a majority ownership in DuPont’s mobility and materials business.

Citing the deal’s extraordinary complexity, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook named Puckett, her in-house legal team at Celanese and outside counsel at Baker Botts as the recipient of the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for M&A Transaction of the Year.

March 30, 2023 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Lynne Puckett of Celanese

The Lawbook visited with the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel M&A Transaction of the Year Award winner about what she looks for in outside counsel, hourly rates, pro bono and diversity.

March 30, 2023 Mark Curriden

PUC Appeals Court Decision Striking Down $9K Electric Rates During Winter Storm Uri

The Public Utility Commission of Texas claims that a decision issued 11 days ago by a Texas appeals court declaring that the emergency pricing orders issued by the agency in 2021 during Winter Storm Uri were unlawful needs to be immediately reversed because it “has thrown Texas’s electricity and associated markets into confusion.”

Lawyers for the PUC filed an official petition for review with the Texas Supreme Court on Friday arguing that the Third Court of Appeals in Austin “had no jurisdiction to validate or invalidate already-expired orders.”

March 28, 2023 Mark Curriden

Erin McDowell: Range Resources New GC in ‘An Especially Dynamic Industry’

When Range Resources long-time GC David Poole retired 10 days ago, the board named his handpicked successor Erin McDowell to fill his role. In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, McDowell discusses the factors that impacted her career, the path she took to become a chief legal officer of a $6 billion natural gas company and the challenges she and Range face.

March 27, 2023 Mark Curriden

Sheppard Mullin Steals Real Estate Group from Jones Day

Market demand for law firm partners with books of business continues to be hot. Sheppard Mullin announced Monday that it has added five Texas corporate real estate transactional lawyers — four partners and a special counsel — from rival Jones Day. The group has worked together for more than a decade and represents public and private equity companies and developers of multifamily and other commercial real estate in real estate finance matters, M&A transactions and joint venture formations.

March 27, 2023 Mark Curriden

Range Resources GC David Poole Retires after 15 Years, Joins Wick Phillips

David Poole, who worked on an oil rig out of high school and rose to become the top legal officer at two major energy companies in Texas, retired as the GC of Range Resources Friday. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook on Sunday, Poole discusses his passion for oil and gas law, his challenges and successes as a GC for two decades, his best day on the job and his plans for the future at Wick Phillips.

March 20, 2023 Mark Curriden

Updated – Texas Court Rules PUC Price-Setting During Winter Storm Uri Unlawful

The Texas Public Utility Commission emergency rules in February 2021 that increased electric rates to $9,000 per megawatt-hour in response to the demand for power because of Winter Storm Uri were “invalid” and must be reexamined, a Texas appeals court ruled Friday. The Austin Court of Appeals ruled that PUC board members issued two unlawful rules — an “operation of executive fiat” — that allowed ERCOT to increase the emergency price of electricity 650 percent for five days. The decision, according to legal experts, could be a multibillion-dollar victory for some retail power companies.

March 17, 2023 Mark Curriden

Diamond Sports Group Files $8B Restructuring in SDTX

The operator of the Bally Sports Networks has hired Porter Hedges, Paul Weiss and Wilmer Cutler to lead the company through Chapter 11 bankruptcy and restructuring.

March 15, 2023 Mark Curriden

15 GCs and Senior In-House Counsel Talk Diversity, Law Firms, Pipeline

The Texas Lawbook interviewed 15 corporate GCs and senior in-house counsel in Houston and the DFW area about the role of diversity in hiring outside counsel, specific steps law firm leaders can take to improve diversity and address the pipeline.

Corporate counsel at Keurig Dr Pepper, McAfee, Schlumberger, Noble Corp, HF Sinclair, Ocwen Financial, Tuesday Morning, Talen Energy, PepsiCo Foods, American Airlines, Shell USA, Phillips 66, MB2 Dental and BHP give their insight related to DEI issues.

February 27, 2023 Mark Curriden

Banks Agree to Pay Stanford Victims $1.34B to Avoid Houston Trial

Three banks – Toronto-Dominion Bank, HSBC Bank and Independent Bank (formerly Bank of Houston) – have agreed to pay $1.34 billion to Ponzi-scheme victims of Houston financier R. Allen Stanford and his investment firm.

TD Bank, HSBC and Independent Bank were scheduled to stand trial starting today in Houston federal court where they were accused of aiding and abetting Stanford in perpetrating an $8 billion fraud against 18,000 investors.

February 27, 2023 Mark Curriden

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Features

  • Harris Co. Attorney Christian Menefee at ‘The Perfect Intersection of Law and Policy’ - 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 March 29, 2023Nushin Huq

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Range Resources GC David Poole Retires after 15 Years, Joins Wick Phillips - David Poole, who worked on an oil rig out of high school and rose to become the top legal officer at two major energy companies in Texas, retired as the GC of Range Resources Friday. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook on Sunday, Poole discusses his passion for oil and gas law, his challenges and successes as a GC for two decades, his best day on the job and his plans for the future at Wick Phillips.
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  • Senior Exxon Mobil Counsel’s Move to Gibson Dunn is ‘Very Personal’
  • Veteran Dallas Prosecutor Tapped as EDTX U.S. Attorney
  • Former Texas Appellate Judge Rejoins Dykema
  • Haynes and Boone Opens Virginia Outpost
  • White & Case Hires Three Bracewell Litigators in Houston
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

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Alan Albright
Alan Alexander
William Aronin
Victoria Bahrami-Negad
Gina M. Benavides
Bill Benitez
Anya Bidwell
Will Bos
Jamila Brinson
Robert Burford
Ian Bushner
Zachary Carlson
David Castro
Jack Chadderdon
Nathan Chapman
Michelle Chiu
Jason T. Contreras
Cody Conwell
C. Celeste Creswell
Cassandra Cuellar
Matthew C. Daly 
Chad Davis
Lowell Denton
Jeff Diamant
Becky Diffen
Michael Dorf
Stuart Kyle Duncan
Mark Dundon
Kurt D. Engelhardt
Yong Eoh
Patrick M. Jaicomo
Scott C. Faciane
Archie Fallon
Analisa Figueroa
Murray Fogler
Tyler Frankel
Gabriela Garcia
Sameer Ghaznavi
Shayna M. Goldblatt
Michelle Gray
Steven Haas
Kendall Hayden
Alia Heintz
Benjamin Hershkowitz
Patrick E. Higginbotham
Tara Higgins
Allyson Ho
James Ho
Kenneth Hoyt
Robert Hughes
Martin S. Hyman
Andrew Ingram
Ralph Janvey
Geetika Jerath
Shawn Johnson
Cyril Jones
David Keltner
Jim Kennedy
Elizabeth Kiernan
Dan Komarek
Kenneth J. Lambert
Sang Lee
Andrew LeGrand
David Levy
Alec Manzer
Peter Marshall
Amos Mazzant III
Levi McCathern
Daniel McEntee
Robert McNamara
Tom Melsheimer
Andres Mena
Katherine Montoya
Veronica Moyé
Robert J. Myers 
Jason Nasra
Brennon Nelson
Stephen Noh
Pete O'Brien
Stephen Pate
Sam Peca
Lionel Aron Peña Jr.
Brent Perry
Connie Pfeiffer
Ravi Purohit
Clint Rancher
Brian Rosenthal
Kevin Sadler
David Salmons
Jody Sanders
Akash Sethi
Gregory Shamoun
John J. Shaw
Barry Shelton
Lande Spottswood
Amy M. Stewart
Tim Taylor
Mike Telle
Jaime E. Tijerina
Scott Tschirhart
Jon Waldrop
Camille Walker
Sean Wheeler
Debbie Yee

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AEP
Amyris
Baker Botts
Baytex Energy
Bernhard Capital Partners
Bison Oil & Gas
Burford Perry
CenterPoint Energy
Clark Hill
Copenhagen Infrastructure
Cozen O'Connor
Dell
Denton Navarro Rocha
Fogler Brar O’Neil 
Gibson Dunn
Golenbock Eiseman
HBS
Hedrick Kring
HSBC
Hunton AK
Independent Bank
Institute for Justice
International Entertainment
Invenergy
IRG
Jackson Walker
JP Morgan
Kabat Chapman & Ozmer
Kasowitz
Kelly Hart
Kirkland
Landry's
Latham
Lemoine
Lotus Infrastructure 
Marriott
Mastercard
McCathern
McGuireWoods
Morgan Lewis
Myers & Shaw
NeuVentus
Norton Rose Fulbright
Paymentech
PBF Energy
Providence Equity Partners
Quantum Energy Partners
Ranger Oil
Shamoun & Norman
Shearman & Sterling
Sidley
Stewart Law Group
TD Bank
UTRGV
V&E
Visa
VMware
Wafra
Weil
Wildcat Capital
Willkie
Winston & Strawn
WSOU Investments 
Yetter Coleman

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