Cantey Hanger Elevates Three to Partner
The Fort Worth law firm has promoted Tawanna Cesare, Laura Hallmon and David Speed to equity partner.
Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Mark Curriden is a lawyer/journalist and founder of The Texas Lawbook. In addition, he is a contributing legal correspondent for The Dallas Morning News.
Mark Curriden is a lawyer/journalist and founder of The Texas Lawbook. In addition, he is a contributing legal correspondent for The Dallas Morning News.
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.
The Fort Worth law firm has promoted Tawanna Cesare, Laura Hallmon and David Speed to equity partner.
In 2014, Farmer’s Branch homeowners Felipe and Aurora Rodriguez noticed huge cracks developing in their foundations, floors and walls. Big cracks. The value of their property plummeted. They blamed Trinity Infrastructure, the general contractor that handled construction of the LBJ Express Project, for causing the damage. On Tuesday, a Dallas jury agreed and awarded $248,723 in damages. Now, 230 homeowners with even more damage want their day in court.
The Texas Legislature's 85th Regular Session poses new and old challenges. The Texas House has 22 freshman members. The Senate has three fresh faces. The House also has eight vacant committee chairmanships, including House Appropriations, House Public Education and House Natural Resources. The state’s biennial revenue estimate showing the state’s financial condition is about $105 billion for 2018-18, which is down $8 billion. What des it all mean? This article has the details.
Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, a 1,200 lawyer global firm, is expected to announced this week that it is expanding its presence in Texas by opening a branch operation in Houston. The law firm, which has has 55-lawyers in Dallas, launch into Houston by luring eight partners who specializes in energy transactions and tax law from Baker Botts and Latham & Watkins, plus one corporate general counsel who is rejoining the law firm world. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Tom Melsheimer planned to practice at Fish & Richardson for the rest of his career. Then Winston & Strawn came calling. The Chicago-based firm convinced the former federal prosecutor that he can significantly expand his complex commercial litigation practice nationally. Plus, the firm made him a generous compensation offer. In this Texas Lawbook exclusive, Melsheimer explains how it all came together.
Winston & Strawn is officially launching an office in Dallas with two-dozen partners from eight different law firms. The Chicago-based law firm has lured business litigators Tom Melsheimer, Steve Stodghill and Matt Orwig and corporate transactional attorneys Bryan Goolsby and Tom Hughes to lead North Texas outpost. Legal industry analysts say it is one of the largest law office openings in Texas by a national firm. The Texas Lawbook has exclusive details.
Winston & Strawn is officially launching an office in Dallas with two-dozen partners from eight different law firms. The Chicago-based law firm has lured business litigators Tom Melsheimer, Steve Stodghill and Matt Orwig and corporate transactional attorneys Bryan Goolsby and Tom Hughes to lead North Texas outpost. Legal industry analysts say it is one of the largest law office openings in Texas by a national firm. The Texas Lawbook has exclusive details.
Morgan focuses her practice on litigation matters. She has represented private colleges, collegiate sports conferences and hotel owners in addition to publicly-traded and closely held corporations.
On Inauguration Day, the Trump administration froze the issuance of new regulations, including those defining master limited partnership qualifying income. While the final MLP qualifying income regulations by the Obama Administration were a significant improvement over the proposed regulations issued in May 2015, they still reflect a more restrictive view of the scope of MLP qualifying income than prevailed in the IRS and the industry prior to May 2015. The fate of the regulations in the wake of the Trump’s freeze is unclear.
Jeremy Mouton and Robert Viguet will lead the firm's Property & Finance and Corporate practice groups, respectively.
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