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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 Dallas Morning News.

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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 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.

Houston Harvest Celebration Raises $725,250 for Pro Bono Legal Services

The Harvest Celebration supports the Houston Volunteer Lawyer, a project of the HBA that provides pro bono legal services for veterans, the elderly, those with disabilities, and other low-income residents with family law, consumer law, probate and other legal matters.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

T&K Announces New Home for Houston Office

T&K expects to move into BG Group Place by late summer 2017.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

T&K Announces New Home for Houston Office

T&K expects to move into BG Group Place by late summer 2017.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

Weil Associate Sam Peca Named DVAP Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year

Peca contributed more than 360 hours of pro bono legal service to DVAP in the last year.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

DBA Elects Rob Crain President

The Dallas Bar Association also announced the other 2017 officers.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

Latham’s Houston Office Honored by Lone Star Legal Aid

The firm received the “Law Firm Award” and two associates earned the “Most Cases Handled Award.”

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

Latham's Houston Office Honored by Lone Star Legal Aid

The firm received the “Law Firm Award” and two associates earned the “Most Cases Handled Award.”

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

Estes Thorne & Carr Adds Two, including Former ETP Senior Legal Counsel

Luis Zambrano and former Energy Transfer Partners senior legal counsel Sarah Bradbury have joined the Dallas women-owned law firm as partner and senior counsel, respectively.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

Estes Thorne & Carr Adds Two, including Former ETP Senior Legal Counsel

Luis Zambrano and former Energy Transfer Partners senior legal counsel Sarah Bradbury have joined the Dallas women-owned law firm as partner and senior counsel, respectively.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

TMCP Honors Three Attorneys for Diversity Efforts

Attorneys from Shell Oil Company, Gray Reed and the Center for Women in Law at UT received awards from the Texas Minority Counsel Program for their contributions to the promotion, retention and hiring of diverse attorneys in the legal profession.

December 6, 2016 Mark Curriden

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Features

  • P.S. — New State Bar President Launches Campaign to Fund Legal Aid for Low-Income Texans  - When speaking to fellow lawyers, Santos Vargas often asks them a question to illustrate a point. “How many of you could hire yourselves for a protracted legal dispute?” The point is that many people don’t have the financial means to hire a lawyer when faced with a legal problem, which is why the newly minted State Bar of Texas president is on a campaign to raise money for low-income Texans to access legal services. Vargas aims to raise $300,000, with July donations supporting victims of the recent Texas Hill Country flood.  July 11, 2025Krista Torralva

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

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  • Rey Anaya Valencia Begins Deanship at South Texas College of Law Houston
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Lawyers in the News

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Barry Barnett
Wes Bearden
Emily Westridge Black
Michael Burke
Alicia Campbell
John Campbell
Madeleine Carpenter
Alexander Clark
Dawn Pittman Collins
Richard Finneran
Elizabeth Freeman
David Gail
Elizabeth Gibson
David Jones
Frank Lopez
Abbe Lowell
Neal Manne
Billy Marsh
Tom Melsheimer
Tasha Moser
Justin Nelson
Reed O'Connor
Kate Pennartz
John “J.” Pieratt
Danielle Reyes
Christopher Richardson
Randy Sorrels
Harry Susman
Larry Vincent
Victor Vital
Brent Walker
Matt Weybrecht
Melody Wilkinson
Alex Wolens

Firms in the News

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A&O Shearman
Bryan Cave
Cozen O'Connor
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Law Office of Liz Freeman
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
Sorrels Law
Susman Godfrey
Toyota
Troutman Pepper Locke
Willkie
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Winston & Strawn

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