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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.

In-House Counsel Forum Highlight Ways to Protect Clients in Government Investigations

UT Law’s Government Enforcement Institute announced Thursday that SEC FCPA Chief Kara Brockmeyer will highlight the line up for its late September program in Houston. Now in its third year, the Institute provides a collegial forum for in-house counsel to engage with peers and high-level current and former government officials from the SEC, DOJ, EPA and other agencies. It brings together distinguished faculty to discuss key issues and strategies for protecting companies and executives in government investigations and litigation.

August 18, 2016 Mark Curriden

Sidley and V&E Advise in $1.6B Concho-Reliance Deal

Sidley Austin and Vinson & Elkins lawyers said Monday that they advised Concho Resources and Reliance Energy in their agreement for Concho to purchase 40,000 acres in the Midland Basin from Reliance for $1.6 billion.

August 15, 2016 Mark Curriden

Sidley and V&E Advise in $1.6B Concho-Reliance Deal

Sidley Austin and Vinson & Elkins lawyers said Monday that they advised Concho Resources and Reliance Energy in their agreement for Concho to purchase 40,000 acres in the Midland Basin from Reliance for $1.6 billion.

August 15, 2016 Mark Curriden

HBA’s Juvenile Records Sealing Project Provides a Fresh Start

The Juvenile Records Sealing Project sealed its 200th juvenile record in Harris County in May. This program, which received the Outstanding Partnership Award from the State Bar of Texas in June, teams the justice system with the private sector and can help juveniles build a road to the future without being held back by the past.

August 15, 2016 Mark Curriden

Trial Lawyers Unite to Sanction Brewer in Jury Polling Case

Plaintiffs’ attorneys and corporate defense lawyers found a common bond Friday: they jointly believe that Dallas lawyer Bill Brewer should be sanctioned for improperly trying to influence jurors and claim the right to trial by jury is at stake. Three influential legal groups – the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Texas Association of Defense Counsel and the American Board of Trial Advocates – filed an unprecedented joint amicus brief Friday asking a state appeals court to uphold a trial judge’s ruling that Brewer committed misconduct for doing a so-called “push poll” weeks before his case was set to go to trial. Brewer is appealing the sanctions. The article has full details.

August 12, 2016 Mark Curriden

Key Energy Settles FCPA Charges for $5 million

The SEC announced Friday that Houston-based Key Energy Services is paying $5 million to settle charges that its Mexico operations violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. The SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office says Key Mexico made $229,000 in illegal payments to a contract employee at Pemex.

August 12, 2016 Mark Curriden

Dallas Firefighters Back Pay Trial Delayed… Again

The longest pending civil lawsuit in the state of Texas is going to go on quite a bit longer. One of the five lawsuits brought 22 years ago by Dallas firefighters and police officers for back pay was scheduled to start trial Monday, but lawyers for firefighters sought and received a delay until next year. The city of Dallas faces a $2 billion liability if the firefighters and police officers win.

August 12, 2016 Mark Curriden

Norton Rose Fulbright Lures Neel Lane and Insurance Litigation Team to San Antonio Office

Lane, who is joined by two senior associates from Akin Gump, says Norton Rose Fulbright’s legacy in litigation and relationships with British-based insurers presented too good an opportunity to pass up.

August 11, 2016 Mark Curriden

Dallas Lawyer Leads Global $429M Job Recruiting Deal

Dutch recruitment firm Radstad agreed this week to acquire Monster.com’s parent company for an enterprise value of $429 million, which includes $3.40 per share in cash.

August 11, 2016 Mark Curriden

Holland & Knight Boosts Litigation Practice in Houston

Maritime and energy attorney Julia Palmer joins the firm from Gray Reed.

August 11, 2016 Mark Curriden

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Features

  • P.S. — Pro Bono Work Honored at State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting - Advancing access to justice in rural Texas, advocating for domestic violence survivors and ensuring Spanish speakers aren’t left out are among the pro bono initiatives for which lawyers and a judge were honored during the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting in San Antonio.   July 4, 2025Krista Torralva

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Reed Smith Beefs Up Global Regulatory Enforcement Group, Hires V&E Partner  - Rebecca Fike, formerly senior counsel with the SEC, officially made the move to Reed Smith July 1. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook after one week on the job, she said she knew joining Reed Smith was the right move for her after meeting lawyers in the firm’s Dallas office during the interview process. 
  • Rey Anaya Valencia Begins Deanship at South Texas College of Law Houston
  • Willkie Adds Blake Winburne to its Houston Office
  • Hines CLO Joins Greenberg Traurig in Houston
  • Thomas Verity Vaults to Norton Rose Fulbright
  • Veteran Houston Partner Jumps from Latham to Simpson
  • Skadden Hires Two M&A Partners from White & Case
  • V&E Adds Three Partners: Two from Kirkland, One from Baker Botts
  • Houston Texans Associate GC Jumps to Munsch Hardt
  • Gray Reed Hires Longtime Houston Exec to Lead Operations and Growth
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

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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