Angela Zambrano and Scott Parel took over as co-managing partners of Sidley’s Dallas office only a month ago, but they and Texas will be front-and-center this week when they host the management committee for the 150-year-old, 2,000-attorney global law firm. Sidley has made Texas key to its strategic growth. The firm’s headcount and revenue increased tenfold over nine years. And Sidley’s next global chair is their predecessor. As rocker Glenn Frey would say, “The Heat is On.”
Astroworld Festival Suits Pile Up, Lawyers Bountiful in TRO Hearing in Harris Co. District Court
The first round of lawsuits – 31 of them as of 10:30 a.m. Tuesday – hit the Harris County District Court dockets through late Monday evening charging a plethora of individuals, businesses and a non-profit organization with gross negligence and premises liability related to the tragedy that occurred Friday at the Astroworld Festival that killed eight people and injured hundreds of others. The Texas Lawbook has the details, including the lineup of plaintiffs and defense lawyers already involved.
Four Energy Companies, Four Finalists for Houston Senior In-House Counsel of the Year Honors
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are pleased to announce finalists for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards who have done some amazing legal work and demonstrated extraordinary leadership during some definitely unordinary times. Today, we reveal Senior Counsel of the Year finalists.
Fifth Circuit: ‘It is Not a Crime to be a Journalist’
The movie Diehard 2 is officially a cited source in a Fifth Circuit opinion. Circuit Judge James Ho pointed to the character airport security Captain Lorenzo in emphasizing that all police officers know that reporters asking questions of law enforcement is protected by the First Amendment. The appeals court cite came in a victory for Laredo crime reporter Priscilla “La Gordiloca” Villarreal, who sued local police for arresting her in 2017 for simply doing her job.
Updated – Chad Pinkerton Knows the Game Plan Against Live Nation and Travis Scott
Within hours of eight people dying and scores of others being injured at the Astroworld Festival Friday night, the website of Houston lawyer Chad Pinkerton was blowing up. He was getting calls and emails from victims and their families. Pinkerton is one of a dozen prominent lawyers – including Richard Mithoff, C.J. Baker and Rusty Hardin, to name a few – likely to file lawsuits this week seeking hundreds of millions of dollars in damages against Live Nation, rapper Travis Scott and a plethora of other potential defendants connected to the tragedy that took place outside of NRG Stadium.
But unlike many other lawyers, Pinkerton has been in court before against Live Nation and he knows the concert producer’s modus operandi.
Houston Music Festival Tragedy Lawsuits Coming, “Hundreds of Millions in Damages” Predicted
The legal liabilities will reach into the hundreds of millions of dollars for the producers, promoters, performers and subcontractors – including security firms – of Houston’s Astroworld Festival Friday night that resulted in the deaths of eight people and dozens of others who were injured, legal experts predicted Saturday. Rapper Travis Scott, who was performing at the time of the crowd surge, may also face significant liability.
LyondellBasell and EP Energy Finalists for 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards for Transaction of the Year
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are pleased to announce finalists for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards who have done some amazing legal work and demonstrated extraordinary leadership during some definitely unordinary times. Today, we reveal Transaction of the Year finalists.
Talent Wars in Texas Expand to White Collar/Investigations
The rash of hiring of federal prosecutors by corporate law firms clearly indicates that leaders believe the white-collar regulatory practice is about to boom in Texas. The latest is Gibson Dunn hiring of former NDTX acting U.S. Attorney Prerak Shah.
Dealogic: Kirkland, V&E, Gibson, Weil Led Hot Q3 Texas M&A
Editor’s Note: Multiple law firms contacted The Texas Lawbook this week stating that the Dealogic data provided to The Lawbook under-reported the number of transactions they worked on during the third quarter of 2021. We have forwarded those concerns to Dealogic, which has promised to provide updated data. As soon as The Lawbook receives the data, we will publish it immediately. The Lawbook apologizes for any confusion.
In a quarter that saw more mergers and acquisitions than any three-month period in the past seven years, five law firms represented clients in 10 or more M&A transactions in which the buyers, sellers or targets were headquartered in Texas, according to Dealogic, an independent research firm that provides M&A data on Texas-based companies exclusively to The Texas Lawbook. Guess who is No. 1 … again…
Futurist to GCs: Businesses Face Constant Chaos, Worker Mental Health Crisis, High Turnover and Declining Productivity
WNDYR CEO Claire Haidar’s presentation to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter was designed to be a cold, hard slap about the days ahead for most businesses. Companies today are fraught with constant chaos and face crisis after crisis. The workforce is increasingly unstable and is becoming less and less productive. Corporate leaders are trying to implement hybrid working conditions – efforts that she predicts will fail miserably. Bottom line: Business leaders face challenges today like nothing they have ever seen before.