Throughout the world of corporate law, there have been attacks on diversity and inclusion, as the biggest companies and law firms in America have bowed to pressure to back off their public commitment to DEI. At the same time, some political leaders and media commentators openly shame lawyers for tackling unpopular defendants or policies. The Texas Lawbook is actually doubling down on our commitment to pro bono, public service and diversity in the legal profession. Today, we officially announce the hiring of Krista Torralva as a new pro bono and diversity beat reporter for The Texas Lawbook. Krista is a former Dallas Morning News courts reporter who has covered litigation for The Lawbook for more than a year.
Winter Storm Uri — Four Years Later, Zero Jury Trials for 30,000 Victims of Historic Storm
The ground had not yet thawed four years ago when the Texas courts were slammed with an avalanche of lawsuits. More than 30,000 individuals and small businesses filed wrongful death, personal injury and property damage lawsuits against ERCOT and the energy companies accusing them of gross negligence that caused much of the power blackouts. A separate class action accused energy companies and financial institutions of using Winter Storm Uri to manipulate prices and generate billions of dollars in profits. Four years later, not a single witness deposition has been taken and not a single case has been set for trial. And a growing number of legal experts predict that none of those cases will ever be heard by a jury of Texas citizens.
Citi — Big Law in Texas Had Strong 2024, and 2025 Looks Even Better
The bad news for Texas-based corporate law firms is that revenues, profits per partner and demand for legal services significantly trailed their out-of-state competitors during 2024, according to new Citi Law Firm Group data provided Monday to The Texas Lawbook. But the good news is that those outside national law firms — including Kirkland & Ellis, Gibson Dunn, Latham & Watkins and Sidley — growing faster and richer now make up about 60 percent of the Texas corporate legal market, according to the Texas Lawbook 50 report for 2024.
P.S. — 2024 DFW Corp. Counsel Awards Big Winners: Keurig Dr Pepper, Texas Capital, Arcosa, Toyota, Texas Pacific Land
More than 400 corporate general counsel, senior in-house counsel and prominent business lawyers across North Texas celebrated the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards Thursday night at the George W. Bush Institute. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook presented awards to 15 in-house counsel who achieved extraordinary successes during the past 18 months.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: LaToyia Pierce Frink
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, FirstService Residential general counsel LaToyia Pierce Frink discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Dallas Cowboys Deputy GC Kaleisha Stuart is ‘Absolutely Unwavering in Her Commitment to D&I’
Kaleisha Stuart was the only Black lawyer working in-house for an NFL team when she joined the Dallas Cowboys legal team in 2016. “Over the years, legal departments have grown and diversified,” Stuart told The Texas Lawbook. “Noticing this trend, I decided to create a group for the Black women lawyers working at NFL teams. The goals of the group were to make Black women taking on these new roles feel immediately welcome, to have a safe, supportive outlet to share ideas or ask questions and to make new friends.”
As deputy GC for the most valuable sports franchise in the world, Stuart has achieved some extraordinary successes in business, law and diversity. “I can’t think of anyone more deserving of recognition for the DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion than Kaleisha,” Cowboys CFO Tom Walker said. “Kaleisha’s leadership ‘off the field’ in our internal DEI initiatives has been instrumental since early in her career here, which is matched only by her success ‘on the field’ in helping guide our legal department through a period of unprecedented business growth. If you get five minutes to spend with her, you’ll understand why I feel as strongly about her recognition as I do.”
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Kaleisha Stuart
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Dallas Cowboys deputy general counsel Kaleisha Stuart discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Keurig Dr Pepper Legal’s ‘Visionary Leadership’ and ‘Transformational Influence’
Anthony Shoemaker tracks his success as a lawyer and a leader back to his high school days when he worked at a local golf club repair shop in the Houston suburbs. He learned a lot and has implemented those life lessons in his three years as the chief legal officer at Keurig Dr Pepper. The results have been extraordinary successes for Shoemaker, for the corporate legal department he leads and for the $15 billion Plano-based company, which is why the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Keurig Dr Pepper as one of two finalists for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Corporate Legal Department of the Year.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Anthony Shoemaker
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Anthony Shoemaker, the chief legal officer, general counsel and corporate secretary for Keurig Dr Pepper, discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
Helmerich & Payne’s Debra Stockton Takes It to the Limit in Patent Litigation Victory
Helmerich and Payne International Drilling learned in 2020 that a direct competitor and sometimes business partner was suing H&P claiming that it had infringed on eight of Nabors’ patents related to technology on its automated drilling products and sought hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. The plaintiffs sought an immediate preliminary injunction to stop H&P’s sale of the disputed products and asked the federal judge for an expedited jury trial. Working under intense pressure and deadlines, H&P GC Debra Stockton aggressively led H&P’s discovery efforts, initiated an investigation into Nabors’ own automated drilling technology and filed counterclaims of infringement against Nabors. This case is an incredibly rare example of an accused party “flipping the v” and vindicating itself from baseless allegations of wrongdoing while at the same time exposing the aggressor party as the real wrongdoer. Citing this extraordinary courtroom success, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook named H&P, Stockton and Baker Botts as one of two finalists for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.