Erika Benson, formerly with Patton Boggs and Troutman Sanders, was a lawyer at DOE’s Office of Policy and International Affairs.
Baker Botts Leads $3.3 Billion Tallgrass Energy – Kinder Morgan Deal
Austin Partner Laura Tyson represents Houston-based Energy & Minerals Group, a primary investor in Tallgrass.
Judge Orders Life Partners to Cease Selling Unregistered Securities
An Austin judge also issued a TRO instructing the Waco-based company to preserve all financial documentation, but declined Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s request to immediately appoint a receiver to take control of the corporation’s financial operations.
Travis County District Judge Orlinda Naranjo ruled Friday that Life Partners has likely been violating the Texas Securities Act through its practice of buying life insurance death benefits from elderly and terminally ill policyholders, then reselling them to investors without disclosing the actual life expectancies of the insured.
Texas AG Asks That Life Partners Holdings Be Run By Receiver
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has sued Life Partners Holdings, Inc., and its subsidiary, Life Partners, Inc. for violating the Texas Securities Act by allegedly selling unregistered securities to investors and has asked an Austin judge to appoint a receiver to oversee the Waco-based company’s financial operations immediately.
Scott Carlson Named DART’s New General Counsel
Carlson was a member of DART’s board of directors for almost a decade before becoming the new GC.
Scott Carlson Named DART's New General Counsel
Carlson was a member of DART’s board of directors for almost a decade before becoming the new GC.
Heman Sweatt’s Family Files Brief in UT Law Admissions Case
Sixty-six years ago, Heman Sweatt walked into the University of Texas Tower seeking admission to the UT Law School. His application was denied for one simple reason: “the fact that he is a negro.” Sweatt sued and won a historic case at the Supreme Court of the United States in 1950. This week, his daughter and other family members filed amicus curiae briefs with the Supreme Court in the Abigail Fisher v. University of Texas, which challenges the law school’s consideration of race in its admissions policy.
“The purpose of the Sweatt family’s brief is simple,” says Allan Van Fleet, a litigation partner in the Houston office of McDermott Will & Emery, who is representing the family pro bono. “They want the Supreme Court to remember their father and uncle and his story.”
Jones Day Leads Tokyo Electron in $252 million Surface Preparation Deal
For Dallas M&A partner Scott Cohen, this is the four major transaction in the semi-conductor industry this year.
Houston Jury: Celanese’s $1.3 Billion Contract with Southern Chemicals is Valid
The $1.3 billion contract between Dallas-based Celanese Corporation and Houston-based Southern Chemical Corporation is valid and will continue until the agreement terminates in 2015, a Houston jury ruled Friday.
The dispute dates back to 2005, when Southern made a deal with Celanese to supply Celanese with methanol until 2015 – the year the acetyls producer expects to have its own methanol plant up and running.
Bell Nunnally Grabs Jeff Ansley
The former federal prosecutor and enforcement lawyer for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has joined Bell Nunnally & Martin as a partner in the firm’s growing White Collar Defense and Internal Investigations practices. Ansley is widely considered one of the leading lawyers in North Texas representing businesses and corporate leaders under investigation for civil and criminal fraud-related offenses.