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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.

Dallas Corporate Lawyer Jeffrey Chapman Leads Bi-Lo’s $560 million Acquisition of Winn Dixie

Just 18 months ago, Bi-Lo was mired in bankruptcy. Today, the southern grocery chain, which is now owned by Dallas-based Lone Star Funds, announced it is acquiring Winn Dixie for $560 million in an all-cash deal.

December 19, 2011 Mark Curriden Leave a Comment

V&E’s Public Finance Group Moves To Bracewell

Fourteen partners and possibly a dozen more counsels and associates in Vinson & Elkins’ public finance group announced Tuesday they will join Bracewell & Giuliani in January.

December 13, 2011 Mark Curriden Leave a Comment

V&E’s Public Finance Group Moves To Bracewell

Fourteen partners and possibly a dozen more counsels and associates in Vinson & Elkins’ public finance group announced Tuesday they will join Bracewell & Giuliani in January.

December 13, 2011 Mark Curriden Leave a Comment

Texas Lawyers Assist American Veterans

Joseph “Chester” Romero tried for years to file for disability benefits after sustaining back injuries during World War II, but dozens of filings yielded no results. Romero, like many veterans in his situation, couldn’t afford a lawyer. But he got one anyway.

December 9, 2011 Mark Curriden Leave a Comment

American Airlines Bankruptcy Fees Could Top $100 million

AMR Corporation’s filing for Chapter 11 sent bankruptcy lawyers in north Texas scrambling Tuesday to line up clients and could put an estimated $100 million in the coffers of a couple prominent national law firms.

November 29, 2011 Mark Curriden

Texas Supreme Court Upholds Limited Partnership Tax

The Texas Supreme Court ruled today that the franchise tax applied to limited partnerships is constitutional and is not a personal income tax.

November 29, 2011 Mark Curriden

Keeping Corporate Bankruptcies Home

Dynegy and American Airlines are multibillion-dollar corporations based in Texas based companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November. Their restructurings are predicted to be lengthy and highly complex, meaning that legal fees could approach $100 million each.

November 27, 2011 Mark Curriden

Chairman Smith: The Man Behind Bankruptcy Venue Reform

Rep. Lamar Smith remembers his first election as precinct chairman in San Antonio. He knocked on just about every door in the district and personally asked for people’s vote.

November 27, 2011 Mark Curriden

Business Bankruptcies Down, But Probably Not Why You Think

The number of businesses seeking the protection of Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Texas declined significantly for the first nine months of 2011.

November 27, 2011 Mark Curriden

Chapter 11: Entering a New Generation

Here we are in 2011, thirty-three years after the enactment of the federal Bankruptcy Code.

November 27, 2011 Mark Curriden

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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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