Fresh out of bankruptcy, Dallas-based Eco-Bat Technologies has hired former Stream Energy general counsel and Baker Botts special counsel Daniel Terrell as the company’s first chief legal officer.
Eight State Bar Groups Join in “Condemning” Texas Bar President McDougal’s Comments
Eight separate sections of the State Bar of Texas issued a joint proclamation Saturday calling statements by the organization’s president regarding Black Lives Matter, police brutality and disrespect for women lawyers “shocking to the conscience” and “unbecoming of the office he was elected to hold.”
‘Who is Larry McDougal?’
Hundreds of Texas lawyers have called for McDougal to resign as Texas Bar president because he said in 2015 that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group. Scores are defending him. But many lawyers are asking, “Who is Larry McDougal?” The Texas Lawbook examines the career of the former police officer and prosecutor turned Fort Bend County criminal defense attorney who was sworn in last month as the 92nd president of the state bar.
State Bar’s Board of Directors Sets Meeting over President McDougal’s BLM Comments
The Texas Bar Association’s governing board has scheduled an emergency meeting for July 27 to discuss 2015 Facebook posts by the organization’s president calling Black Lives Matter a terrorist group. Some demand his ouster. Others are adamant defenders. The power of the board to take action, however, is in question. The Lawbook has details.
Avalanche of Business Bankruptcies has Arrived in Texas
More Texas corporations filed for bankruptcy during the first six months of 2020 than in any period in the state’s history. New bankruptcy data provided exclusively to The Texas Lawbook by Androvett Legal Media research documents the extraordinary number of businesses that have filed to restructure so far this year and how the Southern District of Texas has the hottest corporate bankruptcy docket in the country.
African American Lawyers Group Demands Action – or Resignation – by Texas Bar President
The leaders of the Texas Bar Association’s African American Law Section say that state bar president Larry McDougal needs to take a series of steps showing that he is truly sorry for his Facebook comments that Black Lives Matter is a terrorist group or he needs to resign. McDougal met with the AALS this weekend and said he would not resign but believed he could be a “change agent” for more diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. The Texas Lawbook has complete details.
Texas Bar in Turmoil, Leaders Denounce New President’s 2015 Facebook Post about BLM
A couple thousand lawyers, including leaders of the State Bar of Texas, used Facebook and other social media outlets this weekend to blast comments made by recently installed bar president Larry McDougal Sr. in a 2015 Facebook post calling the group Black Lives Matter “a terrorist group.” Scores of Texas lawyers demanded his resignation. But dozens and dozens of attorneys from across the state either applauded or defended McDougal’s comments about Black Lives Matter. McDougal has apologized. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Toyota’s Scott Young Receives Texas Access to Justice Award
The Texas Access to Justice Commission has presented its 2020 Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Award to Toyota Managing Counsel Scott Young. Texas Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman said Young “has an unwavering commitment to pro bono work.”
Anne Chandler – A Mind for the Law and a Heart for Service
As the new head of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers program, Anne Chandler brings a lot of pro bono experience to the job. Even as a second year law student, she helped pioneer a pro bono asylum project at the University of Houston Law Center and represented a Guatemalan girl who was raped repeatedly for three years.
Kirkland and Latham Top Texas M&A Legal Advisors in H1 2020
The first six months of 2020 downright sucked for corporate M&A law firms. New Mergermarket data shows that 11 of the top 12 corporate practices did fewer transactions involving Texas-based businesses than they did the year before. For the first time in 13 years, no firm reported working on at least 30 Texas transactions. The Texas Lawbook has the law firm rankings.