• Subscribe
  • Log In
  • Sign up for email updates
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

  • Appellate
  • Bankruptcy
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Corporate Deal Tracker
  • GCs/Corp. Legal Depts.
  • Firm Management
  • White-Collar/Regulatory
  • Pro Bono/Public Service/D&I
Avatar photo

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.

Email Mark

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.

Q&A: Rudy Rodriguez

For Premium Subscribers No corporate in-house counsel saw her or his world turned upside down any faster or more severely because of the Covid-19 pandemic than CEC Entertainment CLO Rudy Rodriguez. The 600 Chuck E. Cheese and Peter Piper restaurants in 47 states were shut down within days last March, thousands of workers were furloughed and then came bankruptcy.

April 26, 2021 Mark Curriden

First Texan and First Latina to Take Global Law Firm Helm

For the first time in history, a Texan is set next year to become the top managing lawyer of a 2,000-attorney global law firm based outside of the Lone Star State. And she’s a woman and Hispanic. Dallas trial lawyer Yvette Ostolaza, a three-decade veteran of the Texas business law community, will become chair of Sidley Austin's managing committee in 2022. The Texas Lawbook takes an in-depth look at Ostolaza's path from a Cuban-immigrant neighborhood in Miami to almost deciding against going to college to leading a corporate law firm that made $2.4 billion in 2020.

April 26, 2021 Mark Curriden

A Pro Bono ‘Ball of Fire’

Toyota Managing Counsel Meyling Ly Ortiz has won a major wage and hour class action lawsuit, developed and implemented cutting-edge programs to address bias in the workplace and played a huge role in guiding the world's largest carmaker through Covid-19 restrictions. But Ly Ortiz is a finalist for the 2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award for Pro Bono and Public Service for one reason: she has a servant's heart, which she attributes to extraordinary decisions her parents made 7,800 miles away four decades ago.

April 22, 2021 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Meyling Ly Ortiz

For Premium Subscribers Only Meyling Ly Ortiz is managing counsel for labor and employment law for Toyota North America. Mark Curriden, founder of ,em>The Texas Lawbook had the chance to ask her about her philosophy regarding pro bono and its importance in considering outside counsel.

April 22, 2021 Mark Curriden

Kirkland Officially Opens in Austin

Seven years ago this month, Kirkland & Ellis opened its first Texas office in Houston with a handful of lawyers. Today, the world’s largest law firm by revenues now has 290 lawyers operating in Texas and that number is about to grow. In fact, Kirkland has more offices in Texas than any other state.

April 19, 2021 Mark Curriden

Stanford Fraud Receiver Recovery Approaches $1 Billion

A dozen years of work for Baker Botts partner Kevin Sadler, a lawyer for the receiver in the Stanford financial fraud case is paying off. This month, the 18,000 victims of the Ponzi scheme are splitting $216 million, bringing the total paid so far to $935 million. Two more cases are nearly close, which will add another $190 million. And then there's the biggie against the banks.

April 14, 2021 Mark Curriden

Thompson & Knight, Holland & Knight Seeking to Merge

Dallas-headquartered Thompson & Knight and Holland & Knight of Miami are in final negotiations to merge. If the combination is approved, the firm will boast more than 1,600 lawyers and annual revenues in excess of $1.25 billion.

“This proposed combination would expand significantly each firm’s presence in important geographic markets,” Thompson & Knight managing partner Mark Sloan said in a written statement to The Texas Lawbook.

The Texas Lawbook has learned the merger should be finalized this summer.

April 9, 2021 Mark Curriden

Baker Botts Joins Special Associate Bonus Bandwagon

Houston-based Baker Botts announced Friday morning that it is the latest in a string of corporate law firms to give associates a special bonus ranging from $12,000 to $64,000.

April 9, 2021 Mark Curriden

Efforts to Restructure Texas Appellate Courts Dropped

There will be no restructuring of the Texas appellate courts this year. The state senator who introduced legislation that would dramatically reduce the number of appellate courts has agreed to allow the bill to die in committee... for now.

April 9, 2021 Mark Curriden

McKool Smith, Norton Rose Fulbright Join the Associate Special Bonus Parade

Dallas-based litigation firm McKool Smith and global legal giant Norton Rose Fulbright have joined an extended list of corporate law firms operating in Texas to pay its associates and counsel five-digit special bonuses. For senior associates, this will push their 2021 compensation above $500,000. The Texas Lawbook has the details.

April 8, 2021 Mark Curriden

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Go to page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 75
  • Go to page 76
  • Go to page 77
  • Go to page 78
  • Go to page 79
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Go to page 552
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar

Features

  • Stakeholder GC Jonathan Ellis ‘Turns Adversity into Opportunity’ - Jonathan Ellis traces his desire to be a lawyer to the third grade when his mother told him about a former landlord who refused to refund her a $100 deposit under false pretenses. "This was a time in her life when $100 was life-changing money," he said. But a lawyer who employed his mom as a bookkeeper wrote a letter to the landlord who quickly refunded the money. That's when he realized lawyers have influence. Three decades later, Ellis is the general counsel of San Antonio-headquartered Stakeholder Midstream, which focuses on in-field natural gas and oil gathering as well as transportation and storage.

    “Jonathan has faced numerous high-pressure challenges, which has frequently required him to manage multiple projects at once using outside counsel from different law firms,” said Clifford Chance partner Todd Lowther.

    The Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department to Ellis.
    October 21, 2025Mark Curriden
  • Lee Cusenbary’s ‘Career Shows How Much One Person Can Do to Make a Difference in a Community’ - Lee Cusenbary is a legend in the Texas business and legal communities. His name and reputation will forever be connected to elevating ethics — so much so that the Association of Corporate Counsel San Antonio Chapter named its highest honor after him. During 17 years as the GC at Mission Pharmacal, Cusenbary successfully led the San Antonio company through several complex multidistrict litigation cases, highly-technical patent infringement disputes, and guided it through numerous acquisitions and divestitures.

    "Lee has left a lasting mark on the in-house counsel community, the San Antonio legal profession and the broader public," said Dykema member Jeffrey Gifford. "Lee made his career about being more than an excellent corporate counsel. He also made it about building a culture of ethics and of giving back.”

    ACC San Antonio and The Texas Lawbook are awarding Cusenbary the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
    October 20, 2025Mark Curriden

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Erin Hopkins: Another Veteran Paul Hastings Hire - Erin Hopkins, a veteran energy transactions partner at Baker Botts, is moving to the Houston office of Paul Hastings, his new law firm announced Tuesday. Hopkins brings with him 15 years of experience in energy and renewables transactions.
  • Midwest Law Firm with Texas Offices Merges with Northeast Firm
  • White & Case Adds Energy M&A Dealmaker in Houston
  • Norton Rose Hires Veteran Finance Partner from Winston & Strawn
  • Invitation Homes Selects Former SEC Associate Director as VP of Litigation and Investigations
  • Houston Trial Firm Boosts Associate Salaries
  • SALSA Names New Executive Director
  • New GE Vernova GC of Wind Energy Dionne Hamilton: ‘We’re Working to Make the World a Better Place’
  • Ross & Smith Announces Partnership with Full-Service Maryland Firm
  • Martin Sosland, Candice Carson Join Vartabedian Hester
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

Hover right to see full list

Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

Footer

Who We Are

  • About Us
  • Our Team
  • Contact Us
  • Submit a News Tip

Stay Connected

  • Sign up for email updates
  • Article Submission Guidelines
  • Premium Subscriber Editorial Calendar

Our Partners

  • The Dallas Morning News
The Texas Lawbook logo

1409 Botham Jean Blvd.
Unit 811
Dallas, TX 75215

214.232.6783

© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.