Companies that experience major environmental and workplace incidents are facing increasing scrutiny, including criminal investigations, according to lawyers who represent corporations involved in crisis situations. Baker Botts partners Greg Dillard and Scott Elliott say that public repercussions for businesses experiencing serious environmental, health and safety issues has expanded significantly, especially those involving workplace deaths.
CLE Showcase: Four Premier Texas Trial Lawyers, Four Huge Verdicts & a Federal Judge
During the past year, four of the most skilled trial lawyers in Texas have scored several huge trial verdicts. On Monday night, in an exclusive live event hosted by The Texas Lawbook, the Texas GC Forum and SMU Dedman School of Law, those four lawyers – who will be questioned by federal judge Karen Gren Scholer – will take attendees behind the scenes of their historic courtroom victories. The Lawbook has full details.
Nominations Open for 2019 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are officially accepting nominations for the 2019 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards, which recognize the best of the best legal work being performed by corporate in-house counsel. There are 14 categories this year, including three categories that also recognize successful partnerships between general counsel and their outside law firms. The Lawbook has full details.
NRF Scores Win in Unusual Car Wreck Trial
Most defendants do not hire a global corporate law firm to handle old-fashioned car crash cases, but Brenda Buenrostro v. Richardo Machuca, Stripes, Sunoco and Energy Transfer Equity had the potential to be much bigger than a garden variety auto accident – millions of dollars bigger. Enter Norton Rose Fulbright.
Bill Brewer’s Misconduct Case Moves to SCOTX
A five-year battle over sanctions against NRA lawyer Bill Brewer will be argued Oct. 10 before the Texas Supreme Court. The issue is whether Brewer conducted a poll of potential jurors in Lubbock to gauge public attitudes or to improperly influence the jury pool. Both sides agree that the case presents “multiple questions of law and policy that have far-reaching implications and are important to the jurisprudence of the state.”
Group of Environmental Lawyers Jump from Katten to Baker Botts
The Texas-based corporate law firm is expected to announce next week that it has added up to nine partners – three of them based in Texas – to its environmental and workplace safety practice, The Texas Lawbook has learned. All nine attorneys have been partners in the Austin, Houston, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. offices of Chicago-based Katten Muchin.
The Deals, The Law Firms, The Lawyers
Our expert team has examined every transaction recorded by the Corporate Deal Tracker – there were thousands of them handled by Texas lawyers in 2018 and 2019. This article details how The Lawbook plans to unveil the findings.
Study: Texas Appellate Courts Getting Fairer to Plaintiffs
A new study by Haynes and Boone shows that the newly-elected appellate judges in Texas are reversing lower court litigation decisions equally for defendants and plaintiffs – a dramatic shift from only one year ago when Republican judges controlled the state appellate benches and favored defendants over plaintiffs by an overwhelming margin. The Texas Lawbook has the full details.
Ruff Family Seeks Criminal Inquiry against Lawyer, Bank over Millions in Trust Fund
A Texas judge has initiated a “court of inquiry” to handle allegations of criminal misconduct made by the children of deceased Dallas banker Arthur Ruff against Texas lawyers and bankers involved in their family’s multimillion-dollar trust. The judicial led probe comes as Ruff’s widow seeks to enforce a $66 million judgment against her own son. The web of lawsuits shows just how nasty family disputes over cash and control can get.
Fifth Circuit’s Stewart Ends Term as Chief Judge: ‘It’s Been a Full Seven Years’
Carl Stewart’s term as chief judge of the New Orleans-based Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals expires at the end of September. In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Judge Stewart looks back at seven tumultuous years, his plans for the future, the need to integrate five new appellate judges and what others say his legacy as the Fifth Circuit’s only African-American chief judge will be.