Breaking News Archives - The Texas Lawbook

Texas’ First-Half Fab Five: These Firms Are Leading the M&A Break

In the first half of the year, dealmaking has been defined by an unmistakable top tier of law firms that dominate the M&A stats from every angle. Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Gibson Dunn, Vinson & Elkins and Sidley Austin are the only firms that land in the top 10 on all four core measures of The Texas Lawbook’s exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker for 1H 2026 M&A.

These five firms and their Texas lawyers formed the “starting lineup” for buyers and sellers who needed wraparound services, expertise and scale.

July 30, 2026 Jeff Schnick

Litigation Roundup: Winter Storm Uri Gas Case Spawns 2 Certified Questions to SCOTX

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Dallas court of appeals agrees a trial court got it wrong by forcing the parties in a breach of contract case into a bench trial when one requested trial by jury, and an automotive equipment manufacturer sued by Tesla tells the court the company named the wrong defendant.

July 27, 2026 Michelle Casady

CDT Roundup: Every Week is a Power Up

As in most weeks of late, the deals reflect the ongoing data center scramble for power at every level, from upstream to downstream generation to renewables and storage and to the mining of metals that move or store it all.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

July 26, 2026 Jason Philyaw

My Five Favorite Books: Nick Nelson (Litigation Partner, Nadler Nelson, PLLC)

My sister-in-law is a librarian with an infectious love of books. Each time a niece or nephew celebrates a birthday, she takes them to Half Price Books to pick out a book (or two or three). This has been going on for years now, so you can imagine the sense of anticipation that has developed around this tradition. As attorneys, we read a lot. Not everything we read inspires anticipation and wonder. Here are five books that might.

July 8, 2026 Nick Nelson

CDT Roundup: No Summer Slowdown for Deals

For the week ended June 20, the CDT Roundup reported on 11 deals with a disclosed value of $68.1 billion. Those are numbers that come naturally when SpaceX is involved.

Aside from a $60 billion SPCX stock swap for a San Francisco AI startup, there was an abundance of other billion-dollar deals. Pizza Hut had two of them, in fact.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

June 21, 2026 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: Megadeal Leads Eclectic Mix of M&A, IPOs and Odd Pairings

For the week ended June 13, the CDT Roundup reported on ten deals with a disclosed value of $11 billion.

A year ago at this time, the Roundup reported on nine deals with a combined disclosed value of $478 million.

By far the largest deal of the week was a massive venture involving PE, a sovereign fund, a power provider and a major chipmaker. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

June 14, 2026 Jason Philyaw

Dallas Mural Artist Sues FIFA for $25M

The artist who freehand painted a massive mural of whales in downtown Dallas has filed a federal lawsuit against FIFA over its decision to paint over and “permanently destroy” the work of art.

June 1, 2026 Michelle Casady

CDT Roundup: AI, Energy and Giant Deal Shape Diverse Week

Three AI-related deals. A soon-to-be-Japanese-owned digital infrastructure provider sopped up a major alternative energy investor. A Miami-based PE firm bought 10 data centers. You get the idea.

For the week ended May 30, the CDT Roundup reported on 14 transactions valued at a nearly $19.9 billion.

That falls short of last week's 15 deals for $75 billion, but within shouting distance of the 19 transactions valued at $23 billion at this time last year.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

May 31, 2026 Jason Philyaw

Texas Supreme Court Orders Dallas Judge to Lift Mask Mandate

The Texas Supreme Court issued an order Friday instructing Dallas County at Law Judge D’Metria Benson to immediately rescind her standing court order requiring lawyers, witnesses, jurors and others in her courtroom to wear masks.

“The Court disapproves of any such policy in any Texas courtroom,” a three-page order signed by all nine justices released Friday states.

May 29, 2026 Mark Curriden

As Austin Business Skyrockets, So Too Does Reliance on Modern Dispute Resolution

As the city has grown rapidly, this thriving business hub has seen increased complexity in legal disputes tied to technology, construction, energy, healthcare, and employment matters, just to name a few. With this increase, the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services has also steadily risen. Fortunately, Austin has long enjoyed a sophisticated ADR marketplace, serving this expanding business community for approximately three decades.

May 28, 2026 Jonathan Moss

NextEra, Dominion Energy Merge in Stock Swap Valued at $66.8B

NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced Monday an agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $66.8 billion. Kirkland & Ellis advised NextEra with a team led by Zach Savrick and Andy Calder in Houston with David Feirstein, who works from Houston and New York, and Brooksany Barrowes in Washington, D.C. Dominion Energy is being advised by McGuireWoods.

May 18, 2026 Jason Philyaw

CDT Roundup: Light Week, Heavy Energy as Power Plays Drive Activity

For the week ended May 16, the CDT Roundup reported on 12 deals – eight of which were in capital markets – with a total value of about $6 billion, which are both down from the prior week's 21 deals valued at $11.3 billion.

Despite the light slate, last week's transactions were dominated by energy of all kinds.

May 17, 2026 Jason Philyaw