Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The high-stakes trial between Williams and Energy Transfer over their failed $38 billion merger concluded with testimony from several high billable hour tax lawyers from Cravath, Latham, Wachtell and Gibson Dunn. Natalie Posgate reviews their testimony, which will help a Delaware chancery court decide which party is on the hook for a $410 million merger breakup fee.
While lawyers continue to adjust to practice during the pandemic, it is increasingly clear that certain new ways of doing things will become standard when we return to working in person. This includes remote witness testimony. Remote practice has exposed a heightened risk of unethical behavior, including undisclosed communications between the witness and counsel mid-testimony in violation of controlling federal and Texas law. Because it is harder to uncover such misconduct in a remote setting, counsel should take necessary steps to manage these risks effectively and efficiently.
Mary Goodrich Nix, a major league litigation partner with all-star credentials, is leaving Holland & Knight for Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann. Her last day at H&K was Monday.
The move comes more than a month after the Miami-headquartered firm publicly acknowledged merger talks with Dallas-based Thompson & Knight. But that’s not the reason for the move, according to Nix. The Texas Lawbook has the story.A jury in Midland on Friday returned a $5.9 million verdict against an oil field company from Glen Rose and an employee who killed four people while speeding to work in a rainstorm. The verdict is believed to be the largest ever in a personal injury case in Midland County.
The company leaders behind both The Williams Companies and Energy Transfer have taken the stand in the final trial involving companies’ contentious legal battle over their failed $38 billion merger. Both got grilled, but one CEO’s cross-examination appeared to be more brutal than the other.
Key negotiators for The Williams Companies in its failed 2016 merger with Energy Transfer Equity testified Monday in the Delaware Court of Chancery about an equity offering executed by ETE that they say breached the parties’ $38 billion merger agreement because of how unfair it was to Williams shareholders. But they didn't go unchallenged on cross-examination.
A multi-day trial between a Japanese internet media giant and a Chinese technology conglomerate over the patent rights to popular online games ended Friday with a federal jury in Marshall awarding $92 million.
The final chapter of Energy Transfer and Williams’ legal battle over their failed mega-merger from 2016 will unfold in a six-day trial that begins Monday in Delaware. If you forgot what they’re still fighting about, not to worry. Natalie Posgate has the who, what, when, where and why to refresh your memory.
For the second time this spring, a Fort Worth federal judge has dismissed with prejudice a lawsuit that stemmed from a business deal that fell apart between Arlington-based Six Flags Entertainment Corp. and Riverside Investment Group related to the development of Six Flags parks in China.
Mediation has always been an important part of patent litigation – especially in the Eastern District of Texas. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, virtual mediations have become an important and successful way to resolve patent disputes. We have conducted or participated in more than 50 virtual patent mediations since the pandemic began, and these recommended best practices are based on our experiences over the past year.
A Houston jury ruled Thursday afternoon that Houston-based TechnipFMC did not own trade secrets related to subsea drilling designs that the company had accused hometown rival Dril-Quip and ex-FMC engineer Rick Murphy of misappropriating, handing FMC a take-nothing verdict.
Lawyers for Dril-Quip and Murphy said they were thrilled with the result. An attorney for FMC said the company respects the verdict, but promised an appeal.
For a day and a half, a Houston jury has been weighing whether Houston-based Dril-Quip and one of its engineers stole trade secrets from TechnipFMC, a rival competitor in the subsea drilling industry, and if so, how much those trade secrets are worth. They return Thursday morning to continue the debate.
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