Alston & Bird Nabs Longtime McKool Smith IP Lawyer
Patent trial lawyer Ted Stevenson, who has secured nine-digit jury verdicts, joined Alston & Bird this week.
Updated: Houston Jury Awards TeamHealth $19.1M in Trial Over ER Doc Pay
A closely-watched trial among healthcare insurers concluded Thursday with a $19.1 million verdict awarded to two emergency medicine group practices affiliated with TeamHealth. But lawyers for the defendant, Molina Healthcare of Texas, said the verdict will be significantly reduced and the new figure falls closely in line with what their client was willing to reimburse.
Fort Worth Oil Company Wins ‘Use It or Lose It’ Challenge to Permian Basin Leases
Centralia Permian, represented by Alston & Bird, prevailed in a Midland County jury trial over a Fortune 500 company’s failure to produce oil and gas ‘in paying quantities’ from a previously fruitful oilfield.
Juries Belong in Court, Not on Zoom, Rusty Hardin Contends
A Houston company sued after a tragic trucking accident says that with $100 million on the line, it has a right to look jurors in the eye. Bruce Tomaso explains the viewpoints of both sides, which pit two prominent Houston trial lawyers against each other.
Judge Albright Establishes Transfer & Fact Discovery Rules in Two New Orders
U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, who has the busiest patent docket in the country, issued two amended standing orders this week designed to keep court matters moving as efficiently as possible while maintaining fairness to both. The orders appear to be well-received so far by practitioners.
Reese Marketos Lands High-Profile U.S. Prosecutor
Andrew Wirmani is leaving the U.S. Attorney's office to become a partner at Dallas litigation boutique Reese Marketos. Wirmani was lead prosecutor in several high-profile investigations, including that of the Forest Park Medical Center.
Foes Battling Over Mexican Gold Mine Discover Rich Vein of — Litigation
In a trans-border tiff over a gold mine in Mexico, two companies — one American and one Canadian — have managed to unearth a motherlode of litigation. Experts say their grueling court battles across several international venues point up the shortcomings of binding arbitration agreements and their limited ability to compel business partners not to be jerks. The Lawbook's Bruce Tomaso explains.
For AZA musician-turned-lawyer, the courtroom is just a different stage
Foster Johnson was only a high school freshman in Houston when his father, a workaholic corporate lawyer at a silk-stocking firm, died of a stroke. Resolved not to follow in his footsteps, Johnson and his brother Alec took the equal-and-opposite path: they formed a rock band called Vegas DeMilo.
For a decade, Johnson made a go of the rock life — with better success than most. But in the end, he found himself back on his father's path — as a top-notch trial attorney at Houston's AZA litigation boutique. The Lawbook's Bruce Tomaso chronicles his transition, and the ways that being a serious rock musician and a trial attorney may not be as different as you'd expect.Real Estate Investor Sues Nate Paul, World Class
In a lawsuit filed Monday, a Colorado investor is seeking to recover a $1.3 million investment he made with the real estate firm owned by Nate Paul, who recently was at the helm of a political scandal involving the Texas Attorney General's Office.
Forterra GC and Sidley Team Take ‘Holistic Approach’ in Winning $100M Earnout Dispute
Mergers and acquisitions that end up in high-stakes litigation are often about two issues: the fine print of the transaction agreement and the intent of the buyers and sellers. No one knows this more than Forterra GC Lori Browne, who spent the past six years battling the German company that sold the water and drainage pipe maker to private equity fund Lone Star for $1.3 billion on Christmas Eve 2014. Browne won the case and the 2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Williams v. ETE Trial Finale: The Battle of the Tax Lawyers
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.
Best Practices to Preserve the Integrity of Remote Testimony
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.