Two Lawsuits, Three Friends & an Alleged Conspiracy to Steal $500 Million in Business

Two aviation companies and their executives filed separate lawsuits alleging that their former business partners, including a corporate general counsel, conspired with global conglomerate United Technologies and its subsidiary, aerospace manufacturer Pratt & Whitney, to fraudulently steal away hundreds of millions of dollars in potential business. The two lawsuits tell parallel stories that, if true, provide extraordinary insight into a legal and financial scheme that brazenly preyed on friendships and personal business relationships in a highly nuanced but extremely lucrative marketplace.

July 1, 2016 Mark Curriden

T&K Trial Team Leads McKinney Surgical Support Client to $7.5 Million Jury Win

A federal jury in Dallas last Thursday ordered BlueCross BlueShield of Louisiana to pay McKinney-based Encompass Office Solutions $7.5 million for past unpaid services and tortious interference with its business practices. A young trial team from Thompson & Knight led the way for Encompass.

June 27, 2016 Mark Curriden

High-Profile Trial Lawyer Jim Renard Jumps to Norton Rose Fulbright

Renard developed a reputation for being one of the best trial lawyers in Texas over the last three decades at Bickel & Brewer, which is now called Brewer Attorneys & Counselors.

June 27, 2016 Brooks Igo

Updated: Apache Sues Former Exec for Stealing Trade Secrets

The former head of Apache Corp.’s Egyptian operations misappropriated sensitive trade secrets earlier this year when he left the Houston oil and gas company to help create a start-up firm that would compete with Apache for business, lawyers for Apache alleged in a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

May 24, 2016 Natalie Posgate

TransData Poses Billion-Dollar Issue for Itron, Landis+Gyr

A pair of upcoming trials will help determine whether two large makers of “smart” utility meters stole a small Carrollton company’s technology – and the stakes are huge.

May 24, 2016 Jeff Bounds

How True Science Won a Dog (and Cat) Fight Against Mars

A Houston-based trial team at Winston & Strawn has engineered a huge victory for a small Pacific Northwest firm against food giant Mars, Inc. in a patent battle about pet

May 16, 2016 Jeff Bounds

Austin Judge Hits Former La Grange Antiques Dealer with $1.3M Judgment – Updated

A Travis County judge on Monday awarded $1.3 million to two Santa Fe antique dealers who lost a significant amount of their jewelry collection to consignment fraud by a La Grange woman.

May 2, 2016 Mark Curriden

Dallas Jury Awards $10.9 million to Two Choctaw Nation Charter Bus Crash Victims

A jury ruled Monday that the Choctaw Nation should pay nearly $11 million to the families of two victims who died in a charter bus crash in Irving three years ago while on their way to the Choctaw Casino in Durant, Oklahoma. The verdict is a big win for plaintiff's lawyer Frank Branson, but defense attorney Tom Fee argues his client will be successful on appeal.

May 2, 2016 Mark Curriden

Federal Circuit Allows EDTX Patent Party to Continue… for Now

The Eastern District of Texas will remain the patent lawsuit capital of America, thanks to a decision Friday by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Tech companies hoped the court would overturn a 26-year-old decision that gives patent owners wide latitude on where to file their suits. It did not.

May 1, 2016 Jeff Bounds

Email Scam Ensnarls Dallas Lawyer and Houston Bank

The State Bar of Texas and the Texas Department of Banking issued dozens of notices during the past few years about scams that target lawyers and financial institutions.

December 19, 2011 Mark Curriden

The Fine Art of the Benchslap

by John Browning, Lawyer Contributor Lawyers frequently compare notes about judges, particularly those with a reputation for being tough or demanding.

November 27, 2011 Mark Curriden

Texas Business Litigation Firms Will Be Busier in 2012

Corporations in Texas and across the United States expect increased legal needs in 2012 due to intensified governmental regulatory oversight in the year ahead, according to a study to be released Tuesday.

October 24, 2011 Mark Curriden