Mark Lanier, who hired Ken Starr to join his law firm in 2018, recalled helping his mentor navigate his departure from Baylor amid a scandal, Starr’s role as ‘principal architect’ of the firm’s appellate strategy in the $2.5 billion Johnson & Johnson talc powder case and other memories from their nearly 40-year relationship.
Fifth Circuit Judge Joins Gibson Dunn
Federal appellate judges almost never resign; and they never ever go back to practicing law. Gregg Costa, the Houston federal prosecutor who sent billionaire financial fraudster Allen Stanford to prison in 2012 and then was appointed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by President Obama, is doing both. Costa is giving up his black robe and the lifetime job security of a federal judgeship to join the Houston office of Gibson Dunn as co-lead of the firm’s global litigation and trial practice.
Costa is moving his Houston office seven blocks. His new Gibson Dunn office at is about one-tenth the size of his 3,000-square-foot suite at the federal courthouse, but he is getting a bit of a compensation boost. The Texas Lawbook talked with Costa exclusively and has the details.
Litigation Roundup: Ericsson Dinged with $31.5M Infringement Verdict; BMC, Baker Hughes March Toward TM Trial; and More
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, a team from Susman Godfrey obtained a patent infringement win against Ericsson, two Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys took another step toward ending a recruiter’s fee lawsuit, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a $3 million award in a trade secrets lawsuit between competing oil industry employment websites and Baylor College of Medicine won a $48 million Covid-19-related jury award.
Letting Jurors Ask Questions Divides Judges
Judges who have implemented the practice of allowing jurors to ask questions of witnesses via written submission say it makes deliberations more efficient and allows jurors to reach the correct result. But the majority of judges don’t allow it, and Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap said that’s for good reason.
GT Recruits Gruber-led Litigation Team
Mike Gruber and two young shareholders have left Dorsey for Greenberg Traurig. The Texas Lawbook spoke with the lawyers on Day One at GT.
Litigation Roundup: SCOTUS Cert Petition Filed in Williamson Co. Wrongful Conviction Case, Antero Secures $11.9M Final Judgment, ITC Gets Oil Pollution Act Claims Tossed
This week’s Litigation Roundup features a fight between the Houston Astros and Texas Comptroller Glenn Hegar over about $462,000 in taxes assessed against the ball club, a $3.3 million jury win for the buyers of a North Dallas office complex and a second bite at the apple for a Louisiana federal judge who enjoined a Biden administration order pausing oil and gas lease sales.
Hurricane Harvey Litigation Still Winding Through Courts Five Years Later
In the five years since Hurricane Harvey devastated the Houston region, courts have been wrangling the massive amount of litigation spawned by the storm, brought by property owners seeking damages for the flooding that in many instances took everything they had. Storm cleanup and later the COVID-19 pandemic caused some roadblocks to resolution, but time hasn’t run out for those still waiting to make a claim.
Jury Says No Damages In Citgo Desalination Plant Suit
A major point of contention in the case was whether Rothwell Energy Services’ president and director, Juan Hurtado, was the actual nephew of the former head of Citgo, Nelson Martinez, who later served as Venezuela’s oil minister and died in prison after being swept up in the PDVSA corruption probe. Rothwell’s attorneys argued Hurtado referred to him as “uncle” but had no blood relation with the close family friend, while Citgo’s attorneys argued that relationship was proof of impropriety in the deal.