Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The Fifteenth Court of Appeals held oral arguments at Texas A&M School of Law Thursday afternoon. Classes were canceled for first-year students to attend the oral arguments and watch the attorneys and justices in action.
For 33 years as a trial lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright, Steven Jansma has scored huge courtroom victories in highly complex lawsuits for dozens of Fortune 500 clients, including a German automaker, an Ohio tire manufacturer, a Japanese chemical company, a national trucking operation and a major petroleum refinery, to describe a few, in state and federal courts across 26 states.
“It is his ability to see through the clutter, distill the complex into simplicity and then communicate in a way that is devoid of the emotion that one often sees in complex litigation matters," said Vulcan Materials senior counsel John M. Floyd.
But it is Jansma's deep commitment to public service in the San Antonio community that stands out the most, including Child Advocates San Antonio, Clarity Child Guidance Center, Catholic Charities and The Ecumenical Center, where he has helped shape programs that support vulnerable populations, Cody said. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Lawbook are honored to award Jansma with the 2025 C. Lee Cusenbary Ethical Life and Leadership Award.
Travis County’s newest district court judge issued an order this week in a nearly 2-year-old dispute, stemming from a soured joint venture that was formed to buy and sell a luxury home in Austin, while granting and denying certain motions from both parties.
But the real news in the three-page order entered Wednesday in Brandon Becker v. UpEquity Title came in the final three paragraphs, where Travis County District Judge Cory Liu, appointed to the bench by Gov. Greg Abbott in March, took to task the Travis County central docket system.
The firm, which launched in Houston in 1993, was patient about opening a second office. John Zavitsanos said the amount of intellectual property work the firm is handling made Dallas a clear location for expansion. (Photo by Sharon Ferranti/The Texas Lawbook)
In the sports showdown consuming Dallas, it will be Winstead PC representing the Dallas Stars in the litigation against the Jackson Walker-represented Dallas Mavericks.
After a three-hour hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett ruled to convert Dr. Phil McGraw’s Chapter 11 startup media bankruptcy case to a Chapter 7 and will have a trustee appointed. The ruling comes after a weekslong hearing in September on the motion to dismiss or to convert.
To lead the high-profile breach of contract lawsuit the Dallas Mavericks ownership filed against the Dallas Stars ownership Tuesday, the basketball club’s General Counsel and Chief Ethics Officer Sekou Lewis has tapped the law firm Jackson Walker. Partners Charles “Chip” Babcock, Chris Bankler and associate Sarah Starr are representing the Dallas Sports Group and Radical Arena in the litigation against DSE Hockey Club.
A year into operation, the judges who preside over the Texas Business Court are getting comfortable at home and promoting the court abroad. Business Court Judge Sofia Adrogué has traveled to Argentina and Fifteenth Court of Appeals Justice Scott Field has traveled to Mexico.
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