Match Scores Financial Concessions in Settlement with Google

Lawyers for Dallas-based online dating company Match Group were set to do battle with attorneys for internet search giant Google next week in a federal courthouse in San Francisco over allegations of antitrust abuses and breach of contract. But the two corporate powerhouses announced late Tuesday that they have settled their dispute and are best friends once again. The Match legal team included CLO Jared Sine, assistant GC Jeanette Teckman, senior counsel Stephen Myers and Dallas trial lawyer Jeff Tillotson.

November 1, 2023 Mark Curriden

Litigation Roundup: Paxton Gets TRO to Stop Razor Wire ‘Destruction’ at Border, ITC’s Win Against Enviro Claim Affirmed in Case of First Impression

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a jury sides with a Baylor graduate in a lawsuit over the alleged mishandling of her sexual assault complaints, a woman sexually assaulted by her masseuse has a $1.8 million punitive award wiped out on appeal, and a judge in Texas puts a nationwide halt to a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would require lenders collect certain data from small business borrowers.

October 30, 2023 Michelle Casady

Administrative Patent Judge Joins Bracewell’s IP Practice in Austin 

Christopher L. “Kit” Crumbley navigated unprecedented trials as an administrative judge on the U.S. Patent and Trial Appeal Board beginning in 2012, as the America Invents Act went into effect. He said he left the bench in pursuit of his “next challenge.”

October 26, 2023 Krista Torralva

Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories about Lawyers and the Law

The Insider is not a movie about the law per se. Like most Michael Mann movies, it’s about men engaged in an operatic, high-stakes dance with each other and with their fates, coming together and splitting apart in a flurry of paradoxically macho sensitivity. It’s about the sacred bond between a journalist and his source, and the troubling divide between the noble work journalists do and the corporate interests of their employers. As such it’s one of the great journalism thrillers; there’s no heresy in mentioning The Insider in the same breath as All the President’s Men. But there is, in fact, a lot of law in The Insider, and a fair number of lawyers.

October 26, 2023 Chris Vognar

One Nation Under Insurance: The Insurance Industry’s Hold on Our Country, Our State, and Our Pocketbooks – Part 1

Insurance. It touches everything you do as a lawyer and suffuses the entire scope of human endeavor. Think for a moment how crucial insurance, in general, and the claim process, in particular, is to the smooth functioning of every Texas business. This article considers the insurance industry's influence in fostering a flourishing commercial environment in Texas.

October 25, 2023 Marc Gravely

Receiver’s Request for Criminal Defense Lawyer’s File Draws NACDL, TCDLA Challenge

The subpoenaed criminal defense attorney, former federal prosecutor Richard Kuniansky, told The Lawbook the request from receiver Levi Benton, a former Harris County civil district judge, was “crazy,” and said if Benton is allowed access to the entire file it would have ramifications well beyond this case. The client, Ataa Shadi, was sued in civil court by duped investors who got a $3 million default judgment against him in 2020. He was indicted on related criminal fraud charges in May.

October 25, 2023 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Ernst & Young Beats Fraud Claims, Sandy Hook Families Prevail in Alex Jones Bankruptcy

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a massage company pays $1 million to end the sex assault claims lodged by two female customers, a lawsuit between the parent company of Ace Cash Express and a former business partner seeks as much as nine-figure damages, and American Airlines wins an appeal in a discrimination lawsuit venue fight.

October 23, 2023 Michelle Casady

Jury Says No Breach, No Bad Faith, No $30M

A Harris County jury recently heard three weeks of evidence in a breach of contract and bad faith lawsuit stemming from the $90 million sale of a business that rents pumps used in the oil and gas industry. Jurors had to answer two questions: Did GR Energy Services breach a noncompete agreement by communicating with SpaceX about the possible purchase of pumps after it sold its Flex Flow pump business? And did Odessa Pumps act in bad faith in managing Flex Flow after the purchase from GR to keep profits artificially low in order to avoid paying GR a $30 million earnout? No, and no, the jury said.

October 20, 2023 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Hunton AK Tapped to Defend Aetna in $1.3B Suit, Waco Jury Slams California Co. With $240M Infringement Verdict

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas juries find infringement in one case involving smart thermostats and another involving cloud storage, a group of doctors want a Harris County judge to confirm a $153.5 million arbitration award in a dispute with UnitedHealthcare and federal prosecutors in Houston drop a female genital mutilation case.

October 16, 2023 Michelle Casady

Harry Reasoner, the ‘Quintessential Advocate,’ Retires

Six decades ago, a rookie Vinson & Elkins lawyer named Harry Reasoner tried his first case in court. Hundreds of jury and bench trials and 59 years later, Reasoner, now 84, tells The Texas Lawbook that he has decided to retire on Dec. 31.

Reasoner has won billion-dollar courtroom victories for plaintiffs and corporate defendants. His service of pro bono is unparalleled. He guided V&E through a time of tremendous growth, adopted progressive workplace policies in the 1990s such as same sex benefits and helped the Houston firm survive the Enron financial scandal.

October 16, 2023 Mark Curriden

Meet the Reasoners: Texas Legal Royalty

Harry Reasoner grew up on a farm outside San Marcos, milking cows and raising pigs for 4-H competition. At 80, he has had a storied career, representing corporations in some of the biggest trials in history. Clients pay as much as $1,500 an hour for his counsel. Now Reasoner's two children - Barrett and Macey and the extraordinary courtroom success they've had - are making sure that their father's legacy will continue for many, many years. Meet the Reasoners.

October 16, 2023 Janet Elliott

Fifth Circuit Revives Racial Profiling Suit Against Mesa Airlines

A three-judge panel on Friday determined that disputed fact issues should have precluded U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor from granting Mesa Airlines a summary judgment win in the lawsuit brought by Issam Abdallah and Abderraouf Alkhawaldeh. The men booked their tickets through American Airlines for a flight Mesa operated. Both frequent fliers on American Airlines, Abdallah holds gold status and Alkhawaldeh holds executive platinum status.

October 13, 2023 Michelle Casady