Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Arun Agarwal and his company AAVN own 10 patents for a process that turns cotton and cotton-polyester blend materials into luxury, high-thread-count bedsheets. In the latest battle to protect his intellectual property, Winstead attorney Cory Johnson won dismissal of a federal suit in North Carolina where a competitor was trying to invalidate all 10 patents.
When trial lawyer Steve Susman died unexpectedly in 2020, legal industry insiders wondered what would become of the firm he founded four decades ago. The verdict is in.
“We had a record year in revenues and profits in 2022,” Susman Godfrey co-managing partner Vineet Bhatia told The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview. “2022 was far and away our best year ever.”
Susman Godfrey does not release annual law firm financials. An analysis by The Texas Lawbook shows, however, that the firm has nearly 200 lawyers – 105 of them in Texas – and ranks in the top five in RPL and PEP. The Lawbook has the exclusive details.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, an intermediate appellate court split widens regarding gross negligence claims, sanctions requested by Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in a fight over unpaid attorney fees are upheld on appeal, and a federal judge undoes one Texas county’s book bans.
A $400 million insurance recovery action filed by Samsung Austin Semiconductor is shining a light on the playbook that insurance companies rely upon to create an unfair advantage in claim disputes. While the damages in this case are eye-popping, the allegations in the lawsuit paint a picture that is all too familiar for businesses and property owners across the state.
As a third-year associate at Norton Rose Fulbright, Christian Menefee attended an election night watch party in November 2016 that ended in a way no one in attendance expected. But it also was the night that changed his life and career path. Exactly four years later, Menefee became the youngest lawyer and the first African American to be elected county attorney of Harris County. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Menefee discusses his first two years as Harris County’s top legal officer, the current Texas legislative session, how he hires outside counsel and his plans for reelection. Photo credit: Marie D. De Jesús/Houston Chronicle
Lauren Brogdon is adept at putting out fires. At her day job in Haynes and Boone’s Houston office, Brogdon specializes in energy litigation and serves as chair of Haynes and Boone’s crisis management practice group. In her free time, she helps put out other fires ignited by the wrath of domestic violence. She works with domestic violence victims through her pro bono work with Houston Volunteer Lawyers, the Houston Area Women’s Center and AVDA.
But something many billable and pro bono clients alike may not know about Brogdon is that she is a domestic violence survivor herself. Natalie Posgate recently talked with Brogdon about her pro bono work, her own experience and how it shaped her into the lawyer she is today.
In the face of varied and robust opposition to the proposal to create a new, statewide appellate court with exclusive jurisdiction over disputes involving the state or a state agency, lawmakers last week voted to send the bill to the full senate for a vote. Texas for Lawsuit Reform has championed the bill as an opportunity to establish a court with specialized expertise to hear matters of statewide importance.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Texas Supreme Court upholds Texas A&M’s governmental immunity in a crash suit, and Cinemark loses a Covid business interruption claim against an insurer while Baylor University beats back a Covid-related breach of contract claim brought by two students.
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