Do communications between a law firm’s lawyers and its in-house GC fall under the attorney-client privilege and work product when a dispute arises between the law firm and one of its current clients? The Georgia Supreme Court is currently handling that exact dispute. “This is a case that every law firm and every corporate general counsel’s office should be watching,” says Randy Johnston, a Dallas legal ethics and malpractice expert.
Bob Dedman: Post ClubCorp, Guiding New Chapter of Family Business, Golf Legacy
Longtime Dallas businessman and SMU law graduate Bob Dedman is known for his thoughtful and deliberate decision-making. Yet, when presented with one of the most important deals of his career, he took fewer than five minutes. The back-story takes a bit longer to tell. It involves historical research, a golf legacy, a few colorful characters, a billionaire’s vision and even Mother Nature – not necessarily in that order.
Austin Industries Names D. Steven Henry New Chief Legal Officer
Prominent Gardere constructional lawyer D. Steven Henry will become CLO on July 1. Austin Industries, which is one of the largest construction firms in the U.S., said Henry is joining the company now because long-time General Counsel Charles Hardy is scheduled to retire at the end of 2014.
Baker Botts Makes Debut Law Firm Appearance at the Bush Center
Guests of the firm’s Spring Enterprising Women’s Series learned about the Bush Institute’s Women’s Intiative.
INTA Floods Dallas with 9,000 Trademark Experts
For Alcon Labs Assistant GC Sheldon Pontaoe and AT&T Trademarks Attorney David Cho, the International Trademark Association annual meeting has been a chance to meet face to face with colleagues from across the globe and to discuss the latest legal trends, including product counterfeiting.
Be a Leader? Why Should I? I’m just the Lawyer
Lawyers are trained to be leaders in their firms and in their communities. But in a time where risks to in-house and law firm counsel are significant – and sometimes even personal – will lawyers step up and take the leadership helm? Even though authentic leadership is so often lacking in today’s day and age, will the fear of very real consequences win out over the courage to lead?
GCs Added to Expanded Federal Judicial Evaluation Committee
Texas’ two U.S. Senators have named a 35-member commission to review and evaluate candidates interested in filling six open federal district judgeships and two openings on the federal circuit court of appeals.
The Federal Judicial Evaluations Committee, appointed by Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz, is stacked with high-profile Texas lawyers from the state’s largest and most prestigious law firms. New on the list, however, are four corporate general counsels, including chief legal officers or lawyers-turned-executives at JC Penney, Apache Corporation, Pride and Goldcrest Investments and Valley Baptist Health Systems.
The panel will advise the two senators regarding the qualifications of federal judicial candidates nominated by President Obama for federal judicial positions that are currently open or become open during the next four years.
UT GC Burgdorf Moves to Beatty Bangle and VuCOMP
“The job has changed in recent times,” he says, giving a nod to the recent controversy within the UT Board of Regents.
A G.C.’s Taste of Wine: Swirl. Sniff. Sip. Savor. Repeat.
Greg Blair’s love affair with wine began innocently enough early in the new millennium with the winning bid for a wine tasting at a fundraising auction for a school in Austin. Today, the general counsel for Amvensys Capital Group is back in Texas and generous with “how-to” advice for novice oenophiles.
AMR Legal Fees in Bankruptcy Exceed $170 Million
With a few months of bankruptcy proceedings still to go, AMR’s legal fees continue to mount, topping more than $170 million so far.
AMR Lawyers: Bankruptcy and Merger Deal “Extraordinarily Unique, Complex” and Expensive
American Airlines GC Gary Kennedy and his lead outside counsel, Thomas Roberts and Glenn West of Weil, provide an exclusive insight into how the AMR and US Airways deal came together. “It is an intense deal with lots of moving parts,” says West.
Oil & Gas Legal Experts: MENA Still Very Risky Investment
Hunt Oil’s Dennis Grindinger, ConocoPhillips Counsel Harry Sullivan, and SMU Law Professor John Lowe discuss the Middle East and North Africa.
Oil & Gas Legal Experts: MENA Still Very Risky Investment
Hunt Oil’s Dennis Grindinger, ConocoPhillips Counsel Harry Sullivan, and SMU Law Professor John Lowe discuss the Middle East and North Africa.
V&E Advises Pioneer in $1.7 Billion Deal with Sinochem
Pioneer GC Mark Berg says the issues in this type of JV “may be common, but every deal focuses on the specific nature of the assets and the specific needs of the parties.”
V&E Advises Pioneer in $1.7 Billion Deal with Sinochem
Pioneer GC Mark Berg says the issues in this type of JV “may be common, but every deal focuses on the specific nature of the assets and the specific needs of the parties.”
The ‘Ethics Follies’: Lee Cusenbary Makes Music With Legal Issues
San Antonio General Counsel and former actor Lee Cusenbary is the director of a musical parody, way-off-Broadway production and continuing education program that shows that the slippery slope of ethics provides ongoing fodder that teaches ethics while entertaining audiences.
Texas Mutual GC: Strategically Thinking Several Steps Ahead
Mary Nichols didn’t invent the Texas workers’ compensation system, but she may be its most ardent and aggressive defender. The article examines the 17 years Nichols has been GC at Texas Mutual, her landmark courtroom victories, and her relationships with outside counsel.
General Counsels: Not Just Lawyers Anymore
Top in-house lawyers say their job responsibilities have tremendously expanded. Today, general counsels find themselves involved in every aspect of their corporate operations
Robert Dedman Ethics Award Goes to Mark Berg of Pioneer
Berg has handled some of the most complex legal transactions in the global energy sector during the past few years. The energy deals, which valued in the billions and completely transformed the large, independent oil and gas exploration and production company and its investments.
“We hire lawyers who know our company and want to partner with us. We still see this as a legal profession, not as a commodity and we treat it as such,” says Berg. “The law firms that will survive in this new environment are those who go back and look at how the practice of law used to be.”
Indian Minister Visits Dallas as Texas Business with Country Flourishes
S.M. Krishna, India’s Minster of External Affairs and a 1959 graduate of the SMU Dedman School of Law, is returning to his alma mater Wednesday. The highest-ranking Indian official to ever visit Dallas, Krishna’s presence comes at a time when Texas-based companies are doing more and more business with their counterparts in India.
During the past two years, businesses in Texas, including Fluor Corp, Pioneer Natural Resources, Atlas Energy and ConocoPhillips, have inked more than a dozen deals with companies in India. In addition, Indian-based companies are hiring Texas-based law firms, including Thompson & Knight, Vinson & Elkins and Akin Gump, to handle their complex legal transactional work in Texas and globally.
Managing a Crisis: Oil Spill Case Tests Sutherland’s Rachel Clingman
Hired by rig owner Transocean just days after the deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion, Rachel Giesber Clingman approached the case with her trademark relentless preparation. Her early work proved critical, as she faced a maze of complex litigation, Congressional hearings and the challenge of leading a team of independent trial lawyers.
For Clingman, the case she is reluctant to discuss is the high point of a 20-year career, showcasing, and at times testing, the skills that have propelled her from a small Texas Hill Country town to her current position, at age 45, as the go-to defender of energy companies in trouble.