American Airlines GC Gary Kennedy says he was shocked and disappointed that Texas AG Greg Abbott joined the federal antitrust lawsuit filed last week to stop AA’s $11 billion merger with US Airways. Kennedy says “no concerns were voiced in advance” by Abbott’s legal team. Kennedy says the airline has “no contingency plan” if the merger fails and that the company is “focusing all of our efforts and energies on winning this lawsuit.” Meanwhile, the airline is spending about $500,000 a day in legal expenses.

Last week, a federal judge dismissed the $3 billion World Trade Center attack lawsuit against American Airlines. “The horrible attacks on September 11 were terrible for our country and, truthfully, could have been disastrous for our airline,” says Koorenny, an associate GC at American. “Those were my colleagues we lost that day and the lawsuits against us only added insult to our injuries by trying to blame us for the attacks.” For a dozen years, the WTC cases have been Koorenny’s life, but 10,000 hours or so later, the end of the litigation may be in sight.

General counsels have traditionally used their outside law firms as recruiting pools – not law schools. But that is changing.

Alan Schoenbaum is fed up with patent trolls and he’s not going to take it any more. The San Antonio tech GC vows to fight the patent assertion entities.

Alan Schoenbaum is fed up with patent trolls and he’s not going to take it any more. The San Antonio tech GC vows to fight the patent assertion entities.

Long-time AA General Counsel Gary Kennedy is leaving after nearly three decades working in the airlines’ corporate legal department. AA CEO-in-waiting Doug Parker announced that his current executive vice president for corporate and government affairs at US Airways Group, Steve Johnson, will oversee the company’s legal and regulatory affairs.

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.

Guests of the firm’s Spring Enterprising Women’s Series learned about the Bush Institute’s Women’s Intiative.

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.

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.