Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The two authors of the article, Dallas partners at Weil, explain how American emerged from Chapter 11 in December 2013 as one of the most successful Chapter 11 reorganizations in recent history.
Long-time American GC Gary Kennedy and other in-house and outside counsel in the American Airlines bankruptcy and merger with US Airways on Tuesday provided the most extensive behind-the-scenes tour of the historic reorganization. They discuss undercover flights to New York on a competitor's airline, angry calls with AMR board members, outside legal fees of $500,000 a day and closed door arguments between senior lawyers at the two airlines.
The merger of American Airlines and US Airways may be the last combination of large U.S. air carriers for a long time.
Prescott Legal Services survey shows compensation for in-house counsel in Houston grew four percent last year.
Businesses in Texas and across the U.S. continue to spend more and more money on legal fees to fight high-stakes litigation and to deal with a growing number of regulatory enforcement actions from state, local and federal government agencies, according to a new survey scheduled to be released Tuesday. Norton Rose Fulbright’s 10th Annual Litigation Trends Survey found that 71 percent of corporations spent $1 million or more on litigation costs in 2013 – up from 53 percent the two previous years. More than 26 percent of companies saw their litigation costs exceed $10 million last year – an increase from 11 percent in 2011. Also, Marsha Gerber and Richard Smith take an indepth look into survey results about an increasingly active regulatory environment, and William Wood discusses why energy companies are concerned about the jump in investigations and regulatory matters.
Jeffrey Anderson will serve in his new position on a pro bono basis and continue his private practice uninterrupted.
The general counsel at more than a dozen major energy companies tell TLB their M&A plans for 2014 and what that means for legal fees for outside counsel.
The general counsel at more than a dozen major energy companies tell TLB their M&A plans for 2014 and what that means for legal fees for outside counsel.
The legal needs of the Hispanic business community in North Texas are going unmet by lawyers because DFW business law firms employ very few Spanish-speaking attorneys, according to a new study, leaders of the Chamber of Commerce and a growing number of corporate general counsel.
The legal needs of the Hispanic business community in North Texas are going unmet by lawyers because DFW business law firms employ very few Spanish-speaking attorneys, according to a new study, leaders of the Chamber of Commerce and a growing number of corporate general counsel.
The report says Hispanic business leaders have potentially hundreds of millions to even billions of dollars in legal needs that are mostly going unmet.
The report says Hispanic business leaders have potentially hundreds of millions to even billions of dollars in legal needs that are mostly going unmet.
As Gary Kennedy packed up his office, he discussed his 30 years at American and 11 years as chief legal officer. He talked about spending $500,000 a day on lawyer fees for the past two years as he led the airline through a bankruptcy reorganization that will be recorded as the most successful Chapter 11 in history. He engineered a $17 billion merger with US Airways and battled and then settled a major antitrust lawsuit with the federal government. In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Kennedy shares his experiences with outside counsel, the in-house legal department he's leaving behind and his plans for the future. By all accounts, Kennedy is one of the most respected chief legal officers in the country. “I fell in love with the airline business,” he says. “It’s a very sexy industry. There is something about transporting people around the globe in a metal (or these days a composite) tube at 35,000 feet thousands of times a day, that just gets in your blood."
Next Monday, before the financial markets open, lawyers for American Airlines and US Airways will gather in the Dallas offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges on the second floor of the Crescent Court to sign the “closing papers” officially merging the two companies and creating the world’s largest airline. The closing, which will be more ceremonial than substantive, ends one of the most complex, expensive and successful corporate bankruptcies in U.S. history. This is the inside story of how the airlines settled the Justice Department’s lawsuit to block the merger – a lawsuit that the airlines, the federal government and nearly all legal experts said couldn’t be settled.
The General Counsel Forum paid tribute this week to the professional successes of Texas' chief legal officers. The 700 corporate GCs who make up the organization gave Frost National Bank Stanley McCormick. Jr. its Magna Stella Lifetime Achievement Award. CEVA Chief Legal Officer Dana O’Brien was honored with the Forum’s Large Corporate Legal Department of the Year, while Paul J. Malak, the general counsel at Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift, received the same honor for a small corporate legal department. The Texas Lawbook profiles all of the award winners.
The General Counsel Forum paid tribute this week to the professional successes of Texas' chief legal officers. The 700 corporate GCs who make up the organization gave Frost National Bank Stanley McCormick. Jr. its Magna Stella Lifetime Achievement Award. CEVA Chief Legal Officer Dana O’Brien was honored with the Forum’s Large Corporate Legal Department of the Year, while Paul J. Malak, the general counsel at Mitsubishi Caterpillar Forklift, received the same honor for a small corporate legal department. The Texas Lawbook profiles all of the award winners.
One hundred corporate in-house lawyers and outside counsel raised $48,000 for Texas Access to Justice as part of the General Counsel Forum’s second annual tournament Thursday at the TPC San Antonio-AT&T Canyons Course. Austin Industries legal team, led by GC Charles Hardy and Chief Legal Officer Steve Henry, finished with a 59 – the day’s best score. The biggest question was whether Flexjet’s Amanda Willis would win her fourth long drive competition of the year. The Texas Lawbook has complete details and lots of photos.
One hundred corporate in-house lawyers and outside counsel raised $48,000 for Texas Access to Justice as part of the General Counsel Forum’s second annual tournament Thursday at the TPC San Antonio-AT&T Canyons Course. Austin Industries legal team, led by GC Charles Hardy and Chief Legal Officer Steve Henry, finished with a 59 – the day’s best score. The biggest question was whether Flexjet’s Amanda Willis would win her fourth long drive competition of the year. The Texas Lawbook has complete details and lots of photos.
Hardy, who plans to retire at the end of 2014, received the 13th Annual Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law.
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.
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