Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Lawyers often boast about the view from their office windows, but none can match the scene from Kate Cassidy’s desk: home plate at Globe Life Park in Arlington. Baseball is in her DNA. Her father was a catcher in the Minnesota Twins farm system. She was sitting in the centerfield bleachers when Kenny Rogers pitched a perfect game.
“My job is very similar to lawyers who work in just about any corporate legal department, except..” Cassidy says. “I love baseball.”
During the past 37 years, Mike Wortley crafted billion-dollar deals involving radio stations and dress pants, semi-conductors and oil companies. He was the lead lawyer in more than 120 major mergers, acquisitions and IPOs that had a combined value of more than $250 billion.
“Simply put, Mike Wortley is a legend,” said Rick Lacher of investment bank Houlihan Lokey.
Last week, Wortley retired and became the chief legal officer at Reata Pharmaceuticals.
During the past 37 years, Mike Wortley crafted billion-dollar deals involving radio stations and dress pants, semi-conductors and oil companies. He was the lead lawyer in more than 120 major mergers, acquisitions and IPOs that had a combined value of more than $250 billion.
“Simply put, Mike Wortley is a legend,” said Rick Lacher of investment bank Houlihan Lokey.
Last week, Wortley retired and became the chief legal officer at Reata Pharmaceuticals.
Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh admits that, when his beloved Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series, it changed his life for the better. Bill Mazeroski’s dramatic walk-of home run to end Game Seven allowed Dick to begin moving back into the stream of life and out of the grief that arose when his wife died suddenly and infant son suffered a brain injury in a car wreck earlier that year.
Baseball also has the capacity to generate solid friendships among those with a like-minded passion for the game, like mine with Dick Thornburgh.
Michael Pegues and Jason Wietjes said the Kansas City-based firm’s platform is more conducive to serving their existing clients and to develop new business.
Barry Smitherman has been an investment banker who specializes in the capital markets. He prosecuted domestic violence cases as a lawyer in the Harris County District Attorney’s office. He chaired the Texas Public Utility Commission and the state’s Railroad Commission. Now, he has a new title: partner at Vinson & Elkins.
Barry Smitherman has been an investment banker who specializes in the capital markets. He prosecuted domestic violence cases as a lawyer in the Harris County District Attorney’s office. He chaired the Texas Public Utility Commission and the state’s Railroad Commission. Now, he has a new title: partner at Vinson & Elkins.
U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis handled more than 1,700 patent infringement cases during his 13 years on the Eastern District bench, handing some of the biggest IP disputes in the U.S. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Judge Davis said he is leaving the bench and taking his patent expertise to Fish & Richardson, where he said he plans to advise business clients that have cases in East Texas.
“Some people think it takes a Ph.D to decide a patent disputes, but these cases are really about who is telling the truth,” he said.
U.S. District Judge Leonard Davis handled more than 1,700 patent infringement cases during his 13 years on the Eastern District bench, handing some of the biggest IP disputes in the U.S. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Judge Davis said he is leaving the bench and taking his patent expertise to Fish & Richardson, where he said he plans to advise business clients that have cases in East Texas.
“Some people think it takes a Ph.D to decide a patent disputes, but these cases are really about who is telling the truth,” he said.
In a Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Houston lawyer Steve Corso explains why he chose Haynes and Boone, how his experiences at the Justice Department and the SEC have shaped him as a lawyer and what kinds of cases the government is focusing on.
© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
