Matt Orwig Says Goodbye to the Billable Hour

After 17 years with the U.S. Department of Justice and 20 years as a trial lawyer and white-collar criminal defense lawyer with some of the largest corporate law firms in the world, Matt Orwig officially retires from the law practice Monday. From federal judges to corporate general counsel, lawyers tell The Texas Lawbook the impact Orwig had on their career.

"In addition to being a skilled advocate, he was a wonderful teacher, mentor, and colleague who always made time to answer my questions and to strategize about cases," Judge Irma Ramirez, who was recently confirmed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, said. "Matt is a genuinely kind person who cares about everyone around him, and he is the kind of friend on whom you can always count."

January 26, 2024 Mark Curriden

Navigating the AI Data Minefield: Safeguarding Personal Information Amidst Evolving Terms and Conditions

In the past year, tools and programs such as ChatGPT, OpenAI, and GitHub Copilot, among others, have surged into mainstream popularity. While they have proven to be immensely valuable tools, there has been an equal concern towards their “independent” actions that has largely stoked immense fear in the eyes of many consumers. This contrasting dilemma has struck a rift between companies hoping to effectively utilize these tools of the future for economic growth, and their consumers uneasy worry of the potential consequences.

January 12, 2024 Matthew J. DeWitte

Constitutional Danger Zone Redux: SEC’s Latest Supreme Court Battle Presents Significant Collateral Implications

Kokesh. Lucia. Lorenzo. Cochran. The echoes of these recent Supreme Court cases continue to reverberate through the halls of the Securities and Exchange Commission, with their holdings impacting the forum of their cases and the relief they can obtain. On Nov. 29, the Supreme Court heard oral arguments in SEC v. Jarkesy, a matter that could have an even greater impact than its predecessors depending on how the Court rules. With the Supreme Court considering the scope and application of the Seventh Amendment to agency administrative proceedings, the parameters of Congressional delegation of authority to administrative agencies, and whether removal restrictions for SEC administrative law judges violate the Constitution, Jarkesy threatens not only SEC enforcement efforts but also those for several administrative agencies. While all will need to wait until 2024 for the Court’s opinion and its true implications to the “administrative state,” a review of the oral argument provides some insights into the potential impacts.

December 18, 2023 Scott Mascianica & Allison Kernisky

Navigating Artificial Intelligence in the Lone Star State: Biden’s Executive Order on AI

The sweeping new executive order titled “Safe, Secure, and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence” issues orders to more than 20 federal agencies and will impact businesses across Texas. The order stands as one of the first federal statements regarding AI in the U.S. and includes a complex oversight and enforcement regime modeled on EU product-safety legislation.

December 13, 2023 Michelle Reed & Amanda Hurd

SEC Enforcement: Five Trends to Watch

The Securities and Exchange Commission closed fiscal year 2023 on Sept. 30 with a flurry of enforcement filings. A few things stand out, including a sharp increase in cryptocurrency and other digital asset enforcement actions, which far outstrips the agency’s activity in this space in earlier years. There was also a pronounced jump in enforcement focus on corporate internal controls, continuing a trend that started last fiscal year. Meanwhile, the SEC paid record whistleblower awards and stepped up its whistleblower protection efforts, highlighting their importance to the SEC’s enforcement program. On the other hand, ESG enforcement activity appeared to wane, which contrasts with the prominence SEC officials have given to ESG issues in speeches and proposed rulemaking. And SEC administrative proceedings suffered more blows in court challenges, which, while not appearing to slow the pace at which the SEC is filing enforcement cases, could have implications for the SEC’s efforts to regulate the professionals who practice and appear before it.

November 29, 2023 David Peavler & Evan Singer

Blank Rome Bolsters White Collar Defense Group as DOJ Investigations, Prosecutions Increase

Dallas litigator Barrett Howell came to Blank Rome from Katten. Howell says the most significant trend he’s seeing in his white collar practice is the Department of Justice’s criminal health care fraud investigations and prosecutions.

November 10, 2023 Krista Torralva

SEC Charges Austin’s SolarWinds, CISO with Fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges Monday against SolarWinds Corporation, an Austin publicly traded company that provides information infrastructure software used by thousands of businesses and government agencies, for alleged failures regarding cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities. The SEC's complaint filed in New York that accuses SolarWinds and its chief information security officer, Timothy G. Brown, with making “materially false and misleading statements and omissions related to SolarWinds’ cybersecurity risks and practices in at least three types of public disclosures” between 2018 and 2020.

October 30, 2023 Mark Curriden

Pharma Marketer Guilty in $60 Million Fraud and Kickback Scheme

Quintan Cockerell was paid millions to steer doctors to write expensive, often needless, prescriptions to two Fort Worth pharmacies, federal investigators said. After a week of testimony and four days of deliberations, a jury in the court of U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer agreed on Thursday.

October 26, 2023 Bruce Tomaso