New Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Jimmy Blacklock sent a last-minute email on Saturday to members of the state house and senate with the subject line “Urgent Memo”, begging them to hike the compensation of judges, which currently ranks 49th in the U.S. — only West Virginia pays its judges less.
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Motion: Gateway Church Lead Counsel David Middlebrook ‘Must Be Disqualified’
Lawyers for Robert Morris, the former Gateway Church pastor who had an inappropriate relationship with a teenager decades ago, asked a Fort Worth judge to remove one of the lead attorneys representing the church in litigation over disputed financial payments. In court documents filed Friday, Morris’ attorneys want the judge hearing the case to disqualify David Middlebrook, Gateway’s longtime outside general counsel, because he previously represented Morris in several matters, including giving Morris legal advice about the issues that are at the heart of the current dispute.
President Names Career Prosecutor as NDTX U.S. Attorney
President Donald Trump has named Nancy E. Larson, a career federal prosecutor, as the Acting United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
GATX, Brookfield to Purchase Wells Fargo Railway Fleet for $4.4B
The deal, advised by Skadden and Mayer Brown, involves 105,000 rail cars, a potential 10-year buyout by GATX and a separate purchase of Wells Fargo rail leasing assets.
P.S. — From Corporate Counsel to Clemency Crusader: Brittany K. Barnett’s Journey to Criminal Justice Reform
Last week, I had the honor of interviewing Brittany K. Barnett at the Texas General Counsel Forum Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter breakfast about her impressive legal career. Barnett’s start was in accounting. From there, she went to work as a corporate finance attorney and in-house M&A counsel. By night, she dedicated herself to pro bono efforts, working on President Barack Obama’s historic Clemency Project 2014. Barnett ultimately left her job and founded The Buried Alive Project, a powerful initiative to represent individuals sentenced to life without parole for nonviolent drug offenses. Her work has led to clemency for nearly two dozen clients across three presidential administrations. She’s also the author of a best-selling memoir, A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom, and she is working on a second book. I was so inspired by her story that I wanted to share our interview with a wider audience in this week’s P.S. Column.
EOG Resources to Acquire Encino Acquisition Partners for $5.6 Billion
The deal, which makes Houston-based EOG one of the largest producers in Appalachia’s Utica shale play was advised by Wachtell, Akin and Latham & Watkins.
Dykema DQ’d in PE Dentistry Suit
Dykema Gossett has been disqualified from representing a group of plaintiffs suing a dentist and his many practices after a judge in Dallas determined the law firm had previously represented the dentist in other legal matters that are “substantially related” to this case.
SCOTUS Grants Stay to Highland Capital in Dispute with Ex-CEO
The U.S. Supreme Court granted an emergency stay to Highland Capital Management, halting a lower court decision that allowed former CEO James Dondero to sue parties involved in the firm’s bankruptcy. Justice Samuel Alito issued a one-page order that pauses a March ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which had permitted Dondero to pursue litigation against individuals previously deemed protected by a North Texas bankruptcy judge in relation to Highland Capital’s bankruptcy and restructuring.
Defamed by a Llama — Legal Consequences of AI-Generated Falsehoods
There are many ways to be defamed: verbal rumors, print news stories, television news stories and social media posts, just to name a few. But now — based on a newly filed lawsuit against Meta for its “Llama” AI program — we have to add “defamation by artificial intelligence” to our lexicon.
Influencer Drops Copyright Suit Against Competitor
An influencer who alleged another influencer’s videos and photos posted to social media amounted to infringement of the “neutral, beige and cream aesthetic” that constitutes her “brand identity” has dropped her federal lawsuit.