Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The widow of an Arlington firefighter who died while celebrating his 10th wedding anniversary at the all-inclusive Royalton Chic resort in Cancun, Mexico, was awarded $31.27 million by a jury this week that found the hotel liable for negligence.
Elijah Snow, 35, died in July 2021 and his widow, Jamie, filed suit in June 2022, naming as defendants RCM Hotel, its parent company Blue Diamond Hotels and Resorts and a travel agency that was later dropped from the suit.
A former reporter with The Indiana Lawyer in Indianapolis, Alexa Shrake joins The Lawbook team as the publication expands its efforts to cover complex commercial litigation and the trial lawyer community in Texas. “Alexa was hired after a nationwide search that yielded more than 200 applicants,” said Texas Lawbook senior litigation reporter and editor Michelle Casady, who leads a team of five journalists who cover litigation full- or part-time. “She was clearly the best reporter for the job.”
Whether it be environmental disaster, a product defect or some other event, a company’s immediate response to a crisis can have a material impact on the outcome of any ensuing litigation or government investigation. Company counsel — both in-house and outside counsel — play a critical role in advising the company’s board and executives as they navigate these types of crises. This article outlines key considerations for counsel in dealing with crisis.
With the hiring of the former White & Case partner, Paul Hastings has tripled its presence in Texas since January 2024; and the firm’s chair, Frank Lopez, tells The Lawbook he is confident that the firm’s Texas head count will soon top 100.
Imagine knowing what a jury is going to do — whether they will find liability, how they will apportion it and how much they will award in damages — before voir dire even begins. “The last five trials I’ve gone to I’ve been armed with the answer to those questions before the trial even starts,” Brent Walker of Brent Walker Law told The Texas Lawbook in a recent interview. “It’s sort of like playing poker and knowing what the cards are going to be.”
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a lawsuit is filed against the organizers of a cheer competition that took place at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center and ended in what plaintiffs call a chaotic stampede, and the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling that rescinded punishment doled out by the Commission for Lawyer Discipline.
Only a week after a subsidiary of Sunnova Energy International filed for protection under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code in the Southern District of Texas, the residential solar corporate parent itself filed for bankruptcy on Sunday, citing more than 100,000 potential creditors and liabilities or debts exceeding $10.6 billion.
Baker McKenzie and K&L Gates advised on the transaction, the second in a week involving Baker Hughes. The Houston-based company is in the process of divesting or streamlining its involvement in non-core businesses.
Troutman Pepper Locke has strengthened its private equity and investment funds advisory capabilities by hiring Brian Rose and Allison Pearce as partners in its Houston office, the firm announced in a news release Monday.
Yes, the streak is still alive: for five weeks in a row transactions have totaled more than $20 billion. The menu of deals reported last week was heavy on power and energy entrees. There was a $19 billion merger of fluid motion control products. A simpler $4 billion upstream deal. A midstream JV buyout. Another JV formed. And a whole new energy E&P funded with some familiar faces. A deal for emergency power grid infrastructure services. And another for a power plant rehab firm. But there were also some interesting side dishes.
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