The Dallas-based firm announced Thursday that it is promoting 15 lawyers to partner — nine of them in Texas — in eight different offices, including Dallas, Fort Worth and San Antonio. It is the second largest class of partner promotions in the firm’s history.
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ACC-DFW & Texas Lawbook Name Lifetime Achievers: Bridgett Zeterberg, Marita Covarrubias, Derek Lipscombe
Bridgett Zeterberg has been a GC for nearly three decades guiding companies such as Total Wine, Tuesday Morning and now Torrid Holdings “through periods of significant transformation.” For more than 25 years, Marita Covarrubias has been an in-house lawyer and leader at Tenet Healthcare “managing some of the largest employment and general business litigation matters throughout the country.” Derek Lipscombe has been an in-house lawyer focused on labor and employment litigation for 20 years at AAA Texas, JC Penney and Toyota North America.
Zeterberg, Covarrubias and Lipscombe have a new common attribute: the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring them with the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Six Important Lessons from My First Year as a Full-time Mediator
Some of the lessons surprised me, and they may surprise other new mediators — as well as attorneys who are new to mediation.
Specific Jurisdiction Contours Central in SCOTX Oral Arguments Over Plane Crash Litigation
The state’s high court heard oral arguments Wednesday morning in the lawsuit brought by Sheema Shaik against BRP-Rotax GmbH that asks it to determine whether Texas courts have specific jurisdiction over a foreign manufacturer based on an allegedly defective engine.
Energy Transfer Co-Founder Kelcy Warren’s Testimony Blocked in Breach-of-Contract Trial Over 2018 Pipeline Explosion
A Pennsylvania judge ruled to block testimony from Energy Transfer co-founder Kelcy Warren, who is also executive chairman on the board of directors. Dallas-based Cardinal Midstream had sought to have Warren testify about comments he made about Energy Transfer “making mistakes” in its Pennsylvania projects. Cardinal Midstream is seeking $33 million from Energy Transfer under a purchase agreement, claiming that a pipeline explosion prevented the fulfillment of an earnout condition tied to gas delivery volumes. Energy Transfer argues that the explosion, caused by a landslide from heavy rains, qualifies as a “force majeure,” while Cardinal Midstream blames poor pipeline design for the failure.
Texas Supreme Court Hears Ex-SMU Law Prof’s Case
Cheryl Butler, a former Southern Methodist University law professor, sued the university and several former colleagues in 2016, bringing claims for defamation, fraud and conspiracy to defame. She appealed to the Fifth Circuit in January 2023, the same month U.S. District Judge Ada Brown dismissed her case with prejudice after agreeing that the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act preempted the claims. The Texas Supreme Court heard oral arguments Tuesday in the case that will determine whether Butler will be allowed to proceed with a defamation claim against her former coworkers, who she alleges played a role in her being denied tenure in 2016.
SCOTX Considers Foreseeability of Cross-Median Crash
The deadly crash happened in December 2014 on an icy interstate near Odessa when a pickup truck carrying a woman and her three children crossed into the path of an 18-wheeler helmed by a driver trainee. Trucking and business interests decry the $116 million Harris County trial judgment as an outlier among commercial vehicle cases.
Sidley Leads Independence Drilling’s Bankruptcy Restructuring in SDTX
Houston-based Independence Contract Drilling and its affiliated company, Sidewinder Drilling, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Monday in the Southern District of Texas. ICD leaders chose Sidley Austin as its lead legal advisor. Latham & Watkins is counsel for the noteholders. Piper Sandler is the investment bank advising ICD.
Litigation Roundup: Buc-ee’s Goes to Court, Again, in TM Spat
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we detail the outside lawyers Texas has hired to bring suit against some of the largest private equity firms in the world alleging they conspired to depress the market for coal and a Beaumont personal injury lawyer gets sanctioned for using Claude to write a brief that included made-up cases and quotes.
Dallas Law Firms Face Off in $33M Breach-of-Contract Case Over Pipeline Explosion Near Pittsburgh
Cardinal Midstream II LLC, represented by Reese Marketos, is suing Energy Transfer and its affiliate ETC Northeast Pipeline LLC for $33 million in a bench trial that started Monday before Beaver County (Pa.) Court of Common Pleas Judge James J.Ross. Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann represents Energy Transfer, which says the judge should find the force majeure clause applies because a landslide caused the 2018 pipeline explosion.