As we reported on the day of the event, the 2025 Bench Bar Conference for the Northern District of Texas held April 11, began with a bit of a bang. U.S. District Judge David Godbey caused an early stir by describing the level of personal threats against himself and against other judges and their families as a threat to judicial independence. Here are a few other notable outtakes from conference.
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Amicus for Susman Godfrey Flood Court, DOJ Seeks Case Dismissal
On the very day last week that the U.S. Justice Department asked a federal judge to dismiss Susman Godfrey’s lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of President Donald Trump’s executive order against the Houston litigation powerhouse, the federal judge in the case was blitzed with more than 20 separate amicus briefs by 366 former judges, current law professors, former FBI and CIA directors, 77 former corporate general counsel and dozens of bar associations supporting Susman Godfrey’s legal efforts.
Houston Trial Underway in Battle Over Lost Construction Bid on $18B Mexican Oil Refinery
A Mexican company, Constructora Hostotipaquillo, sued Kellogg Brown & Root, contending that an ill-fated partnering with the Houston-based construction, engineering and consulting giant cost it more than $186 million in lost revenue.
House Bill Would Alter Attorney Fee Structure of Anti-SLAPP Law
A defamation lawsuit against Rep. Jeff Leach took center stage during a Texas House committee hearing on the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Lawmakers are struggling to address abuses of the popular law while still maintaining its protections for Texans exercising their First Amendment rights.
Q&A with Trial Lawyer Chris Patton
Firm partner Chris Patton deserved a “most valuable player” award for zipping back-and-forth between New York and Pennsylvania representing Energy Transfer in two trials around the winter holidays, said name partner Mike Lynn of Dallas-based Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann.
P.S. — Prison Conditions, Death Penalty Cases Are ‘Projects of Compassion’ to These Pro Brono AT&T Lawyers
Jamal Wilson, an inmate at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility, survived a brutal stabbing in 2019 that left him with a fractured skull. Fearing for his life, Wilson, represented pro bono by in-house lawyers from AT&T and Foley Lardner, filed a lawsuit in 2021 alleging the prison’s failure to protect inmates from rampant violence, poor security, and mismanagement — violations of the Eighth Amendment. The Department of Justice investigated, and a settlement was reached in 2024, with Wilson set for transfer to a safer facility. Tragically, before the agreement was implemented and just months before being eligible for parole, Wilson was beaten to death. His case was among 10 prison condition cases and two death penalty appeals handled pro bono by AT&T’s lawyers, who worked with officials at Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative and its executive director, Bryan Stevenson.
27 Texas Law Professors Sign Amicus for Susman Godfrey
Susman Godfrey is getting a little help from their friends in the academic community. In an amicus brief filed late Wednesday in Susman Godfrey’s lawsuit against President Donald Trump, 775 law professors — including 27 from Texas law schools — asked a federal judge to rule in favor of the Houston-based litigation firm to help protect “the independence and integrity of the legal profession [and] the rights of clients to seek redress in the courts.”
Susman Godfrey Seeks Summary Judgment Against Trump and Executive Orders
Lawyers representing Susman Godfrey asked a federal judge late Wednesday to declare that President Donald Trump’s executive order declaring the Texas-based law firm a threat to national security violates the constitution and asked the judge to award the law firm a complete and immediate victory by granting its motion for summary judgment. Exactly two weeks after President Trump issued his executive order accusing Susman Godfrey of “spearheading efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrading the quality of American elections” and “undermining the effectiveness of the United States military,” the firm’s lawyers asked U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan to issue a permanent injunctive relief that puts a stop to the president’s “unprecedented abuse of the powers of his office.”
After Virginia Judge Found Google Operates Advertising Tech Monopoly, What Does it Mean for Texas Case?
Google, which was recently found by a federal judge in Virginia to be operating a monopoly over advertising technology, is trying to convince a federal judge in Texas that it should not have to face a similar trial — albeit one that includes state law claims — in that state. In an interview this week with The Texas Lawbook, lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Mark Lanier of Lanier Law Firm, said the states are “absolutely entitled to a jury trial.”
V&E’s Michael Marek moves to Kirkland
Marek had been a frequent presence on corporate teams at Vinson & Elkins, including some of the firm’s largest deals in 2025. Marek had been with V&E since his graduation from University of Texas School of Law in 2014.