Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Damien Lyster has been hired as a partner in the Energy Regulatory Practice Group for Kirkland & Ellis, the firm announced Monday in a news release.
Lyster comes to Kirkland after 16 years at Vinson & Elkins, where he was a partner since January 2022.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we share the announcement that a new magistrate judge will be serving in the Northern District of Texas, and share details about both the federal government’s antitrust lawsuit against Richardson-based RealPage and the punishment doled out to a former controller for Simon Greenstone Panatier who bilked the plaintiff’s firm out of nearly $1.5 million.
Former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones, who oversaw significant corporate bankruptcies over the past decade, can now be questioned under oath about his undisclosed personal relationship with Elizabeth Freeman, then a partner at Jackson Walker, which earned millions in legal fees from cases the judge presided over.
The ruling, made by U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez over the weekend, allows the U.S. Trustee to depose both Jones and his former case manager, Albert Alonzo, regarding the details of this secret relationship. Additionally, they may be compelled to provide personal documents related to the relationship, but this process will occur under the direct supervision of the chief judge.
Judge Ada Brown’s opinion is both well-reasoned and well-written, but it is not surprising. In light of the invalidation of the FTC’s rule, employers can breathe easy. Of course, the FTC can, and likely will, appeal the decision.
With about a week to go before the state’s new Fifteenth Court of Appeals goes live, the Texas Supreme Court issued a ruling Friday morning, unanimously rejecting a constitutional challenge to the creation of the court.
During the dozen years since I launched The Texas Lawbook, hundreds of lawyers have told me that we never publish articles about the good deeds that lawyers do. The Lawbook fixed that by assigning a full-time reporter to cover pro bono, public service and diversity in the Texas legal profession. We recognize the charitable and community work of lawyers every Friday in a column called P.S.
Now we need your help. Please send us news of your monetary donations to charitable causes, your service for community organizations and your non-profit fundraising efforts.
Claire Poole, one of the brightest lights in business journalism, is retiring. Her last day is today. For decades, she has written about dealmaking in Texas and beyond with integrity, talent and grit. But the biggest story she’s been involved with may well be her own.
The pandemic has left a lasting impact on society, particularly in shaping public perceptions of corporate America. Media coverage during COVID-19, often sensationalized and focused on corporate failures or profiteering, has influenced public narratives about corporations. These narratives were further amplified by social media, where individual experiences and opinions shape jurors’ preconceived notions long before they enter the courtroom.
Litigator Don Jones joins SBSB Eastham from Porter Rogers Dahlman & Gordon. Jones focuses on commercial and construction litigation, real estate and development litigation and oil and gas.
On Wednesday, Jackson Walker ripped apart the racketeering and fraud lawsuit former Bouchard Transportation Company CEO Morton Bouchard III had lodged against it in February after the secret romance between former bankruptcy judge David Jones and former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman came to light. “Mr. Bouchard’s response fails to solve the standing and pleading defects that plague the fiction his counsel has labeled as a complaint,” the firm told the court, doubling down on arguments it first made in May when it sought dismissal of the lawsuit.
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