Now in my third “career” as a JAMS neutral, I’ve had a front row seat to the rise of alternative dispute resolution as a litigator and a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The unknown of what the state business court will look like, an increasing reliance on artificial intelligence and a growing focus on ESG are a few reasons to be bullish on ADR.
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‘I Wanted Him Gone,’ Berg & Androphy Co-Founder Testifies in Suit by Ex-Associate
David Berg says Justin Pfeiffer, who has sued for $32,000 in back pay, was “not trustworthy and an embarrassment” to Berg’s firm. Pfeiffer claims he wasn’t “fully relieved” of his duties at Berg & Androphy until November 2018, two months after he agreed to resign, when he filed a motion to withdraw as counsel in California in cases where he was a lawyer of record, and that motion was granted.
TAJF Hosts Veterans Legal Aid Week
Throughout this week and next week, the Texas Access to Justice Foundation is celebrating Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week, which offers free civil legal aid to Texas veterans at various in-person and virtual clinics across the state. This article lists all upcoming clinics for veterans in need of pro bono legal advice as well as attorneys who want to inquire about volunteering.
Kinder Morgan Buys STX Midstream from NextEra for $1.8B
Locke Lord’s Kevin Peter counseled KMI and Hogan Lovells’ Greg Hill represented NextEra on the sale of the pipeline system, with KMI viewed as the likely buyer.
Gibson Dunn Scores Win for Uber in Patent Dispute
A federal judge in Delaware has voided three patents obtained by a Texas-based business technology management company involving its surge-pricing system for ride-sharing apps because the feature is less of a “technology problem” and more an issue of “human inefficiency that could be solved by automation.”
CDT Roundup: 15 Deals, 14 Firms, 193 Lawyers, $20.6B
For the first time in a while, energy didn’t dominate the week for value. Still, energy deals dominated the deal count among the 12 M&A transactions reported. This comes as the Haynes Boone financing survey shows increasing interest in financing new upstream E&P. Claire Poole’s CDT Roundup has more, along with the names and firms of the 186 lawyers who worked on last week’s transactions.
Two Billion-Dollar-Plus Energy Deals Announced with V&E Involved
Riverstone-backed Hammerhead Energy agreed to be sold to Crescent Point Energy for $1.86 billion and Enbridge purchased landfill gas-to-renewable natural gas facilities in the U.S. from Morrow Renewables for $1.2 billion.
Houston Trial Begins Over Wage Claim by ‘Unhinged’ Former Berg & Androphy Lawyer
Plaintiff Justin Pfeiffer says he’s owed $32,000 plus legal fees stemming from his 2018 resignation from the Houston law firm. Berg & Androphy says Pfeiffer is a “vexatious litigant” who “harasses all whom he claims have wronged him.”
Litigation Roundup: Jerry Jones Defamation Case Update, ‘Water-Saving’ Toilet Claim Draws Suit
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Texas software company is among those named in a lawsuit alleging a conspiracy among landlords to artificially inflate rental prices, the Fifth Circuit issues a rare precedential opinion in a venue dispute that pries a case away from U.S. District Judge Alan Albright, and that appellate court also found a new U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission disclosure rule was “arbitrary and capricious.”
Litigation Boutique Burns Charest Nabs Longtime Assistant U.S. Attorney
Clay Mahaffey joined the Dallas-based firm after a 22-year run with the U.S. Department of Justice. He recently discussed his career, including a case that changed his perspective on attorney-client relationships, and why he made the move from DOJ with The Lawbook.