Many people know that Texas’s new system of business courts opens in September. What they may not know is how, er, nuanced business court jurisdiction is. There are, however, two steps every company may take now to ensure they may invoke business court jurisdiction later. Of course, anyone wishing to avoid business court jurisdiction should simply apply Costanza’s razor and “do the opposite.”
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The Corporate Client: Sumitomo’s Cindy Dinh is Rookie of the Year
The daughter of Vietnamese refugees, Cindy Dinh was on a proverbial seesaw about going to law school when she did a mock trial for her intro to law class at Rice University on whether a person with limited English proficiency properly waived his Miranda rights.
“This was a topic that spoke to me, since I empathized with how difficult it can be for English-language learners to navigate central aspects of society, including the legal system,” Dinh said. “I spent late nights and weekends on Westlaw and poured myself into this all-consuming project. I concluded that if I was so vested in this mock case, I might as well expend the same time and energy to advocate for others in real life.”
Dinh is now corporate counsel for the U.S. operations of Sumitomo Corporation, a four-centuries-old Japanese global sogo shosha trading giant, where she handled multimillion-dollar M&A deals, oversaw a litigation docket of million-dollar disputes and negotiated master service agreements.
Q&A: Cindy Dinh
Sumitomo’s Cindy Dinh shares what outside counsel need to know about her and her thoughts on DEI and public service.
Vital, NOG buy assets owned by Vortus-backed Point for $1.1B
Gibson Dunn advised Vital on the deal while Akin assisted Point and Vortus. Kirkland counseled NOG, its second joint acquisition with Vital in the Delaware Basin.
Casey’s to Acquire CEFCO Convenience Stores in $1.45B Deal
The all-cash transaction adds 148 stores in Texas and another 50 across Mississippi, Florida and Alabama. Paul Weiss, Cleary Gottlieb and Fort Worth’s Bourland, Wall & Wenzel advised.
P.S. — Rachel Elkin: From Aspiring Book Editor to Haynes Boone’s First Pro Bono Counsel
In a Q&A with The Lawbook, Elkin discusses her background and decision to dedicate her legal career to pro bono, why she joined Haynes Boone and what she hopes to achieve there.
Fifth Circuit’s FCC Ruling Ripe for SCOTUS Review
The Fifth Circuit majority zeroed in on the “double-layered delegation” of the authority to set the tax rate for the universal service fund, which is used to subsidize phone and internet services for rural and low-income areas, as well as schools, hospitals and libraries, across the country. With the holding, the conservative Fifth Circuit did what the Sixth, Eleventh and D.C. circuits had declined to do in cases brought by the conservative nonprofit Consumers’ Research against the FCC raising this same issue.
Simpson Thacher’s Houston Office Advised on KKR/T-Mobile Metronet Deal
Corporate partners Breen Haire and Shamus Crosby advised on the creation of a joint venture with T-Mobile to secure Metronet, along with its two million broadband customers across 17 states.
Updated with Q&A: Egan Nelson Boosts Commercial Litigation Practice with Mark Johansen from Reed Smith
Dallas commercial litigator Mark L. Johansen has moved to boutique law firm Egan Nelson, the firm announced this week. Johansen spoke with The Lawbook about his reasons for the move and a pending case he is considering removing to the new business courts.
Bonjour Bracewell: Houston Firm Opens in Paris
On the eve of the opening ceremony for the Paris 2024 Olympics, Bracewell announced it has recruited an 11-lawyer energy and infrastructure team from Norton Rose Fulbright to open its third international office.