In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we offer an update from the most recent hearing in the lawsuit stemming from the $788 million sale of Primexx Energy, a threatened lawsuit over the death of Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson yields a settlement, and six officers and directors of a Houston-based clinic see an end to a $285 million breach claim.
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Nine-lawyer Tax Team from Chamberlain Hrdlicka Moves to Nelson Mullins
Nelson Mullins has recruited lawyers from yet another firm to bolster its nascent Houston outpost. The Chamberlain Hrdlicka expats are headlined by Juan Vasquez, Jr., Peter Lowy, and former Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina.
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings Adds Partner to its Houston Office
Lauren Black, formerly a partner at BoyarMiller, has joined Bradley’s litigation practice group. She rejoins Philip Dunlap and Cyrus Chin, two former BoyarMiller lawyers who joined Bradley as partners last year.
SCOTUS Vacates Fifth Circuit Decision in Social Media Case
In a decision Monday by the U.S. Supreme Court, the justices ruled that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit failed to “conduct a proper analysis of the First Amendment challenges” to a Texas law that regulates content posted on large internet platforms, such as Facebook and YouTube. The Supreme Court vacated and remanded NetChoice v. Paxton — a case in which the Fifth Circuit upheld a Texas law prohibiting websites and social media outlets from editing or deleting posts deemed to be false or harmful.
V&E Grabs Laterals from Kirkland, Simpson
The firm announced that East Berhane is becoming a new finance partner in Dallas and Benjamin Heriaud a capital markets partner in New York.
The SEC’s Evolving Enforcement Authority: From Courtroom to Administrative Proceedings
For more than a decade, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been able to bring enforcement actions in either federal court or the agency’s internal venue. Not anymore. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a pivotal ruling in SEC v. Jarkesy significantly curtailing the SEC’s ability to use its administrative proceedings to impose civil penalties for securities fraud. Instead, these cases must be tried in federal district court, where a defendant’s Seventh Amendment right to a civil jury trial is available. This decision not only alters the landscape for securities fraud enforcement but also signals potential broader implications for the enforcement powers of federal agencies across the government.
Coupled with a series of other recent rulings by the Court, this verdict adds to a body of law with potentially far-reaching implications for the enforcement powers of all federal agencies.
Michelle Reed Jumps to Paul Hastings
Paul Hastings continued its Texas expansion Monday announcing that a nationally recognized expert in cybersecurity and privacy litigation joined the firm’s Dallas office as a partner. The firm has added nearly 40 lawyers in Texas since last September. The Lawbook interviewed Reed on her move to Paul Hastings and developments and trends in cybersecurity litigation.
More Lawyers Enter SDTX Bankruptcy Scandal Fray
The bankruptcy courts in the Southern District of Texas are still a hotbed for intense litigation, attracting some of the best lawyers in the nation — just not for the reasons the bankruptcy judges ever wanted or even contemplated. Prominent Texas lawyers David Beck, Rusty Hardin, Anne Johnson, Tom Kirkendall, Mike Lynn, John Sparacino, Jeff Tillotson and scores of other highly paid lawyers have been hired by plaintiffs, defendants and third parties involved in the legal fallout from the forced resignation late last year of former SDTX Chief Bankruptcy Judge David Jones. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
Austin IP Litigator Joins Winstead
Patent litigator Nadia Haghighatian announced her move from Kirkland & Ellis on LinkedIn. Earlier this week, Winstead announced a new real estate partner from Fried Frank.
SCOTX Reverses Jury’s $26 Million Verdict for Woman Paralyzed in Minivan Crash
A 2003 tort reform law limits Honda’s liability because its ceiling-mounted detachable seatbelt system met federal safety regulations. The case presented novel questions about the interplay of state law and federal regulations. The large jury verdict was considered by some lawyers to be a so-called “nuclear verdict” ripe for reversal.