The new partnership class of 2023-24 in Texas is big on litigation and trial lawyers, leans heavily toward Houston offices and is overwhelmingly male-dominated. Business law firms have voted 143 Texas lawyers into their partnerships during this partner promotion season — down slightly from the 146 the same firms boosted into their elite ranks a year ago, according to data collected by The Texas Lawbook. Fifty-two law firms have announced their new partnership classes during this cycle. Half of the 52 firms promoted more attorneys than they did last year, while 17 firms named fewer new partners and nine named exactly the same number as a year ago. The Lawbook has the details.
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Talos Energy Acquires QuarterNorth for $1.29B
Holland & Knight and Akin advised on the deal between the two Houston-based companies that extends the on-going upstream consolidations offshore, into the Gulf of Mexico.
Akin, V&E Lead Nearly $1B Deal Between 7-Eleven, Sunoco
7-Eleven Inc. has agreed to purchase 204 stores hat include the Stripes and Laredo Taco Company brands from Sunoco LP.
With locations primarily in New Mexico, Oklahoma and West Texas, the stores will join 7-Eleven’s more than 13,000-store portfolio. The purchase, valued at a reported $950 million, is the latest expansion for the convenience store giant.
Akin, led by Thomas Yang and Ashton Barrineau Butcher, advised 7-Eleven on the deal, while Vinson & Elkins team, steered by Lande Spottswood and Yong Eoh, advised Dallas-based master limited partnership Sunoco.
SCOTX Rejects Justice’s Request to Remove Opponent, Justice Devine, From Ballot
The Texas Supreme Court appeared displeased with the timing of Second Court of Appeals Justice Brian Walker’s challenge to his opponent’s ability to appear on the March primary ballot. Justice Walker is running against incumbent Justice John Devine. In a ruling issued Thursday, the Texas Supreme Court denied mandamus relief, holding that even if Justice Walker promptly brought his challenge, the law requires Justice Devine be given an opportunity to cure any deficiencies in his application. “A timely challenge would advance rather than impede ballot access because it would alert all parties to any deficiencies and enable a candidate to correct them if he could,” the court wrote. “But when a party slumbers on his rights — or, indeed, does not slumber but carefully lies in wait — these principles are not advanced but impaired.”
BlackRock Acquires Global Infrastructure Partners in $12B Deal
Advised by Kirkland, Skadden and others, the deal has deep ties to a number of critical Texas energy and infrastructure projects. The Lawbook has the details, as well as the names of lawyers involved.
P.S. — The Top 10 Pro Bono & Diversity Stories of 2023
Your new year’s resolutions may no longer be intact, but hopefully your will to improve your life and those around you is. To kick off the first public service column of 2024, Natalie Posgate looks back on the 10 most important pro bono and diversity stories of 2023. So slice a piece of that cake that 2024 you said you would avoid and settle in.
The 20 Most Read Lawbook Stories of 2023
A year that began with arguments at the Texas Supreme Court that contemplated whether ERCOT is “too big to fail” and ended with a surprise sale by Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban of a majority stake in his professional basketball franchise was sure to be chock-full of headlines that were attention-grabbing, compelling and noteworthy.
Navigating the AI Data Minefield: Safeguarding Personal Information Amidst Evolving Terms and Conditions
In the past year, tools and programs such as ChatGPT, OpenAI, and GitHub Copilot, among others, have surged into mainstream popularity. While they have proven to be immensely valuable tools, there has been an equal concern towards their “independent” actions that has largely stoked immense fear in the eyes of many consumers. This contrasting dilemma has struck a rift between companies hoping to effectively utilize these tools of the future for economic growth, and their consumers uneasy worry of the potential consequences.
SCOTX Decides 2 Judicial Candidate Challenge Cases, More Percolate
In two separate cases brought by judicial candidates, the Texas Supreme Court decided Wednesday that case law upholding the importance of giving candidates access to the ballot trumped the challenges trying to limit who voters get to choose from on Election Day.
Texas Supreme Court Hears UT Regents’ $51M Royalty Dispute
For 13 years, the University of Texas Board of Regents and IDEXX Laboratories seemed pleased with a royalty deal they inked for certain diagnostic tests used by veterinarians. Then an auditor told UT IDEXX had been underpaying what it owed under the structure of the deal. That finding led to litigation and a $51 million award for UT that was later undone by the Fourteenth Court of Appeals in Houston. The Texas Supreme Court has agreed to determine whether the contract binding the parties is ambiguous.