A six-lawyer real estate team from Akin led by John Bain and Wes Smith has joined Willkie’s Dallas office.
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Former SDTX USA Lands at Bracewell in Houston
In an interview with The Texas Lawbook Tuesday, Alamdar S. Hamdani said he chose Bracewell in part because of its deep roots in his “adopted hometown” of Houston, its international platform and its “growing and burgeoning enforcement practice.”
Kane Russell Coleman Logan Expands Its Practice to Austin
Kane Russell Coleman Logan announced on Tuesday that it has expanded its presence in Texas by establishing a new office in Austin.
Litigation Roundup: Texas Wants DTPA Suit Against Google Revived
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas turns to the state’s Supreme Court in a bid to revive its lawsuit alleging Google violated the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act, a Haynes Boone team gets a $3.5 million jury award overturned on appeal, and a new lawsuit in Dallas alleges the illegal dumping of tons of dirt tainted with heavy metals has imperiled construction of an affordable housing project.
CDT Roundup: 11 Deals, 9 Firms, 75 Lawyers, $3.1B
Last November and December, Houston-based Coterra Energy spent nearly $4 billion in a series of major investments in the Permian Basin. Last week, the company announced that it may be reopening its activity in the Marcellus, which it all but abandoned in August. Also last week gas prices dropped precipitously. Tom Jorden, the company’s CEO explained to analysts why Coterra is banking on increased demand and the flexibility to make — or not make — capital commitments. The CDT Roundup looks at his remarks, along with last week’s transactions.
And Justice for All … of Those Who Can Afford It
A new bill was recently filed in the Texas House to ease the burden of landlords that want to evict a tenant. It provides for sweeping reforms to the Texas Property Code, all of which are aimed at removing due process protections and denying tenants access to justice, such as getting help from legal aid lawyers. Afterall, it’s much easier to evict tenants that can’t defend themselves. And if you can’t win in a fair fight, then simply make sure the fight is rigged.
I’m not arguing that eviction is inherently wrong. Private property owners should be paid for the use of their property. But I am saying that evictions should be executed lawfully. It’s only the unlawful evictions I have a problem with. It just turns out, that describes most of them. And by the way, we only win the cases where the landlord proceeded unlawfully.
We shouldn’t fix this problem by making lawful what is currently unlawful. And we certainly shouldn’t fix it by removing due process and accountability from the system so that landlords can return to an environment where noncompliance with the law is simply overlooked and the poor can be denied their rights as a matter of course.
GWG Trustee Sues Holland & Knight for $148M Over Alleged Beneficient Fraud
The bankruptcy trustee appointed to recover funds for creditors in the GWG Holdings bankruptcy case has sued Holland & Knight for nearly $150 million for “knowing participation in a fraudulent looting scheme and associated criminal enterprise” that included Dallas-based financial services firm Beneficient and its founder and CEO Bradley Heppner. In a 156-page complaint filed Friday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston, the court-appointed trustee accuses longtime outside counsel Holland & Knight and one of its Dallas law partners of colluding with Heppner to “fraudulently induce” GWG to invest the $148.4 million to help BEN “stave off collapse” by repaying a senior lender.
P.S. — AT&T and Halliburton GCs: Legal Aid ‘Is a Texas Issue that Deserves Your Voice and Advocacy’
Lawyers, corporate general counsel and leaders of the Texas legal profession — 467 of them to be exact — received an email letter Thursday from AT&T General Counsel David McAtee and Halliburton Chief Legal Officer Van Beckwith announcing the annual Champions of Justice Gala that raises funds for Texas Access to Justice and military veterans. The 2025 Gala — to be held on April 30 at the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin — will feature Equal Justice Initiative Executive Director Bryan Stevenson, author of New York Times bestseller Just Mercy, which was made into a major motion picture of the same name. “To me, the Champions of Justice Gala has always been special,” McAtee said. “Working with Van to extend its reach and legacy is a real thrill. The funds we raise are dedicated to the many legal needs of our veterans. Last year, we set a fundraising record. We hope to shatter that record this year.”
Bracewell, Arnold & Porter Snag Partners from King & Spalding
Houston trial attorney Abby Parsons was hired away by Arnold & Porter, while finance partner Susan Ormand Berry lateraled to Bracewell.
Jackson Walker, US Trustee Drop Objections to Experts in Bankruptcy Fee Case
At an evidentiary hearing where the parties were supposed to fight to convince Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Eduardo V. Rodriguez, to strike the experts offered by the other side, a détente was reached shortly after lunch Thursday. But during the hearing, the U.S. Trustee revealed that the secret romantic relationship between former judge David Jones and former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman began in 2010 or 2011 and said the firm learned about it in 2021.