Foster, whose practice includes nearly three decades of experience in the energy and infrastructure spaces, vaults to Willkie after more than three years at Sidley Austin.
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Litigation Roundup: Details on 2 SCOTX Grants, XTO Sees 7-year-old Case End
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Citgo draws another suit — this one seeking $400 million — from members of the so-called Citgo 6 who were imprisoned in Venezuela for years, XTO gets a win in a lawsuit over exposure to natural gas production activities that had been lingering in the courts for seven years and we detail some interesting grants from the Texas Supreme Court.
Houston Trial Lawyer Opens Texas Office for Boston-Founded Firm
A co-founding partner at Schiffer Hicks Johnson has left his firm to start the first Texas office of Brown Rudnick in Houston.
Waste Management Picks up Stericycle for $7.2B
The garbage giant tapped Vinson & Elkins and Baker Botts and the target used Latham & Watkins. The deal is expected to broaden the scope of the Houston-based buyer’s service offerings.
Texas Lawbook 50: Corporate Firms Topped $9B in Texas Revenues in 2023
Fueled by record-high contingency fee collections, significant increases in hourly rates and healthy client demand for complex commercial litigation and corporate transactional work, the largest business law firms in Texas grew revenues to more than $9 billion, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data. Forty-three of the top 50 corporate law firms posted gains, according to the Lawbook 50, which ranks firms on revenues generated by attorneys based in Texas.
Six of the firms achieved increases of $30 million or more, and 18 saw $10 million increases. Only seven firms on the list recorded revenue declines. Thirty-five firms hit record highs in 2023. The Top 10 welcomed two newcomers in 2023 — a firm that soared thanks to a sudden gusher of cash from contingency fee court victories that were years in the making and a firm that has steadily climbed in the rankings since 2019 on a combination of litigation and M&A dealmaking.
5th Circuit Sides With Fired Quitman Police Captain in 1st Amendment Case
In 2019, Terry Bevill sued his former bosses in Wood County, contending they retaliated against him because he supported a change of venue for a friend charged with facilitating the escape of a jail inmate. Bevill, an Oak Cliff native, said in an affidavit that jailer David McGee could not get a fair trial in the East Texas county because of the personal relationships involving the sheriff, the district attorney and the presiding judge in the case.
P.S. — Lynn Pinker Leads Pledge for Hispanic Law Scholarships & More Fundraising News
This week’s P.S. column features background information on two fundraising events on June 13: a luncheon event that raises scholarship funds for Texas Hispanic students interested in a career in the law and an evening event to celebrate Pride Month and raise scholarship funds for LGBTQ+ law students.
Firms featured in this week’s P.S. include Reed Smith, Lynn Pinker, Dykema, Paul Hastings, Sidley, Baker McKenzie, V&E, Gibson Dunn, Holland & Knight, Baker Botts, Greenberg Traurig, Jackson Walker, Kirkland, Bell Nunnally, Weil, Haynes Boone, Foley, O’Melveny, Law Office of Domingo Garcia, Norton Rose Fulbright, McKool Smith, K&L Gates, Alston & Bird, Linebarger, Jackson Lewis, Ogletree Deakins, Akin, Barnes & Thornburg, Lira Bravo Law.
For V&E Associate Jas Sethi, New UT Social Work Scholarship Stems from Personal Loss
Vinson & Elkins associate Jas Sethi was a second-year law student at Northwestern University when his 19-year-old sister lost her life to suicide after a yearslong battle with depression and addiction. While at first the tragedy eliminated his reason for attending law school, it helped him begin his legal career with a new sense of purpose. This upcoming school year, the University of Texas’ Steve Hicks School of Social Work will begin offering a scholarship Sethi started for students pursuing social work careers that specialize in substance misuse and recovery. Beyond honoring his sister, Sethi hopes the scholarship helps bring more social workers into the space who are energized to pursue reforms to the system he says failed her.
“I want to make it so that nobody ever has to feel like Simran did,” Sethi said. “I can’t do that all in one day, and I don’t know if I can do that at all, but the scholarship is what I can do now.”
Pictured: Jas Sethi (right) with his sister, Simran Sethi (left), and their parents, Tarminder and Jigyasa Sethi (center).
Expert: SEC’s Texas Office ‘Will Remain Very Active and Aggressive’ in 2024
With U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Regional Director Eric Werner and his new leadership team in place, the SEC will likely remain aggressive in bringing enforcement actions regarding traditional oil and gas offering fraud cases, large public company matters, market manipulation cases and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act matters, according to former SEC senior counsel for enforcement Rebecca Fike, who is now a partner at Vinson & Elkins.
This coming Wednesday in Houston, Fike is moderating a CLE program that includes Werner, who heads the Fort Worth office, and former SEC associate director Jessica Magee, who is now a partner at Holland Knight. The Texas Lawbook CLE will hosted by V&E and Holland & Knight. Texas Lawbook subscribers and members of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston and DFW Chapters are welcome to attend in person in Houston or via a webcast. In advance of Wednesday’s CLE, Fike gave an interview to The Texas Lawbook.
‘Act of State Doctrine’ Nets Houston Museum a Win in Fight Over 18th Century Painting
In a unanimous 24-page ruling issued Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit affirmed U.S. District Judge Keith P. Ellison’s April 2023 dismissal of the lawsuit brought by the heirs of Dr. Max Emden against the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston. The lawsuit revolved around who is the rightful owner of a 1764 painting by Bernardo Bellotto called “The Marketplace at Pirna.”