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Lawyers, Guns and Money: An occasional series on movies, TV and other stories about lawyers and the law — Dark Waters (2019, Dir. Todd Haynes)

Todd Haynes has made an homage to ‘50s melodrama (Far From Heaven), a lesbian love story based on a Patricia Highsmith novel (Carol) and a boldly prismatic study of Bob Dylan (I’m Not There), among other movies. Regardless of subject, there’s always something a little unstable at the core of his films, something bordering on horror without actually crossing into that realm. Haynes is a poet of isolation and distance, an acute conveyor of loneliness that threatens to bleed into something more tragic.

This quality permeates Dark Waters, Haynes’ 2019 legal drama based on the true story of Rob Bilott, an environmental lawyer who made it his mission to hold DuPont accountable for poisoning the people of West Virginia with chemical waste in the local water supply.

OAG Alumnus Justice Blacklock Rips Texas’ Briefing in State Fair Gun Ban Case

Justice Jimmy Blacklock, who, prior to his appointment to the Texas Supreme Court in 2018, formerly served as the general counsel to Gov. Greg Abbott and before that as an attorney in the Office of the Attorney General, did not hold back on his view that briefing from Texas was insufficient to secure the relief that was sought. The five-page concurrence issued Thursday stands out both for its tone and because of its author.

Paris Olympics: Elite Competition, Extraordinary Athletes Turn Cynicism into Celebration

There are vignettes from these Olympics that are sticking with me. Having been involved starting in 1996, with the effort to get rugby sevens into the Olympics and culminating in its debut in Rio in 2016, the U.S. women’s last-minute victory over Australia in the bronze medal game was as emotional as it gets as it fulfilled a vision that I had in my head all of those years. And thank you for your support, Flavor Flav.

PlainsCapital’s $50M+ Lawsuit Won’t be Heard by Fifteenth COA

In a one-sentence order issued Wednesday, the Texas Supreme Court denied a request from PlainsCapital Bank to move its appeal from the Fifth court of Appeals in Dallas to the newly created Fifteenth Court of Appeals in Austin. The bank had argued the state’s high court should grant the permissive transfer because the case is “extraordinarily important to the business community.”

King & Spalding Lands Former Top COVID-19 Fraud Prosecutor 

Michael Galdo enters the private sector after more than 15 years as a federal prosecutor. He recently served as the Department of Justice’s Director of COVID-19 Fraud Enforcement in the Office of the Deputy Attorney General and was an assistant U.S. attorney in charge of cybercrime in the Western District of Texas.

Houston Bankruptcy Judge Lopez’s Highly Complex, Big-Dollar Docket

Few Texas courtrooms are as busy as Houston Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez’s. His docket of more than 380 business bankruptcies, plus a couple thousand personal and consumer bankruptcies, includes some of the highest profile and bitterly disputed corporate restructurings currently pending in the U.S., including J&J’s controversial $10 billion Chapter 11 Texas Two-Step restructuring under the subsidiary Red River Talc, and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ Info Wars media company. Judge Lopez is, by all accounts, establishing himself as one of the premier jurists for the most complex restructurings. But there are things lawyers should know when handling cases before Judge Lopez.

BP Energy Says Dallas Oilman Brad Cox Owes $270M+

BP Energy Company has filed a lawsuit in the Texas business courts accusing Dallas oilman Brad Cox of breaching a $270 million guaranty agreement related to a loan given to MLCJR LLC, a business owned by Cox.

It is one of less than a dozen cases filed in the business courts since they opened Sept. 1 and is by far seeking more damages than any of the other cases filed in those courts.

A Warning for Employers in the Energy Sector

The U.S. energy sector is experiencing ongoing consolidation, with $250 billion worth of deals in 2023 alone. This trend often leads to workforce restructuring, making it crucial for employers to understand potential triggers for the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act requirements.

Kirkland, Bracewell Advise Vertex Energy in Bankruptcy

Houston-based energy transition products provider Vertex Energy Operating filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Tuesday in the Southern District of Texas citing $500 million to $1 billion in financial liabilities. Vertex Energy General Counsel James Gregory hired Kirkland & Ellis and Bracewell as its legal advisors in the restructuring. The case has been assigned to Houston Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez.

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