In this Q&A with distinguished entertainment litigator Mathew Rosengart, the Greenberg Traurig shareholder recalls clerking for Justice David Souter, identifies some of the unique aspects of representing high profile clients like Steven Spielberg and Sean Penn, and talks about his transition from federal prosecutor to Hollywood/commercial litigator.
More Stories
Houston Justices: Sexual Assault Isn’t Health Care Liability Claim
Dr. Azul Shirazali Jaffer is being sued by Michelle Maestas in Fort Bend County district court for
allegedly sexually assaulting her as she woke up in the recovery room in October 2022 following a
breast augmentation procedure. A Houston appellate court this week agreed with the Fort Bend
County district judge who declined to dismiss the suit in July 2023.
Paul Hastings Chair: ‘A Ton of Opportunity for Us in Texas’
As eight new corporate finance partners settle into their new Houston and Dallas digs at Paul Hastings this week, the law firm’s leader told The Texas Lawbook that “we are not going to stop there.”
“There are other practice areas we are exploring,” Paul Hastings chair Frank Lopez said in an interview. “There’s a ton of opportunity in Texas. Texas may be our No. 1 priority. It is fertile ground for us.” Just six months ago, Paul Hastings operated a sleepy Houston outpost of 22 lawyers. Since September 2023, however, the law firm has been on a hiring spree in Texas, nearly doubling their numbers in the state with lateral hires from Weil, Gotshal & Manges, Akin Gump and Vinson & Elkins. And firm leaders believe they could be at 60 lawyers in Texas by summer and possibly 100 attorneys within a year.
The Myth of Work-Life Balance
In this essay, Winston & Strawn partner LeElle Slifer makes the argument for why work-life balance is a fallacy and provides an alternative perspective for working mothers to consider.
“The problem doesn’t lie with how much we have to do but rather with how we frame the problem itself,” Slifer writes. “Time to dispense with that masochistic construct of ‘balance.’ Instead, we strive for excellence in our personal pursuits just as we do in our careers, expanding our ambitions rather than balancing them. I want to be as good of a wife and mother as I am a lawyer, so life gets slotted in right alongside work.”
Honeywell, Phillips 66 Finalists for 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel M&A Transaction of the Year
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have selected Honeywell International and Phillips 66 as the finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for M&A Transaction of the Year. For 2023, a year that recorded some huge mergers and acquisitions, an independent panel of judges selected by The Lawbook and ACC Houston cited the extraordinary legal work of the in-house counsel and outside lawyers on Phillip 66’s $3.8 billion take-private transaction of DCP Midstream and Honeywell’s $670 million acquisition of Compressor Controls Corporation.
Insurer Wins Deposition Fight Against Doctor Facing Suit
In an opinion issued March 20, a three-justice panel of the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio determined Barbara C. Barnett will not have to sit for a deposition in a lawsuit where insurer Texas Medical Liability Trust argues it should not have to cover the cost of defending a fraud lawsuit Barnett filed against her former oncologist, Dr. David J. Friedman. The ruling reversed a Bexar County district judge’s ruling that Barnett could be deposed.
The Gender Pay Gap: Strategies for Avoiding and Addressing Pay Inequity in the Workplace
As we commemorate Women’s History Month, one issue that is top of mind for many employers is the increased focus on the gender pay gap, writes Mariah Berry, a senior associate at Muskat Devine. In this article, the management-side labor and employment attorney presents four effective strategies employers can utilize to reduce their risk in the evolving legal landscape of pay equity laws.
CDT Roundup: 18 Deals, 17 Firms, 266 Lawyers, $5.5B
It was an unusual week for M&A, especially energy deals. Not just for the fact that there were so many of them, but for the fact that the flavor of the week was oilfield services. Claire Poole caught up with Gibson partner Gerry Spedale, who led the biggest deal reported last week for his longtime client Dril-Quip, a $1.5 billion merger agreement with Innovex Downhole Solutions. He shared a few insights on what is making energy M&A so attractive these days — and she shares her usual list of Texas-related deals.
‘Precedent Setting’ Agreement Ends McDermott’s Billion-Dollar Colombian Refinery Dispute
Houston-based McDermott International ended its eight-year dispute with Refinería de Cartagena Friday when an SDTX bankruptcy judge signed signed off on a remarkable $900 million package that includes the surrender of 19.9% of the company’s common equity. For Mike Stenglein of King & Spalding, the unprecedented solution marks the end, not only of a grueling international litigation, but resolves all doubt that his Colombian clients were responsible for billions lost in their refinery’s construction.
Litigation Roundup: Chamber Takes CFPB Fight to Fifth Circuit; SXSW Wins Appeal in Covid-related Coverage Row
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Fifth Circuit issues a rare ruling reviving a covid-related coverage fight between SXSW and its insurer, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce takes steps