A career prosecutor argued that he was 17 and not a lawyer when Morton was convicted of murder in 1987 in Williamson County. The Supreme Court, however, said it was uncontested that Tommy Lamar Coleman “assisted the prosecution” in 2011 when he was an assistant DA who mocked Morton’s post-conviction efforts to have a bloody bandana tested for DNA.
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Major Franchise Owner Hit with $30.7M Jury Verdict
A Dallas jury heard eight days of testimony and deliberated for two hours before deciding the owner of roughly 150 Popeyes restaurants, Guillermo Perales and his company Sun Holdings, owed former employee Jerry “Scott” Stockton about $15.6 million in compensatory damages and $15.1 million in punitive damages for failing to follow through on a promise to compensate him with 5 percent of the annual operating profits of the restaurants. Sun Holdings is the second largest franchisee organization in the country, with about 1,800 restaurants in its portfolio.
An Attorney Lended, A Public Service Election, An Award Nomination Open
This week’s edition of P.S. features two president-elect candidates for an upcoming election for the State Bar of Texas’ public service arm, background on an associate who Weil is lending to a Dallas-area legal aid organization for two months to provide full-time pro bono legal services and nomination information for Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas upcoming Builders of Justice awards.
Appellate Panel Asked to Halt March 5 Appellate Court Primary
During oral arguments in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the configuration of Texas’ intermediate appellate court districts, the panel was asked to halt the March 5 primary election for the intermediate courts of appeals. The lawsuit brought by Keresa Richardson seeks to have the courts redraw the districts to address malapportionment. Richardson previously sought to have all members of the Dallas appellate court recuse themselves (two obliged) from hearing the case arguing they all have a conflict of interest “derived from the fact that this case will affect their elected status, their voting districts, and their future elected status, and thus they are all personally interested in the relief being requested and should not be the arbiters of the issues.”
Correction — Revised CDT 2023 M&A Law Firm Rankings
Last week, The Texas Lawbook published the exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker ranking of law firms whose Texas lawyers handled the most mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures in 2023. Unfortunately, we missed 65 M&A transactions done by three law firms that were submitted to the CDT at the end of the year. We accidentally recorded one transaction as a $4 million deal when it was for $4 billion. The Lawbook withdrew the article from publication as soon as we recognized our error.
Texas lawyers at 19 firms worked on 25 or more deals in 2023. Eight law firms — Akin, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Haynes Boone, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Sidley Austin, Vinson & Elkins and White & Case — reported their lawyers in Texas worked on 50 or more transactions. Four law firms had lawyers in their Texas offices work on 100 or more M&A deals last year. The Texas attorneys at only two firms recorded total 2023 deal counts at 150 or more and deal values exceeding $150 billion. And the Austin, Dallas and Houston lawyers for a single law firm were lead or co-lead legal advisors for the buyers, sellers or targets in 140 deals — nearly twice as many as any other law firm, according to CDT data.
Court Reporters Say Texas Judicial Branch Certification Commission ‘Turns a Blind Eye’ to A.I. Deposition Services
Senior U.S. District Judge David A. Ezra ruled an Austin transcription service violated Texas law governing the court reporting industry, even though the commission dismissed a complaint saying it lacked jurisdiction. Court reporters say Judge Ezra’s ruling is a profound decision that affirms their interpretation of the law.
Power Trader Brings Legal Challenge to PUCT’s Creation of Contingency Reserve Service
Aspire Power Ventures filed a direct appeal with the Third Court of Appeals in Austin on Tuesday, challenging three orders issued by the Public Utility Commission of Texas that created and modified a program to provide reserve power in emergency situations. While the stated goal of the ERCOT Contingency Reserve Service is to prevent grid issues like what the state experienced during Winter Storm Uri, Aspire alleges it instead “does nothing to increase actual electricity reserve capacity — in fact, it actually decreases capacity when it is most needed.”
Ask a Specialist: Legal Malpractice Insurance
In this column, a veteran insurance provider highlights frequently asked questions he has received over his 20-plus years providing professional liability insurance.
A Journey of Gratitude and Friendship: An Interview with Frank Stevenson
In this Q&A with the 2023 recipient of the Dallas Bar Foundation Fellows Justinian Award, Frank Stevenson reflects on being in the “Believe-in-People Business,” invokes Friedrich Nietzsche and Mark Twain on writing well, and shares how he has dealt with career expectations and doubts.
Bradley Adds Houston L&E Partner
Kindall C. James has left Liskow and is making the first lateral move of her career in joining Bradley Arant Boult Cummings.