Lawyers for Dallas-based online dating company Match Group were set to do battle with attorneys for internet search giant Google next week in a federal courthouse in San Francisco over allegations of antitrust abuses and breach of contract. But the two corporate powerhouses announced late Tuesday that they have settled their dispute and are best friends once again. The Match legal team included CLO Jared Sine, assistant GC Jeanette Teckman, senior counsel Stephen Myers and Dallas trial lawyer Jeff Tillotson.
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P.S. — TMCP Fights DEI Vampires; Haynes Boone Did Not Ghost on 2023 Pro Bono Work
In this special Halloween edition of P.S., Natalie Posgate highlights details from the Texas Minority Council Program awards, the recipients of A&M Law’s 2023 Alumni Legacy Awards, NAMWOLF’s 2023 law firm MVP, November legal clinic dates in Dallas (the first one falling on Día de los Muertos), a Texas Access to Justice Foundation luncheon that honored a group of individuals for their efforts during the Texas Legislature’s 88th session, and how Haynes Boone celebrated the end of the ABA’s National Celebration of Pro Bono last week.
Three Diverse Managing Partners Talk Shop, Share Wisdom at TMCP
Three diverse managing partners — Quinn Emanuel’s Chris Porter, Reed Smith’s Omar Alaniz and Thompson Coburn’s Nicole Williams — swapped stories, described their leadership styles, shared their approach to DEI in the office and gave career development advice to young diverse attorneys at last week’s Texas Minority Council Program’s 31st Annual Conference in Houston. Natalie Posgate was in the room and has the highlights.
CDT Roundup: 18 Deals, 18 Firms, 152 Lawyers, $68.4B
What a difference a quarter makes. Even as deal numbers for the third quarter continue to numb, some really big deals are beginning to unfold in the fourth — particularly in the energy sector — with two $60 billion whoppers in the past three weeks. But a recent analysis by Pitchbook suggests that they are only the beginning. With an estimated global total of $1.4 trillion in dry powder available, dealmakers who have been eyeing market variables may be ready to pounce. This week’s CDT Roundup looks the possibility of a coming breakout, along with the usual roster of lawyers and firms who reported $68 billion over 18 different deals.
Susman Godfrey in Letter: Ed Blum May ‘Misunderstand’ its DEI Programs
Three days before Winston & Strawn became the target of legal activist Ed Blum’s third lawsuit, another firm operating in Texas — Susman Godfrey — responded to a demand letter defending its DEI programs to Blum. “We believe both programs fully comply with all relevant laws,” the letter says.
‘Reminds Me of the Facebook Relationship Status — It’s Complicated’
Seven trial lawyers have been contacted by parties involved in corporate bankruptcies and restructurings before U.S. Bankruptcy Judge David Jones of Houston between 2018 and 2022 to inquire about potential legal claims they have against the judge or the law firm that employed his live-in girlfriend during those five years. No new lawsuits have been lodged and no one is publicly claiming that they were wronged as a result of Judge Jones’ secret romantic relationship with a partner in Jackson Walker’s bankruptcy practice.
But the controversy surfaced last week in an ongoing bankruptcy case. U.S. Trustee Kevin Epstein asked Judge Marvin Isgur, who is overseeing the GWG Holdings restructuring, to postpone awarding more than $1 million in legal fees to Jackson Walker, who served as co-lead debtor’s counsel, while the U.S. trustee’s office investigates. Judge Jones served as the mediator in the case and the lawyer worked on the case.
Litigation Roundup: Paxton Gets TRO to Stop Razor Wire ‘Destruction’ at Border, ITC’s Win Against Enviro Claim Affirmed in Case of First Impression
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a jury sides with a Baylor graduate in a lawsuit over the alleged mishandling of her sexual assault complaints, a woman sexually assaulted by her masseuse has a $1.8 million punitive award wiped out on appeal, and a judge in Texas puts a nationwide halt to a new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau rule that would require lenders collect certain data from small business borrowers.
Ed Blum Sues Winston Challenging DEI Fellowship
The lawsuit, filed Monday in Houston federal court, alleges one of Winston’s diversity fellowship programs “has been racially discriminating against future lawyers for years” because the only law students considered for the DEI-oriented fellowship are those who “belong to a group that is ‘diverse,’ ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘historically underrepresented’ — Winston’s shorthand for not a straight white male.” Winston is the third law firm to be sued by conservative legal activist Edward Blum and his organization, American Alliance for Equal Rights.
SEC Charges Austin’s SolarWinds, CISO with Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges Monday against SolarWinds Corporation, an Austin publicly traded company that provides information infrastructure software used by thousands of businesses and government agencies, for alleged failures regarding cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities. The SEC’s complaint filed in New York that accuses SolarWinds and its chief information security officer, Timothy G. Brown, with making “materially false and misleading statements and omissions related to SolarWinds’ cybersecurity risks and practices in at least three types of public disclosures” between 2018 and 2020.
Regulations Cutting Roofers Out of Insurance Claim Process Challenged
Tensions between free speech and public protection were exposed during SCOTX arguments on licensing requirements for public adjusters. The justices posed hypotheticals about professions including lawyers, doctors and journalists, but the prevailing image was that of a roofer standing atop a house calling the insurance company.