Kansas City-based Polsinelli announced Wednesday it has opened its third office in Texas in ‘Funkytown’ with a group of four transactional lawyers. Firm leaders say Fort Worth is a right fit for the Midwest firm.
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Johnson & Johnson Reaches Settlement in Dallas Baby Powder Trial
A settlement has been reached in the state’s first trial alleging Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder contained cancer-causing asbestos. Also on Tuesday, 43 states including Texas, reached a $700 million settlement with J&J, ending claims that the company was deceptively marketing its talc powder products as safe.
Scott A. Brister to Lead New 15th Court of Appeals
Two others with intermediate appellate court experience were named to the appellate court by Gov. Abbott, who also announced appointments to the new Austin business court division. The governor still must name judges for business court divisions in Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and San Antonio. The Texas Lawbook‘s Janet Elliott has the details.
Business Court Applicants Pick Favorite Judges, Disliked Decisions
Answers to the governor’s questionnaire shed some light on the judicial philosophies of some 30 who have applied for the coming business trial and appellate courts. Generally, they like conservatives like Scalia and Thomas and shun SCOTUS decisions on Obamacare and the Chevron deference.
Editor’s note: This article was written in advance of the governor’s announcements Wednesday.
The Corner Office: Q&A with Paul Genender
In this Q&A, Genender, who chairs the firm’s Texas commercial litigation practice and co-chairs its Dallas and Houston offices, describes why the move has been even better than imagined and shares what career fulfillment means to him and why he is proud to be a lawyer. Plus, with Game 3 of the NBA Finals tipping off in Dallas on Wednesday, Genender offers a basketball analogy for being in the office.
CDT Roundup: 19 Deals, 13 Firms, 239 Lawyers, $23.9B
Over the last few years, this space has seen more than a few deals involving Morgan Lewis Houston partner Jeff Dinerstein and his client Park Lawn, Inc., the Toronto-based purveyor of funerals, cremations and such. With the news this week that Park Lawn has agreed to be acquired for $1.2 billion, the CDT Roundup decided to review a few of Dinerstein’s deals. And, of course, we include the usual summary of the lawyers and firms behind transactions reported last week.
Litigation Roundup: Religious Liberty Training for SWA Attorneys Paused, Energy CEO Gets Prison
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, U.S. District Judge Ada Brown gets her first crack at handling multidistrict litigation after 12 putative class action lawsuits over the AT&T data breach are transferred to her, the former president of a Texas energy company goes to prison and a trio of attorneys representing Southwest Airlines gets a stay on an order that they undergo religious liberty training.
Weinberg Wheeler Hudgins Gunn & Dial Expands to Texas, Opens Houston Office
WWHGD tapped Houston attorney Chaz Klaes to spearhead its Texas expansion. Klaes brought eight lawyers with him from Donato, Brown, Pool & Moehlmann.
Kirkland, Paul Weiss lead $1.6B deal between Noble and Diamond Offshore
In yet another stock-and-cash deal this year in the energy sector, Sugar Land-based Noble Corp. plans to purchase Houston-based Diamond Offshore Drilling by paying a premium of 11.4% per share. When the deal closes, Diamond shareholders will own 14.5% of Noble’s outstanding shares.
Transactional Lawyers Fail to Materialize for Biz Court Positions
Litigators dominate the latest applications for the new business court judgeships, public records show. In the coming weeks, Gov. Greg Abbott will exercise his new power to select jurists to handle the new court’s docket of complex corporate governance and transactional disputes. A drafter of the legislation to create the specialized court system makes the case for ‘sit down’ lawyers to throw their names in the hat.