Melsheimer, who is the managing partner at the Dallas office, is poised to take on a new role, helping to lead the firm’s 450-person litigation team. In an interview with The Texas Lawbook, Melsheimer shares his philosophy for leadership and ways the firm is breaking the mold.
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Inspired Long Before I Became a Lawyer
In this personal essay, Jackson Walker healthcare partner Mary Emma Ackels Karam revisits small but impactful scenes of her own personal family history and reflects on how one family member — her mother — was instrumental in shaping Karam into the wife, mother, lawyer and mentor to other women that she is today.
Pictured: Karam (far left) circa 1987 with her parents, Isabel and Lawrence Ackels, and nine siblings.
First Reserve, Forum Energy and SilverBow Finalists for 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Business Litigation of the Year
The general counsel at First Reserve, the GC at Forum Energy Technology and the associate GC at SilverBow Resources all scored big courtroom victories for their companies last year and have been selected by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook as finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Jackson Walker Offers 2021 Memo as Proof Partner Lied About Relationship with Bankruptcy Judge
The former McDermott International shareholder who exposed the secret relationship between a former Jackson Walker partner and the Houston bankruptcy judge who handled the McDermott restructuring is a “professional litigant” with a history of “perjured testimony and falsification of evidence” who has no legitimate legal claims against Jackson Walker. Those arguments were part of a 46-page document filed Friday by Houston trial lawyer Rusty Hardin, who represents Jackson Walker, seeking to dismiss the federal racketeering and fraud lawsuit filed against his client and others by McDermott investor Michael Van Deelen who seeks millions of dollars in damages, alleging the firm hid and profited from the romantic relationship between Elizabeth Freeman, a Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner between 2018 and 2022, and former Bankruptcy Judge David Jones.
Q&A with John Polzer of Duane Morris
In this Q&A, Polzer dishes on transitioning from a regional firm like Cantey Hanger to an AmLaw 100 firm, describes the uniqueness of the Fort Worth market, encourages resilience in networking, and talks Buc-ee’s and specialized business courts.
Three Houston Corporate Counsel Recognized for Diversity and Inclusion Successes
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announced Friday that in-house lawyers at Ascend Performance Material, Shell USA and Spire Resources are finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
P.S. — A Veteran’s Gala; April DVAP Clinic Dates; Leadership Changes at The Center, ABA
This week’s edition of P.S. features a woman lawyer’s rise in the ranks of the ABA’s litigation section, details on the Texas Access to Justice Commission’s upcoming annual gala benefiting low-income veterans (including how many dollars away it is from hitting its fundraising goal), an impending leadership change at UT Law’s Center for Women in Law and the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s April legal clinic dates.
Firms and corporate legal departments mentioned this week include AT&T, CenterPoint Energy, Greenberg Traurig, Halliburton, H-E-B, Kirkland, Locke Lord, Toyota, V&E, Shell, Jones Day, Baker Botts, Vistra, Winston & Strawn, Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Norton Rose Fulbright, Stewart Law Group, Bank of America, DLA Piper, Citibank, Haynes Boone, Baylor Scott and White and Foley.
Fifth Circuit: FDA Cigarette Warnings are ‘Factual and Uncontroversial’ and ‘Pass Constitutional Muster’
R.J. Reynolds and other cigarette makers learned Thursday that forum shopping does not always pay off. The tobacco companies strategically filed a constitutional challenge to the FDA’s newest cigarette warning labels in East Texas believing the jurisdiction to be favorable, especially on appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which the companies viewed as pro-commercial free speech and increasingly distrustful of federal government regulation and overreach. But they figured wrong.
SCOTX Hears Arguments in Oncor Appraisal Disputes
The justices had consolidated the oral arguments in two cases that involve disputes in Mills and Wilbarger counties. The cases are part of a large group of lawsuits filed by Oncor to fight the valuation of its transmission lines in 13 counties. The utility company argues incorrect data provided by a private appraisal firm to determine 2019 values led to a $7 million overvaluation of its property and a “windfall” of taxes for the local governments.
Gaining a Seat at the Table
In this guest essay, name partner Julie A. Springer of Weisbart Springer Hayes reflects on her experience as a woman lawyer, how the legal profession has evolved in women’s favor and how it hasn’t.