In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas Instruments is dealt a blow by the Texas Business Court in its quest to get an injunction against a competitor and a half dozen amicus briefs have been filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit by parties in favor of preserving a Texas gun restriction penal code.
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A&O Shearman Adds Veteran Dealmaker in Austin
Steve Tyndall has joined A&O Shearman as a partner in the M&A and private equity practice in Austin. Tyndall, who spent the last four years at Morrison Foerster, said that the firm’s international footprint and expanding Texas offices were meaningful in his decision to join A&O Shearman.
CDT Roundup: No Blockbusters, but Some Big Moves Brewing
The CDT Roundup saw nine deals announced during the week ended Aug. 22, with a combined reported value of about $2.8 billion — the lightest dollar figure since late January. The week prior had 15 deals with a value of nearly $7 billion, and a year ago at this time, the Roundup was reporting 23 deals worth more than $15.2 billion.
The rare week ended without an M&A megadeal.
Dallas Firm Notches $1.2M Win Against J&J
After deliberating for four hours Friday evening, a New Orleans jury awarded $10 million in damages finding that talc powder manufactured and sold by Johnson & Johnson “was a substantial cause of Lynne Roy’s mesothelioma.” The jury set J&J’s share at $1.2 million. The jury, which issued its verdict Friday at 9:47 p.m. after a three-week trial, found that J&J and five other defendants made products, including talc powder, that led to the 2020 death of the prominent Louisiana real estate agent’s death at the age of 76.
Dallas Jury Awards $8M to AT&T in Breach of Contract Case with Former Sales Providers
A Texas Business Court jury in Dallas deliberated for just 90 minutes late Friday night before ordering FiberWave and one of its subcontractors to pay AT&T $8 million for breaching its contractual duty to indemnify the telecom giant. The litigation started when FiberWave, a former sales partner, sued AT&T for $50 million in unpaid commissions.
Trial Court’s Post-Verdict Error Triggers Major Reduction in Damages for Alex Jones
A Texas appellate court Friday slashed more than $43 million in exemplary damages awarded against Alex Jones, holding that the trial judge erred by letting the parents of a student murdered in the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting to amend their petition post-verdict in order to avoid the state’s cap on exemplary damages.
P.S. — Texas Lawbook Foundation Seeks New Board Members to Guide and Support Pro Bono, Public Service and Diversity Coverage
Do you have a passion for pro bono legal work, community service and nonprofit charities or diversity and inclusion in the Texas legal profession? The Texas Lawbook Foundation has a job for you. A nonprofit 501(c)(3) that funds the reporting and writing efforts of The Texas Lawbook about pro bono, public service and diversity is seeking new board members for the Lawbook Foundation.
Hunton Adds Bankruptcy and Restructuring Partner Ian Roberts in Dallas
Ian Roberts, a bankruptcy and restructuring partner, has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth in Dallas. He will focus his practice on complex restructurings and distressed situations, with an emphasis on the energy and technology sectors.
The Dallas-Based Law Firm Taking on Johnson & Johnson — And Winning
Dallas litigation boutique Dean Omar Branham Shirley — with 39 lawyers and 35 support staff — belongs to a small group of firms nationwide that continue to reject Johnson & Johnson’s offers to resolve all its mesothelioma talc litigation through firm-level settlement agreements. Instead, DOBS has taken J&J to trial one case at a time, across the country, facing a roster of major law firms, including Kirkland & Ellis, King & Spalding and Gibson Dunn. And they’re winning.
Panel: Ecclesiastical Abstention Ends Much of Gateway Church, Robert Morris Litigation
The court concluded that the doctrine — which, in essence, bars civil courts from deciding cases that call into question a church’s doctrine, internal decisions and governance — applied to completely end Cindy Clemishire’s claims against Gateway Church and its elders.