Congress has passed legislation raising the debt limit for Subchapter V bankruptcy reorganization from $3.4 million to $7.5 million, offering small business owners a faster, more affordable alternative to standard Chapter 11. Co-sponsored by Sen. John Cornyn and praised by state bankruptcy judges, the Bankruptcy Threshold Adjustment Act awaits the president’s signature.
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Catching Up with Mike McKool, 3 Years After Departing Firm He Founded
He still has an active law practice, but Mike McKool’s legal work doesn’t lend itself to spending time in the courtroom these days. When he’s not working, he told The Texas Lawbook in a recent interview, he’s spent his time visiting with friends and driving offroad motorcycles on 40 miles of trails around his ranch near Waxahachie.
Biz Court Significantly Trims Scope of Damages in Southwest Pilot’s 737 MAX Suit Against Boeing
A Texas Business Court judge has determined the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association failed to sufficiently connect the dots between The Boeing Company’s alleged misrepresentations about the airworthiness of the 737 MAX aircraft, the subsequent grounding of those planes following two fatal crashes, and the consequential damages the union alleged its members suffered as a result.
Catching Up with Hope Shimabuku
After a decade of serving her country as the first regional director of the Southwest Office for the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Hope Shimabuku jumped at the opportunity to again create something new when she led the opening of Finnegan’s Dallas office this month. And the elite global IP firm would’ve been hard-pressed to find someone better to be boots on the ground. The Texas Lawbook visited with Shimabuku about her legacy at the USPTO and her aspirations for Finnegan in Texas.
The Taxing Challenge of Produced Water
As millions of barrels of oilfield wastewater flood into Texas from New Mexico daily, shrinking underground disposal capacity in the Permian Basin threatens to constrain future energy production. Levying a severance-style tax on out-of-state produced water would generate over $100 million annually, protect Texas operators and spur vital investment in water recycling infrastructure.
Litigation Roundup: Amici Flood Federal Circuit, Supporting Samsung in Injunction Fight
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Texas State Securities Board says it was the entity that determined NFL star Travis Kelce was the victim of a Ponzi scheme, a dispute between concrete industry competitors is dropped and the Texas Supreme Court is urged to determine courts here have jurisdiction over a $500 million fight between Brazilian mining companies.
Brown Fox Taps Chief Judge O’Connor Clerk to Lead Fort Worth Expansion
Tim Wells, who started his legal career at Brown Fox in 2022, is the fourth former federal law clerk at the 28-lawyer firm. “Fort Worth has been on our minds for many years. Tim’s return gives us a chance to anchor the new office with a talented Tarrant County attorney, a member of the Fort Worth community, and a litigator fresh off working in the Northern District’s Fort Worth Division,” Brown Fox Managing Partner Russ Brown said.
Austin Litigator Moves to Husch Blackwell
Ryan Bueche has joined Husch Blackwell from Germer. He focuses his practice on defending companies and individuals in product liability, intellectual property, personal injury, insurance coverage, business and employment disputes.
5th Circuit Judge Southwick to Take Senior Status, Opening a Bush-Era Seat
Judge Leslie Southwick, an 18-year veteran of the Fifth Circuit, has announced he is taking senior status, opening a seat on the bench for President Donald Trump to make an appointment. Texas lawyers who’ve appeared before Judge Southwick, including Dykema’s Chris Kratovil, Norton Rose Fulbright’s Anne Johnson and Lynn Pinker’s David Coale, praised his fairness and civility on a bench often defined by sharp ideological divides.
Dallas Jury Hits Expro Holdings with $7.7M Verdict for Breach of Contract
A Dallas County jury deliberated for about two and a half hours before unanimously awarding more than $7.7 million to Arlington-based MCR Oil Tools last week, finding its longtime business partner Expro Holdings had breached a contract. The 20-year business relationship between the companies came to an end in 2023 when Expro chose not to renew its licensing agreement.