A recent Lawbook piece cited trial experts predicting juries would become AI’s de facto regulators as litigation surges. History says otherwise — pointing to how Congress and state legislatures moved to shield gun makers and businesses from similar waves of lawsuits before they ever reached juries.
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Lewis Energy’s Wes Sharples Runs a Lean Legal Team and a Growing HR Department
Wes Sharples had a clear vision when he left Texas for college at Dartmouth in 1999: Play football, earn a degree in economics and get a big job on Wall Street.
“My playing career ended after a year and a half along with my interest in economics,” Sharples told The Texas Lawbook. “I ultimately determined law school was the best fit, but it was more pragmatism than lifelong ambition.”
Twenty-seven years later, Sharples is the GC at Lewis Energy Group, where he has guided the San Antonio-based privately owned energy company through five transformational corporate transactions and negotiated a highly favorable settlement agreement in an eight-figure litigation during the past two years. And he is also the 2026 San Antonio GC of the Year for a Small Legal Department.
Jury Orders NAE Enterprises to Pay $21.6M in Construction Case
A Tarrant County jury awarded a local family more than $21.6 million after finding that construction defects in their home exposed them to toxic sewer gas, mold and insects, in violation of the state Deceptive Trade Practices Act. The jury trial began on Oct. 5 in Judge Don Cosby’s courtroom in Fort Worth.
Ithaca Holdings Taking Bumble Private in $1.3B Deal
Davis Polk provided counsel to a Bumble special committee from New York, Washington, D.C. and London.
Houston employee benefits partner Justin Coddington was the lone Texas attorney on a Kirkland & Ellis national team of about three dozen lawyers that advised Ithaca Holdings.
Premium Subscriber Q&A with Lewis Energy GC Wes Sharples
Texas Lawbook: What do you look for in hiring outside counsel? Wes Sharples: I hire lawyers, not law firms. Technical expertise is important, but, with some exceptions for niche practice
Bankruptcy Judge: Camp Mystic Trustee Ruling Should Come Next Week
After hearing nearly four hours of closing arguments Tuesday, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez said he should have a decision within about a week on a proposal to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee over the Camp Mystic bankruptcy.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Frost Bank GC C.E. Rhodes
Rhodes shares why he chose a career in corporate law and dishes on what he looks for in outside counsel.
Sorrels Law Adds Nick Wagoner and Clifford Ashcroft-Smith as Partners
Nick Wagoner and Clifford Ashcroft-Smith have joined Sorrels Law as partners. Wagoner opened his own personal injury practice in Dallas in 2015 after beginning his career defending employers in state
Frost Bank’s C.E. Rhodes Has a ‘Servant Leader’s Heart’
During his five years as GC at Frost Bank, C.E. Rhodes has achieved extraordinary successes. He is the recipient of the 2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department (21 lawyers or more).
Litigation Roundup: Pioneer Sees Uri-Related ‘Force Majeure’ Win Affirmed
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the SEC’s Fort Worth regional office closes out a case involving an alleged $91 million Ponzi scheme, a Dallas jury sides with Jani-King in a franchisee dispute, ExxonMobil investors are granted class certification in a securities suit and a Fifth Circuit panel affirms Pioneer Natural Resources’ force majeure win in a Winter Storm Uri dispute.