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
More Stories
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.
Business Court’s September 2026 Decisions: Who Gets In, and Who Gets Out Early
Four of the Texas Business Court’s September opinions asked a threshold question: Can the court hear this case at all? The answers show a court leaning on its own growing body of precedent and a strictly textual reading of its jurisdiction statute. September also brought a Rule 91a fight over an expelled LLC member and a venture capitalist’s claim to a share of a multibillion-dollar sale that ran into his own release.
Dallas Federal Judge’s Entire Docket Transferred to Other Judges
The chief judge of the Northern District of Texas has issued two separate “special orders” that remove all civil and criminal cases from the docket of U.S. District Judge Ada Brown, who is a highly respected jurist and believed to be the only Native American woman federal judge in Texas. Neither of the special orders provides an explanation.
Yes, Virginia, You Can Review an Arbitration Award: Is Arbitration an Option for Your Case?
For Texas litigators and corporate counsel, overcoming hesitation toward mandatory arbitration requires leveraging contractual design — either by expanding judicial review under the Texas Arbitration Act or using private appellate panels to eliminate unreviewable legal error.
Norton Rose Fulbright in Dallas: Measuring Retention by the Decade
In an era when lawyers are changing teams with the frequency of SEC linebackers, a large contingent of Dallas-based lawyers at Norton Rose Fulbright have been staying put for decades. Like lawyers on-the-move, they cite ‘culture’ as their reason for staying; but offering the credibility of decades in the same office of the same firm, these lawyers may actually mean it.