The lawsuit, filed Monday in Houston federal court, alleges one of Winston’s diversity fellowship programs “has been racially discriminating against future lawyers for years” because the only law students considered for the DEI-oriented fellowship are those who “belong to a group that is ‘diverse,’ ‘disadvantaged’ or ‘historically underrepresented’ — Winston’s shorthand for not a straight white male.” Winston is the third law firm to be sued by conservative legal activist Edward Blum and his organization, American Alliance for Equal Rights.
More Stories
SEC Charges Austin’s SolarWinds, CISO with Fraud
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed fraud charges Monday against SolarWinds Corporation, an Austin publicly traded company that provides information infrastructure software used by thousands of businesses and government agencies, for alleged failures regarding cybersecurity risks and vulnerabilities. The SEC’s complaint filed in New York that accuses SolarWinds and its chief information security officer, Timothy G. Brown, with making “materially false and misleading statements and omissions related to SolarWinds’ cybersecurity risks and practices in at least three types of public disclosures” between 2018 and 2020.
Regulations Cutting Roofers Out of Insurance Claim Process Challenged
Tensions between free speech and public protection were exposed during SCOTX arguments on licensing requirements for public adjusters. The justices posed hypotheticals about professions including lawyers, doctors and journalists, but the prevailing image was that of a roofer standing atop a house calling the insurance company.
SCOTX Denies Bid to Skip Over 5th COA in Judicial District Reapportionment Challenge
Keresa Richardson has argued to the courts that the malapportionment of the 14 judicial districts in Texas is a “disease” and that the use of docket equalization measures to even the workload among the courts is a “field dressing.” Richardson is alleging both issues constitute violations of the equal protection clause of the Constitution.
TMCP Panel: Diversity Fatigue Rampant on Both Sides of the Corporate Aisle
White lawyers, a word of caution: Your colleagues of color are sick of having to constantly educate you on racial issues and the nuances of diversity, equity and inclusion. Lawyers of color: We know you are exhausted, but there are still benefits — both institutional and personal — in continuing to play the game.
These were the two main takeaways during a panel discussion of law firm partners Thursday afternoon at the Texas Minority Counsel Program’s 31st annual conference in Houston.
Pharma Marketer Guilty in $60 Million Fraud and Kickback Scheme
Quintan Cockerell was paid millions to steer doctors to write expensive, often needless, prescriptions to two Fort Worth pharmacies, federal investigators said. After a week of testimony and four days of deliberations, a jury in the court of U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer agreed on Thursday.
Administrative Patent Judge Joins Bracewell’s IP Practice in Austin
Christopher L. “Kit” Crumbley navigated unprecedented trials as an administrative judge on the U.S. Patent and Trial Appeal Board beginning in 2012, as the America Invents Act went into effect. He said he left the bench in pursuit of his “next challenge.”
Lawyers, Guns and Money: An Occasional Series on Movies, TV and Other Stories about Lawyers and the Law
The Insider is not a movie about the law per se. Like most Michael Mann movies, it’s about men engaged in an operatic, high-stakes dance with each other and with their fates, coming together and splitting apart in a flurry of paradoxically macho sensitivity. It’s about the sacred bond between a journalist and his source, and the troubling divide between the noble work journalists do and the corporate interests of their employers. As such it’s one of the great journalism thrillers; there’s no heresy in mentioning The Insider in the same breath as All the President’s Men. But there is, in fact, a lot of law in The Insider, and a fair number of lawyers.
Four Texas GCs: ‘The Why for [DEI] is Especially Important’
Four Texas-based general counsel — Justin Johnson of Jacobs, Monica Karuturi of CenterPoint Energy, Aparna Dave of the Texas Dow Employees Credit Union and Clay Allen of the Houston Rockets — kicked off the 31st Annual Texas Minority Counsel Program conference discussing the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion to them personally and how it comes into strategic play at their organizations. The four GCs also talked about their preferences and dislikes about law firm business development efforts. Texas Lawbook pro bono, public service and diversity reporter Natalie Posgate is at the event and filed this report.
One Nation Under Insurance: The Insurance Industry’s Hold on Our Country, Our State, and Our Pocketbooks – Part 1
Insurance. It touches everything you do as a lawyer and suffuses the entire scope of human endeavor. Think for a moment how crucial insurance, in general, and the claim process, in particular, is to the smooth functioning of every Texas business. This article considers the insurance industry’s influence in fostering a flourishing commercial environment in Texas.