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The Woman Behind Haynes Boone’s Healthier Legal Culture

A registered and licensed dietician, Abby Read joined Haynes Boone as the firm’s first wellness manager with a vision that far exceeded overhauling the office’s snack selection. Now two years into the new position, Read has helped lawyers and staff at the global firm incorporate more movement into their day, feel less alone in their wellness struggles by learning the stories of their colleagues and have a confidant in their office to turn to when they need mental health support. Read’s latest effort of launching a podcast seeks to expand that support to the larger legal community.

Read recently talked with The Lawbook about her background running the wellness program of a major healthcare system before joining Haynes Boone, what the firm is doing to support its lawyers’ mental health and what she’s learned since bringing her wellness expertise to a law firm environment.

Amici Weigh in on Constitutional Challenge to New Fifteenth COA

Three amicus briefs — from Disability Rights Texas, the Texas Business Law Foundation and Texans for Lawsuit Reform — have been filed in the case. While the groups seek different outcomes, Disability Rights Texas and Texans for Lawsuit Reform agree on one issue: the Texas Supreme Court should take the case and issue a decision on the constitutionality issue.

Remembering Houston Lawyer Mike DeGeurin

For five decades, Mike DeGeurin represented criminal defendants rejected by society. He used the law and courts to free innocent people wrongly convicted and sentenced to death.

A 1971 graduate of Texas Tech University School of Law, DeGeurin died Friday from complications from heart issues. He was 79.

SDTX Chief Bankruptcy Judge Seals Show Cause Hearing in Judge Jones, Jackson Walker Case   

At the daylong hearing, Chief Judge Eduardo Rodriguez also denied a request to subpoena four years of phone and text logs from former bankruptcy Judge David Jones’ government-issued cell phone that the requesting party said was intended to investigate whether any ex parte communications had taken place between Jones and the attorneys who appeared before him. Chief Judge Rodriguez said he plans to quickly decide whether to partially or fully unseal a transcript and audio of the sealed portion of Wednesday’s hearing.

Two Texas Lawyers May Face Discipline for Roles in Claiming Lewis Brisbois Name

Attorney Susan C. Norman registered a domestic limited liability partnership under the California-based law firm’s name after discovering the firm’s foreign limited liability partnership registration had lapsed on the Texas secretary of state website, and Bradley B. Beers filed an assumed name certificate. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit found the lawyers’ conduct “unbecoming of the profession,” and a U.S. district judge said he wasn’t sure whether he was obligated to refer the lawyers to the Texas State Bar for investigation.

FERC Authorization for Two South Texas LNG Projects Halted by Court

Authorizations for the Texas LNG Brownsville and Rio Grande LNG facilities were vacated by the DC Circuit Court of Appeals and returned for a second time to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for further environmental scrutiny. The court said FERC was “arbitrary and capricious” in efforts to side-step environmental justice requirements in the approval process.

Experts on X Corp.’s Antitrust Suit: ‘A Head Scratcher’ with a Side of ‘Forum Shopping’

A law professor and a prominent litigator spoke to The Lawbook about the merits of X’s new lawsuit against a group of advertisers and discussed why the case may have been filed in federal court in Wichita Falls. “Forum shopping is definitely going on here,” C. Paul Rogers III, current professor and former dean at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, told The Lawbook in an interview Tuesday.

Texas Supreme Court Calls on Nonlawyers to Shrink Justice Gap

After an exhaustive, 22-month process, the Supreme Court of Texas on Tuesday issued a set of preliminary rules that will allow select nonlawyers — licensed paraprofessionals and court-access assistants — to provide limited civil legal services to low-income Texans. The order places the efforts of the Texas Access to Justice Commission and SCOTX at the finish line for this slice of their ongoing effort to help close the civil justice gap in Texas.

Natalie Posgate talked with Texas Supreme Court Justice Brett Busby about how this project began and Legal Services Corporation President Ron Flagg about the success of this model at a national level.

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