Dean Omar Branham Shirley has obtained three jury verdicts this year against Johnson & Johnson over allegations its baby powder contained cancer-causing asbestos. Another trial ended early when the parties settled. Johnson & Johnson has decried the verdicts and maintained its cosmetic talc products did not cause cancer.
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Greystar, Bigge Settle Crane Collapse Suit Mid-Trial
Five plaintiffs who were displaced from their Dallas homes after a construction crane toppled onto an apartment complex in 2019 reached a settlement with the real estate developer and the crane rental company mid-trial Thursday. The confidential settlement resolves all remaining lawsuits related to the crane collapse, lawyers told a Dallas judge.
Plaintiff, Amici Urge En Banc Reconsideration in ‘Literally Unprecedented’ Axing of $222M Wrongful Death Verdict
Earlier this month, Kansas resident Kelli Most filed a motion for en banc reconsideration with the court. She argued that dismissal of her lawsuit against Team Industrial Services — which came after the Sugar Land-based company had unsuccessfully attempted pretrial to get the appellate court to move the suit out of Texas courts — on grounds that Texas was an inconvenient forum is “literally unprecedented.”
Lone Star Funds to Acquire Carrier Global Fire Business for $3B
Carrier Global says the sale to Dallas-based PE Lone Star is part of its continuing divestiture of non-core businesses to refocus as a pure play provider of heating, cooling and solar energy climate-control products.
Pro Bono Opportunities Alive and Well in Patent Law
Intellectual property may not be the first area of law you’d think of to find pro bono work, but it’s just as vital for boosting diversity, equity and inclusion in our country as focusing on the usuals — criminal justice reform, food insecurity, or hiring practices. Pillsbury’s Chad Hammerlind tells The Lawbook about a partnership between the USPTO and an Austin-based nonprofit that houses these IP pro bono opportunities.
“It’s usually wealthy individuals and corporations that can afford getting a patent, so this program helps some other individuals build wealth and get the chance to build some assets,” he says.
Dallas-Area Doctor on Trial in Alleged Multimillion-Dollar University Athletic Billing Scheme
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas has accused Dr. Kyle Carter of conspiring with a third-party billing company to collect thousands of dollars for work treating student-athletes he never saw and who were actually treated by university athletic trainers. Carter’s lawyers from Vedder Price told jurors the doctor was merely a supervising physician and didn’t have insight into the company’s billing.
Natalie Posgate Bids Farewell to The Texas Lawbook
From covering the insider-trading trial of billionaire Mark Cuban to launching the full-time pro bono, public service and diversity legal beat, Natalie Posgate has authored more than 900 articles that covered all aspects of business law in Texas. After more than 12 years as a reporter for The Texas Lawbook, Posgate is sadly stepping away from journalism to become the chief marketing officer at Reese Marketos, a litigation boutique in Dallas.
Winston Snags Two McDermott Energy Partners
Kevin Brophy and Ming Lei have worked together on a variety of upstream and midstream deals involving EIV Capital and Houston’s Westlawn Group.
Vartabedian Hester & Haynes Hires Away Another Partner from Alston & Bird
Daniella P. Main was a partner in Alston & Bird’s Dallas office. Vartabedian’s name partner, Rob Vartabedian, said Tuesday that Main will support the firm’s oil and gas litigation clients while leading its commercial litigation in other industries from its Dallas office.
CDT Roundup: 20 Deals, 15 Firms, 312 Lawyers, $12.2B
If anything defines the last few years in Texas M&A, it’s energy consolidation. Big bucks are being dropped to own bigger chunks of the Permian, Gulf Coast LNG production and all the pipeline in between. But the emergence of AI is driving a powerful new influence in the form of digital infrastructure, a sector heavy on the need for energy and real estate — both found in abundance in Texas. The CDT Roundup chatted with Simpson partners Breen Haire and Matt Einbinder on ways in which AI is changing their M&A practice, and it’s not what you might think. That, and the usual Roundup breakdown of last week’s Texas-related transactions.