In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Kinder Morgan gets a win at the Texas Supreme Court in a tax fight with a school district, a jury sides with the widow of a NASA astronaut in a probate dispute involving space artifacts, and a Houston company is accused of monopolizing an ERCOT savings program.
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Joe Davidson – ‘A Proud Rice Owl’ Making a Difference
For 28 years, Joe Davidson has worked as an in-house lawyer at Rice University and is GC of Rice Management Company, the entity that includes Rice’s $7.8 billion endowment, which provides about 40 percent of the university’s operating revenues. His list of successes is long.
“My biggest accomplishments have been to be able to facilitate and support the big visions and thinking of Rice’s faculty, students and administrators — supporting them in obtaining research funding, conducting fieldwork, publishing their results and licensing them for further research and commercial development,” Davidson told The Texas Lawbook.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook honored Davidson on May 4 with the 2023 Houston General Counsel of the Year Award for a Nonprofit Institution. This is his story.
Q&A: Joe Davidson, GC Rice Management Co.
For 28 years, Joe Davidson has worked as an in-house lawyer at Rice University and is GC of Rice Management Company, the entity that includes Rice’s $7.8 billion endowment, which
Rahul Vashi Jumps from Kirkland to Gibson Dunn
Rahul Vashi led or co-led 14 transactions for Kirkland & Ellis with a combined value of $3.2 billion, including Devon Energy’s $1.8 billion acquisition of Denver-based Validus Energy, according to The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker. Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher believes Vashi will have the same success for it.
Unprecedented Situation — Creating Case Law for the New Court of Appeals
The Senate has now approved the House’s revisions to the bill that would form the new Fifteenth Court of Appeals for commercial cases. Once the two chambers of the Legislature sign the final version of the bill, the creation of that new court awaits only the governor’s signature.
Before long, that court’s justices will take office and its docket will begin to fill with cases. As a brand new institution, the Fifteenth Court will have no precedent of its own to apply in those cases. With apologies for the pun, that court will face an “unprecedented” situation.
Will Shearman’s Merger with A&O Impact the Texas Legal Market?
London-based Allen & Overy has coveted a presence in Texas to boost its global energy practice. On Sunday, the Magic Circle firm got it. A&O and Shearman & Sterling, a New York-headquartered corporate law firm with 60 lawyers in Austin, Dallas and Houston, announced Sunday that they are merging. The Texas Lawbook looks at Shearman’s operations in Texas and what the merger might mean.
Former Texas GOP Chief Justice: SB 896 ‘Causes Needless Increases in Litigation Costs for Texas Citizens’
Former Texas Chief Justice Wallace Jefferson has written the Texas Legislature asking them to defeat a bill that would erode free speech rights in Texas and cause Texas citizens to unnecessarily spend large amounts of money to protect their First Amendment rights.
Citing Years of Foot-Dragging by BMW and Local Counsel, Dallas Judge Orders Trial ASAP in ‘Lemon’ Lawsuit
After hitting BMW North America and Hedrick Kring Bailey with $773K in sanctions for ‘frivolous and groundless’ efforts to delay discovery in a woman’s suit over the sale of a defective used BMW, Judge Eric V. Moyé informed the automaker the case will go to trial June 6.
P.S. — World Refugee Day, Hispanic Law Student Scholarships, Fundraising Successes (Updated)
In this edition of P.S., Natalie Posgate highlights the details of the DHLF’s Amanecer luncheon, the Genesis Women’s Shelter annual luncheon featuring Nicole Kidman, an upcoming nonprofit event featuring books and booze, and a grant recently provided to the Texas Legal Services Center.
Texas Justices Decline to End Winstead Malpractice Suit
The court unanimously determined that at this stage in proceedings USA Lending Group had presented enough evidence to avoid Winstead’s bid to have the lawsuit tossed under the Texas Citizens Participation Act. Assuming without deciding that the state’s anti-SLAPP law applies to this case, the justices found that USA Lending should be allowed to proceed in the trial court with the suit accusing the firm of failing to request $1.2 million in damages in a motion for default judgment.