Non-SPAC IPOs are on the uptick in Texas typified by one filed last month by Mach Resources, a company created by natural gas icon Tom Ward, former jefe at Chesapeake Energy and a few other familiar energy stops. Claire Poole looks at that deal along with the firms and lawyers behind last week’s 17 Texas-related transactions.
More Stories
Kirkland Promotes 21 Lawyers to Partner in Texas
Kirkland’s 21 newly promoted Texas partners is down from 25 last year but it is still likely to be one of the largest new partner classes of any business law firm.
Fifth Circuit Upholds Forest Park Medical Center Convictions
An appellate panel rejects every ground raised by seven convicted defendants in one of the biggest medical fraud cases in Texas history.
Be Careful 😳: A Texted Emoji 👍 Might Create an Enforceable Contract
A recent ruling by a Canadian court declared that an emoji can confirm the acceptance of a contract. This article addresses how this opinion might be applied under U.S./Texas law, implications beyond contract law and other emerging digital contracting issues.
Litigation Roundup: Paxton Back in Action, Sues Yelp; SEC Says Austin Promoter Duped Investors
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Ken Paxton returns to office and sues Yelp over disclaimers the company affixed to listings for “pregnancy resource centers,” the SEC accuses an Austin oil and gas promotor of defrauding investors out of $5 million and Dallas law firm Caldwell Cassady & Curry is tapped to bring a trade secrets lawsuit for a financial technology client in Chicago.
Litigation Over Dallas Co. Juvenile Department Heats Up
Dallas County Commissioner Andrew Sommerman said he was being a “hammer” when he made the motion to withhold pay increases from top juvenile probation officials last month for their refusal to turn over records of youth detainees. But Sommerman and his fellow Dallas County Commissioners could end up being the nail, according to a new lawsuit filed over the weekend by the Dallas County Juvenile Department. The legal battle between the Dallas County Juvenile officials and the Dallas County Commissioners Court escalated Friday night when lawyers for the juvenile care officials filed an amended complaint calling the commissioners’ decision three weeks ago to withhold their pay increases illegal and seeking to have it immediately voided.
Perella Weinberg and Tudor, Pickering, Holt to Pay $2.5M for SEC Violations
Houston-based Tudor, Pickering, Holt and its owner, New York-based Perella Weinberg Partners, have agreed to pay a $2.5 million fine for violating federal securities laws’ recordkeeping provisions, according to an administrative order filed Friday by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The allegations against the Texas-headquartered boutique energy banker and its parent were announced in a blitz of charges filed Friday by the SEC as the federal government comes to the end of its fiscal year and as the agency and the government face a potential shutdown.
P.S. — October Legal Clinics, Frank Stevenson’s Award, State Fair’s Newest Board Member
In this edition of P.S., we have details on an October luncheon that will honor Dallas attorney Frank Stevenson, the State Fair of Texas’ newest board member and his extensive history serving the organization and October dates for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s virtual and in-person legal clinics.
Clear Channel Outdoor Pays $26M to SEC on FCPA Charges
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged San Antonio-based Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. regarding actions taken by employees at a then-Chinese subsidiary to bribe Chinese government officials to obtain outdoor advertising contracts in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In a 13-page order issued Thursday, SEC officials announced that Clear Channel and its majority-owned subsidiary in China called Clear Media Limited — a subsidiary it has since sold — had “consented” to the federal agency’s findings that it violated anti-bribery, recordkeeping and internal accounting controls provisions of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Enforcement Imperialism or Applying Precedent? SEC’s NFT Enforcement Actions Reignite Digital Asset Debate
Overreach. Jurisdictional landgrab. Regulation by enforcement. These terms and expressions — and many more “colorful” turns of phrase — are used by some to describe the Securities and Exchange Commission’s approach to enforcement at the intersection of digital assets and the federal securities laws. The SEC has repeatedly rejected such claims and has yet to act upon industry calls for increased clarity and guidance.
But it is the SEC’s most recent enforcement actions — its first two cases involving nonfungible tokens — that have yet again brought forth the SEC’s critics. What should we make of these first-of-their-kind enforcement actions? Doesn’t the lack of fungibility of NFTs move these tokens outside the SEC’s jurisdictional reach, making this the latest example of overreach? Or are these matters simply the latest actions in line with the SEC’s longstanding enforcement approach?