AT&T and the SEC announced they have agreed to settle a lawsuit that accused the Dallas-based telecom giant of selectively leaking confidential financial information to Wall Street analysts in hopes of potentially manipulating revenue projections during the first quarter 2016. Two AT&T in-house counsel and a slew of lawyers from Norton Rose Fulbright, Tillotson Johnson & Patton, Willkie Farr and Haynes and Boone represented AT&T and its executives.
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Baker Botts Awards $20K-$115K Annual Bonuses to Associates
Baker Botts became the first Texas-based law firm to announce year-end bonuses to associates. The Houston-based firm, in a Dec. 2 memo by Baker Botts managing partner John Martin, said associates hired out of law school in 2021 will get a $20,000 bonus this holiday. The scale accelerates up to $115,000 bonuses for seven- and eight-year associates hired in 2015 and before.
P.S. — A Couple Awards, A Memorial Fund, ‘It’s Fun to Stay at the YMCA’
In this week’s P.S. column, the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas hosts its annual Stories from the HeART fundraiser and honors a group of Texas lawyers for their contributions, a memorial fund set up in the memory of the late Dallas lawyer, Clarence Brown, seeks to raise more funds to benefit students of color at the Lamplighter School, and two nonprofits announce leadership efforts by lawyers.
Comcast, NBC Dropped From $332M Astros Sale Lawsuit
In orders issued Friday morning, the Texas Supreme Court granted a request from Houston Baseball Partners to drop its claims against Comcast and NBC. That means the case now pits current owner Jim Crane against the man who sold him the team, Drayton McLane.
David Peavler Leaving SEC is ‘A Big Loss’
For nearly two decades, David Peavler has roamed the offices of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fort Worth Regional Office – first as a rookie lawyer in its enforcement position, later as assistant regional director and for the past three-and-a-half years as the head of the office. The SEC announced Thursday that Peavler is stepping down as the director of the Fort Worth Regional Office this Saturday. Associate regional directors Eric Werner and Marshall Gandy will fill the role until a replacement is announced. Experts say Peavler scored huge successes during his time at the SEC and his departure is a major loss.
SCOTX: Tort Claim Act Again Under Scrutiny in Roadway Conversion Case
Justices consider Texas A&M University’s governmental immunity claim in case involving single-vehicle crash by a deputy sheriff at a recently altered intersection. The deputy wants an opportunity to replead his premises liability case.
CDT Roundup: 8 Deals, 5 Firms, 74 Lawyers, $2.3B
You may remember traditional IPOs — those initial public offerings popular before the market eruption of SPACs. Are they making a comeback? Maybe. A $2 billion IPO announced this week by BKV Corp. may hold a clue to the future. But in any case, BKV’s recent acquisition tear makes it worth watching. The CDT Roundup has more on that BKV deal, as well as the names of Texas lawyers who announced deals during a holiday-shortened week.
The Use (or Abuse?) of the Mail and Wire Fraud Statutes
Ask any fraud prosecutor what their bread-and-butter criminal statute is, and you’ll surely hear about mail fraud or wire fraud. Taken together, they account for a significant percentage of fraud prosecutions at the federal level. Both statutes are broad and malleable, requiring a fraudulent scheme to obtain money or property, a criminal intention to defraud someone and either a mailing or interstate wire transmission. And, properly drafted, just about every type of economic crime can be cabined into a charge of mail or wire fraud. The U.S. Supreme Court is revisiting the scope of property rights protected under the mail and wire fraud statutes this term in Ciminelli v. United States.
Omni Bridgeway’s Texas Team on the Continuing Growth of Litigation Funding in the Lone Star State
The global litigation funder expanded to Dallas this month with the addition of Holland & Knight litigator Natalie Parker. She joined Michael Miles — who joined Omni Bridgeway this summer from Enbridge, where he was associate general counsel of litigation, labor and employment — and Amy Geise for a conversation with The Lawbook about the increasing prevalence of litigation finance in Texas and emerging trends in the industry.
Litigation Roundup: Trade Secret Spat Heads To Trial, Judge Chided For Procedural Misstep
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a short-lived trademark infringement suit over the name of a Dallas restaurant settles, a trade secrets dispute marches toward a jury trial in Fort Bend County and a judge in Midland gets chided for a procedural misstep in granting a change of venue request.