The Supreme Court of Texas agreed late Friday to hear the two cases brought by electric power companies against the Electric Reliability Council of Texas that involved billions of dollars individually and could impact tens of billions of dollars at stake in thousands of lawsuits related to Winter Storm Uri. The two cases, which are unrelated to each other, are likely to be argued jointly because the same questions are at the heart of both matters: Is ERCOT a division of state government and is it immune from civil lawsuits?
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V&E Counsels Brigham Minerals on $4.8B Stock Merger with Sitio
The combination would create a leader in the oil and gas mineral and royalty sector. Claire Poole has the details of the deal and the names of the lawyers involved.
Litigation Roundup: Ericsson Dinged with $31.5M Infringement Verdict; BMC, Baker Hughes March Toward TM Trial; and More
In this week’s edition of Litigation Roundup, a team from Susman Godfrey obtained a patent infringement win against Ericsson, two Kilpatrick Townsend attorneys took another step toward ending a recruiter’s fee lawsuit, the Fifth Circuit affirmed a $3 million award in a trade secrets lawsuit between competing oil industry employment websites and Baylor College of Medicine won a $48 million Covid-19-related jury award.
Fifth Circuit Judge Gregg Costa’s Exit Interview: ‘A Monumental Loss’ for the Courts
As Gregg Costa neared graduation at Dartmouth College in 1994, he faced a choice: Follow his dream and go directly to law school or take a couple gap years and get a job. He chose the latter. The decision changed his life forever. Last week, Costa stepped down as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to return to private practice, stunning nearly everyone in the legal community and left lawyers and judges asking why a 50-year-old just one step away from the U.S. Supreme Court would give up a lifetime appointment.
In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Costa said there were a handful of reasons. At 50, he believed he needed a change. The makeup of the Fifth Circuit left the more moderate Costa in the minority on issue after issue. But Costa’s decision to leave the Fifth Circuit – like many of his biggest career choices – can be traced back to Sunflower, Mississippi, an impoverished town of 1,100 and his two years of teaching third and fourth graders.
Photo: Sharon Ferranti
Remembering Harold Kleinman, ‘A Giant of the Legal Profession’ and a Lion of the Texas Bar
Harold Kleinman, a pioneer of the modern-day corporate M&A law practice in Texas, lawyer to some of the state’s biggest businesses and a founding father of Texas Access to Justice, died Friday. He was 91.
For five decades, Kleinman was a lawyer and leader at Thompson & Knight, guiding the firm through extraordinary growth and turning it into a powerhouse in the energy sector. Bar associations, community groups, Jewish organizations and businesses honored Kleinman with award after award. In fact, the State Bar of Texas and Texas Access to Justice named its top honor for commitment to the legal profession the Harold F. Kleinman Award. “I was just a lawyer who represented clients and believed everyone deserved a fair shake under the law,” Kleinman told The Texas Lawbook in 2015. The Lawbook looks at the life and career of one of the greatest corporate lawyers in Texas history.
Letting Jurors Ask Questions Divides Judges
Judges who have implemented the practice of allowing jurors to ask questions of witnesses via written submission say it makes deliberations more efficient and allows jurors to reach the correct result. But the majority of judges don’t allow it, and Chief Judge Rodney Gilstrap said that’s for good reason.
GT Recruits Gruber-led Litigation Team
Mike Gruber and two young shareholders have left Dorsey for Greenberg Traurig. The Texas Lawbook spoke with the lawyers on Day One at GT.
Staying Busy: Baker Botts, Five Other Firms Top H1 CapM Rankings
During a down year for the capital markets practice in Texas, a handful of law firms stayed busy. None were busier than the lawyers at Baker Botts. Latham, V&E, Gibson Dunn, Hunton AK and Bracewell also had impressive showings for the first six months of 2022, according to The Texas Lawbook’s exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker, which tracks securities offerings handled by lawyers in Texas.Updated
Appellate Partners Preview Texas Supreme Court Cases To Watch This Term
Appellate partners with Alexander Dubose Jefferson, Beck Redden and Haynes and Boone told 180 attendees during a continuing legal education webcast Wednesday about four cases the Texas Supreme Court will hear this term and why they’re important.
CDT Roundup: 16 Deals, 10 Firms, 135 Lawyers, $30.9B
In a market when billion-dollar deals seem as elusive as $3 gasoline, a $30 billion deal would seem a game-changer. There was such a deal this week, but not in the way you might expect. The CDT Roundup explains, along with the usual list of Texas lawyers who made things happen.