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.
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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.
The Texas Lawbook Team Gives Thanks
When I started The Texas Lawbook 11 years ago this month, I had no idea what I was doing. My team may tell you that I still don’t. But the success The Lawbook has achieved seems like a miracle.
The reason: The Lawbook team. Without them, I would be operating a blog that not even my parents would pay to read. This week, I celebrate Thanksgiving because of my colleagues.
P.S. — Thanksgiving Edition
A short and sweet public service column highlights the work one Dallas firm is doing to benefit a local children’s shelter and three Houston women lawyers who were recently honored for their commitment to their communities and advancing women. Happy Thanksgiving from The Texas Lawbook.
Baker Botts Brings Houston Folklorist’s Extensive Archive to Smithsonian
Last week, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History announced that it has accepted a massive blues and folklore archive gifted by Baker Botts client Susannah Nix, the daughter of the late prominent folklorist Robert “Mack” McCormick. Nix and her lawyers spoke with Natalie Posgate about the donation and the legal work that went into it.
SEC Shifts Focus on Employees’ Off-Channel Business Communications to Investment Advisers
Over the last year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has been laser-focused on the use of personal devices by employees of the large Wall Street banks to conduct company business. The SEC’s investigations have focused on whether the banks complied with the “books and records” requirement that they preserve all communications that relate to company business. The SEC’s actions are having a ripple effect in civil litigation as well.
Texas Trial Lawyer Wants ‘Unhinged’ Ex-Associate Sanctioned
After being dragged into six fights by a former associate who alleges he’s owed back wages — before the labor commissions in California and Texas, the bar associations in each state and courts there — the Berg & Androphy partner David Berg is asking a Harris County district judge to sanction Justin Carl Pfeiffer. In an answer and counterclaim filed Monday, Berg referred to Pfeiffer as “unhinged” and a “vexatious litigant” who “harasses all whom he claims have wronged him.”
Texas M&A Law Firm Rankings Q1-Q3
The Texas lawyers at 12 corporate law firms were involved as lead counsel in 20 or more M&A deals during the first nine months of 2022. Four firms were lead legal advisors in more than 60 deals. One firm saw its attorneys in Austin, Dallas and Houston hit triple digits in deal count for lead legal advisors during the first three quarters of 2022.
The Texas Lawbook has released its exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker M&A law firm rankings for Jan. 1 through Sept. 30. The mission is to document transactional work done by lawyers in the Lone Star state.