I reflect upon how my background motivated me to be an attorney, and I appreciate how it has made me a better attorney. I have always been driven to pursue a career to help people, especially those who feel invisible, like immigrants or women of color. My heritage is just as much a piece of me as my hard work, my studies and the long hours that have brought success to me and my clients.
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Bench and Bar Mourns Death of Former NDTX Chief Judge Jorge Solis
Jorge Solis was a tough prosecutor, a fair and learned judge, a mentor for dozens of lawyers and once considered a candidate for the U.S. Supreme Court. A former chief judge of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Solis died Friday of an apparent heart attack while attending Mass. He was 70.
BMC and IBM Prepare to Head to Trial in SDTX; $791M Potentially at Stake
After four years of heavy litigating, lawyers at Bracewell, Yetter Coleman and Quinn Emanuel are preparing for battle. An upcoming trial between the lawyers’ clients, IBM and KKR-owned BMC, will involve mainframe software, a lucrative project for AT&T and a nine-figure damages model.
Time’s Up in Texas: State Expands Scope of Liability for Workplace Sexual Harassment Claims
In a surprise move for the typically employer-friendly state, Texas laws on sexual harassment officially became more protective of employees than federal law on Sept. 1. The “new Texas Sexual Harassment Law” expands liability for sexual harassment to employers of all sizes, and to individual managers, who may now be held personally liable for failing to remedy sexual harassment. The new statutes also heightened the standards on employers to take action and extends the deadline to file charges of discrimination based on sexual harassment.
Another Patent Infringement Defense Verdict in Waco in Win for Google
A federal jury in U.S. District Court Judge Alan Albright’s court ruled this week that Texas-based Profectus Technology failed to prove that Google infringed on Profectus’s patent for a “digital picture display frame,” an internet visual interface, in developing the Google Nest Hub.
Q&A with Katten Finance Pro Erin England
The Texas Lawbook visited with England about what she is seeing in her finance practice, what concerns are front of mind for banks and corporate directors and which community organizations have been especially impactful to her.
Fletcher Held: V&E Alumni Team Up at Houston Boutique
Scott Fletcher and Kenneth Held were young trial lawyers at V&E in the securities litigation practice. Fletcher loaned Held an office couch and chair when Held became a partner in 2003. Seven years later, Held replaced Fletcher as V&E’s co-chair of the securities litigation section. Now both in their 50s, Fletcher and Held are partners again – this time at their own Houston securities litigation boutique, appropriately named Fletcher Held.
CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 11 Firms, 137 Lawyers, $6.25B
In a deal that received some notice in October 2019, Houston’s Kraton Corp. sold off one of its signature polymer businesses, Cariflex, to a Korean concern. This week, Kraton itself was acquired by that same Korean industrial company in the Corporate Deal Tracker Deal of the Week.
Prolific Austin Deal Lawyer Expected to Join Latham
Baker Botts corporate partner Mollie Duckworth, who was partner-in-charge of the firm’s Austin office and deputy chair of the firmwide corporate department until earlier this year, is expected to join Latham before the end of the year, The Texas Lawbook has learned. She will be the fourth corporate partner lateral to join Latham’s newly opened Austin office.
The Importance of Representing My Community
As the eldest daughter of Mexican immigrants, I was often pushed to gain a title for the prestige – encouraged to chase a dream that under the lenses of American society was deemed worthy or desirable. Becoming an attorney for me symbolized a personal achievement by immigrant and American standards. With this mentality and ultimate yearning for acceptance, I began my path to pursue the study of law.