The president-elect of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston shares experiences from her life and career that have perpetuated a feeling of “otherness” and how mentors and friends have helped transform her understanding of her story.
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Judge Finds IBM Committed Fraud, Awards BMC $1.6B
A Houston federal judge on Monday found IBM committed fraud against Houston-based BMC Software in a dispute involving IBM’s removal of BMC’s mainframe products from their largest mutual client, AT&T, during an outsourcing project several years ago. The price tag? More than $1.6 billion, including a $717 million punitive damages figure that BMC never specified during trial.
CDT Roundup: 9 Deals, 11 Firms, 86 Lawyers, $3.2B
Last week brought a surprise: James Chenoweth, one of the most active tax advisors in Texas M&A, left Gibson Dunn. The bigger surprise is where he went. The CDT Roundup has that, and the usual roster of the week’s Texas dealmakers.
Texas Supreme Court Report
A SCOTX dispatch, including a case highlight and other causes to watch.
Q&A: Niko Lorentzatos
Premium-Only Content: Niko Lorentzatos identifies what he looks for in outside counsel and recalls career mentors. Plus, Lorentzatos performing with his college band Lost in the Supermarket.
Forget Goats, Oasis GC Niko Lorentzatos is ‘The Buffalo’
Nickolas Lorentzatos faced 1,003 days of trials and tribulations and survived. The Oasis Petroleum general counsel had a tumultuous 33 months. There were the deaths of his father and mother. There was the Covid-19 pandemic and the crash of oil prices, which resulted in Oasis filing for bankruptcy. Lorentzatos in 2021 led a series of M&A deals, which included two $6 billion mergers.
“This time period pushed everyone to their limits and beyond, but the Oasis team answered the call time and again,” Lorentzatos told The Texas Lawbook. “I have never seen anything like it before and probably never will again.” The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook named Lorentzatos the 2022 Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department.
Senior Judge from San Antonio To Hear Recusal Motion in American Airlines Sex-Assault Case
David Peeples, once lauded by Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan Hecht as the ‘gold standard’ for handling touchy cases, will decide if an improper jury instruction disqualifies a Tarrant County judge from sticking with a former flight attendant’s $26 million suit against the airline
Implications of Jarkesy v. SEC: Fifth Circuit Upholds Right to Jury Trial, Raises Red Flags about Administrative State
The federal Fifth Circuit’s opinion vacating a Securities and Exchange Commission administrative law judge’s decision in a securities fraud case is the first time since 1935 that the court used Article I’s nondelegation doctrine to invalidate congressional delegation to an agency and could drastically affect the use of in-house administrative judges. While the court did not directly attack agencies’ ability to legislate, the opinion’s broad sweeping language about separation of powers and accountability suggests that agency rulemaking authority could be ripe for challenge. Cases involving securities fraud, Medicare, disability benefits, immigration and more could sit on dockets for years waiting to be adjudicated. This article is the first in a series examining the federal appellate court’s decision in Jarkesy.
Florida Education Expert Named New Dean at SMU’s Dedman Law School
Jason P. Nance, an associate dean at the University of Florida’s Levin School of Law with early ties to Texas, has been selected to guide the school beginning in August.
NFL Pension Plan ‘Abused Its Discretion’ by Limiting Brain-Damaged Player’s Benefits, Federal Judge Rules
At the conclusion of a six-day bench trial in Dallas, U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer ordered a near-doubling of disability payments to former running back Mike Cloud, saying the league’s retirement board ‘spent virtually no time’ looking into his claims.