When speaking to fellow lawyers, Santos Vargas often asks them a question to illustrate a point. “How many of you could hire yourselves for a protracted legal dispute?” The point is that many people don’t have the financial means to hire a lawyer when faced with a legal problem, which is why the newly minted State Bar of Texas president is on a campaign to raise money for low-income Texans to access legal services. Vargas aims to raise $300,000, with July donations supporting victims of the recent Texas Hill Country flood.
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Beck Redden Bolsters Appellate Group With Hire From Troutman Pepper Locke
Beck Redden announced this week the hiring of Chris Dove, who focuses on commercial litigation in the energy, financial services and maritime sectors. He had spent more than two decades practicing at Troutman Pepper Locke and Locke Lord.
Owner of Houston Chronicle Buys The Dallas Morning News
In an all-cash, take-private deal valued at $74.9 million, The Dallas Morning News announced Thursday that it has agreed to join the Hearst Corporation, whose national chain of 28 daily newspapers will soon include the dailies of Texas’ four most populous cities. Outside legal advisors on the deal include Haynes Boone for DallasNews and Clifford Chance for Hearst. Jeff Chapman of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher advised Robert W. Decherd, DallasNews’ majority shareholder and former chairman.
Legal Experts: River Inn, Mystic Camp and Others to Face Investigations and Litigation
Even as state and local officials deflect or even criticize questions seeking answers about the lack of flash flood warning systems in Kerr County that caused the deaths of more than 120 people, including 36 children, last weekend along the Guadalupe River, eight legal experts tell The Texas Lawbook that now is the time to begin seeking and preserving evidence and investigating what happened and how it happened. The lawyers, who specialize in representing victims and defendants in these kinds of catastrophic events, said the families and survivors are not thinking about money — only answers.
Cousins Testify at Trial in Dispute Over Cicis Pizza Business Partnership
The cousins who purchased Cicis’ debt each took the stand Wednesday in the jury trial in Dallas County, where compensatory damages of $10 million are being sought. The trial is expected to last through Monday.
McGuireWoods Names Tyler VanHoutan as New Houston Office Managing Partner
Keeping with McGuireWoods’ practice of alternating people in its leadership roles, the firm has also appointed new office managing partners in Atlanta, Baltimore and San Francisco. The new appointments took effect this month.
A Practical Guide to Recovering Fees Under 28 U.S.C. § 1920
Winning litigants — and their lawyers — could be leaving tens of thousands of dollars on the table by not filing for recoverable costs in addition to attorneys’ fees. Recoverable costs can include transcription or video deposition fees, as well as other expenses incurred before and during litigation. Seeking recoverable costs requires following specific procedures, which, in Texas federal courts, are not immediately obvious. However, being able to hand a client not just a victory and attorney’s fees but also additional unexpected money makes filing worth the effort.
Trial Commences in $10M Dispute Between Cousins Who Bought Cicis Pizza
The cousins are battling over millions in damages from a business partnership to invest in restaurants. The disagreement over management fees and the purchasing of other restaurants led the family to court. Opening statements Tuesday focused on the business agreement between the cousins.
Former Texas Solicitor Aaron Nielson: ‘Kirkland is the Perfect Place for Me’
Aaron Nielson, who resigned last month as Texas solicitor general, is joining Kirkland & Ellis’ Austin office as a partner in the firm’s appellate practice. A 2007 graduate of Harvard Law School and a former clerk for U.S. Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Nielson has argued six cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and a dozen cases at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Kirkland now has four former U.S. Supreme Court clerks in its Texas offices.
Texas Lawyers Mobilize to Support Flood Victims
In the wake of devastating floods in the Texas Hill Country that claimed more than 100 lives, lawyers stand at the ready to help. The State Bar of Texas and Texas RioGrande Legal Aid are assessing legal needs that will arise in the days following the floods, and they encourage lawyers to sign up to volunteer or donate financial aid to these trusted resources. Also on Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court issued an emergency order stating that flooding may impact court proceedings and that delays or modifications should be made “where reasonably necessary.”