Southwest Airlines attorney Jason Shyung remembers his first trial. He met his client – the owner of a small Sherman construction company being wrongly sued by an employee – only two weeks prior to trial. “He could have lost everything,” Shyung said. But Shyung and another young lawyer prevailed in federal court. Six years later, Southwest Airlines called on Shyung in its own potentially devastating crisis, and the young lawyer again prevailed. This is his story.
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CDT Roundup: 35 Deals, 11 Firms, 145 Lawyers, $20.27B
Much like M&A in the latter half of 2020, the U.S. secondary market saw active investors keen to get creative with existing funds – and the space should continue to see increased activity as venture capital, private credit and real estate transactions nip at the heels of private equity. Closer to home, 145 Texas-based lawyers from 11 firms took part in 35 deals in this week’s Corporate Deal Tracker Roundup.
Two Texas Energy Companies to Combine in $2.7B Deal
Spring-based Southwestern Energy Co. plans to acquire the third-largest natural gas producer in the country that comes with an impressive roster of financial backers. Texas lawyers from Skadden, Kirkland & Ellis and Akin Gump also played a role.
Meredith Bjorck and Her ‘Super Powers’
Meredith Bjorck had a seat at the executive table at HMS for five years and she made the most of it. She resolved all significant existing litigation within the first two years. The company’s revenue increased more than 30%, net income climbed more than 300% and the company’s stock price climbed more than 200%. Last winter, in the middle of Covid, Bjork led the deal team in the $3.4 billion sale of HMS. But what a five years it was.
Foes Battling Over Mexican Gold Mine Discover Rich Vein of — Litigation
In a trans-border tiff over a gold mine in Mexico, two companies — one American and one Canadian — have managed to unearth a motherlode of litigation. Experts say their grueling court battles across several international venues point up the shortcomings of binding arbitration agreements and their limited ability to compel business partners not to be jerks. The Lawbook’s Bruce Tomaso explains.
From Hippies and Shetland Ponies to Fritos and Class Action Wins – PepsiCo’s Leanne Oliver’s Lifetime of Achievement
From developing and implementing a cutting-edge medical leave policy and creating a groundbreaking management training program on sexual harassment to winning major class action lawsuits and leading strategic corporate acquisitions, PepsiCo Foods North America GC Leanne Oliver has spent the past 25 years having an enormous impact on the company’s 300,000 workers and the Texas legal community.
“Leanne has brought enormous value to the company and to the entire legal profession,” said former PepsiCo GC Larry Thompson. “No one really knows PepsiCo as well as Leanne.”
Arash Mostafavipour, New CLO at Tabani Group
The commercial real estate-focused Tabani Group has hired a new chief legal officer – former Capital One financial services division chief counsel Arash Mostafavipour. “I love deal-making and they are always doing deals and looking at new deals,” Mostafavipour said. “It is a fast-moving and acquisitive operation.”
Q&A: Jim Phillips
Premium ContentThe Lawbook founder Mark Curriden discussed with PMG legal counsel Jim Phillips about his remarkable first years in-house at PMG International and what he looks for when hiring outside counsel.
Jim Phillips Helps Keep PMG “Growing and Successful” in the Covid Era
Less than two years ago, Fort Worth-based PMG hired Jim Phillips to create and build its legal department from scratch. He now supports all agency business units, which signs more than 200 media and real estate contracts a month. At age 34, Phillips regularly finds himself across the proverbial table from lawyers at Google, Apple and Facebook negotiating digital ad contracts in one of the fast-evolving business models in the economy. And he established procedures to ensure compliance with data privacy and FTC regulations – all during “an extraordinarily challenging year.”
SCOTX Supports Electronic MAAs; Justice Boyd’s Dylanesque Dissent
When the Texas Supreme Court reversed a trial court on an issue over electronic signatures, Justice Jeffrey Boyd had a problem. The court had already decided the case, he noted in dissent, 90 years ago. The Lawbook’s Allen Pusey reviews Judge Boyd’s singular opinion in which he takes Bob Dylan along for the ride.