The top 50 corporate law firms operating in Texas added an average of one lawyer per firm in 2020. Firms now flush with business are worried about overworking their lawyers and are keen to hire new lawyers in 2021, but the talent just isn’t available. Of course, even one new face is more than most industry insiders anticipated a year ago as the Covid-19 pandemic and sinking oil prices plunged the economy into recession. The Texas Lawbook has the data and an in-depth report.
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Day 1: Witnesses say ETE Offering Was ‘Seriously Adverse’ to Williams Investors in $38B Merger
Key negotiators for The Williams Companies in its failed 2016 merger with Energy Transfer Equity testified Monday in the Delaware Court of Chancery about an equity offering executed by ETE that they say breached the parties’ $38 billion merger agreement because of how unfair it was to Williams shareholders. But they didn’t go unchallenged on cross-examination.
Bill and Melinda Gates – The Really Rich Really Are Different
Unlike the Hollywood divorce, where the high-profile divorce lawyers feed the publicity machine, that’s not the case with the Bill and Melinda Gates divorce. The lawyers for both sides are really good and really discreet. And If you are counting on the tabloids to inform you, just remember this: THE REALLY RICH ARE REALLY DIFFERENT.
NDTX Judge to Rule on Motion to Dismiss NRA Bankruptcy
A North Texas bankruptcy judge is set to determine — as early as today — whether a solvent National Rifle Association will be allowed to proceed with its request for bankruptcy protection in Texas. The petition has been challenged as a bad faith filing designed by the NRA to wrest itself from accountability in New York, where the organization was created in 1871. The Lawbook has the details.
‘It was like Lord of the Flies’
For Yuki Whitmire, it was the perfect storm, though at times it may have felt like the Bermuda Triangle. Last March, the securities and corporate transactional lawyer accepted a new job as Vistra Energy’s associate general counsel and corporate secretary with a start date in early April. In those few weeks in between, Covid-19 hit. But Whitmire, who has still never stepped inside her office at work, has done such an amazing job that she is the 2020 DFW Senior Counsel of the Year for a Mid-sized Legal Department. This is the story of her first year at Vistra.
Q&A: Yuki Whitmire
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck, PREMIUM CONTENT Vistra Energy, like nearly every company during the pandemic, sent their employees home to work remotely. At the same time one of their new hires, Yuki Whitmire was moving with her family into a new house. What happened over the next year proved remarkable, and in a special Q&A, Yuki spoke with Mark Curriden about what she learned from the experience.
EDTX Jury Awards $92M in Dispute Over Gaming Patent
A multi-day trial between a Japanese internet media giant and a Chinese technology conglomerate over the patent rights to popular online games ended Friday with a federal jury in Marshall awarding $92 million.
Baker Botts Bolsters Houston CapM Practice
The addition of Doug Getten builds on a Baker Botts strength – underwriter-side capital markets work – and reinforces a practice group that has seen a handful of departures this year.
$410M+ Merger Breakup Trial Begins in Delaware Next Week
The final chapter of Energy Transfer and Williams’ legal battle over their failed mega-merger from 2016 will unfold in a six-day trial that begins Monday in Delaware. If you forgot what they’re still fighting about, not to worry. Natalie Posgate has the who, what, when, where and why to refresh your memory.
Methodist’s Ashley Yen Excels in a Challenging Year for Healthcare
Ashley Yen was in kindergarten when she drew a picture of herself in the future: a stick figure of herself in a suit and glasses holding a briefcase, “I’ve always wanted to be a lawyer,” said Yen, who is associate in-house counsel and assistant vice president at Methodist Health System. She is one of the youngest and arguably the most important in-house counsel in North Texas in the battle against the Covid-19 pandemic. Because of Yen, Methodist was one of the first hospitals in DFW to administer the vaccine.