In June, before officially taking over as president and dean of South Texas College of Law, Reynaldo “Rey” Anaya Valencia joined seven other Texas law school leaders in urging the Texas Supreme Court to continue the American Bar Association’s role as the accrediting body. The son of former migrant farm workers, Valencia, a Harvard Law graduate, is the school’s first Hispanic and person of color president and dean.
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CMC Acquires Foley Products for $1.84B
Commercial Metals Co. said Thursday that it agreed to acquire Foley Products Co. for $1.84 billion in cash. Based outside Atlanta, Foley provides precast concrete and pipe products primarily in the Southeast, operating 18 facilities in nine states. The company’s products are used in drainage, water management, dry utility, and road construction across residential, non-residential and infrastructure sectors.
How an Unconventional Path Can Lead to a Perfect Fit in Practice
When I arrived at the office, my inbox was teeming with notifications for a new commercial real estate deal. Walking to the employee lounge, I ran into a corporate partner who placed me on a management buyout closing within the next two weeks. An hour later, a real estate partner approached me, asking about the tax consequences of a non-liquidating property distribution.
As I finally settled in at my desk, I paused, asking myself a question that has guided my career path all along: How did my past, with all its unexpected turns, lead me to this exact moment? I concluded my successful clerkship convinced of the power of three guiding career principles.
BlackRock-Led AI Group Strikes Deal for Aligned Data Centers
The Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Partnership — the consortium founded about a year ago by BlackRock, Abu Dhabi-based MGX, Microsoft and NVIDIA to expand capacity of AI infrastructure — announced on Oct. 15 the acquisition of Aligned Data Centers from funds managed by Australia’s Macquarie Asset Management.
The companies said the deal, which values Plano-based Aligned Data Centers at $40 billion, will fuel the expansion of next-generation cloud and AI infrastructure.
Sterlington, Latham & Watkins and Kirkland & Ellis advised on the deal.
My Five Favorite Books: Leigha Simonton (Member at Dykema and Former U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas)
I have a secret hobby that only my close friends know: I advise high-school seniors (and younger students) about college admissions, including helping them create a list of schools that would be good fits for their interests and aspirations as well as their family’s pocketbooks. This unpaid side-gig started years ago, when my oldest daughter began high school and I decided to try to “hack” the college admissions game. I don’t mean that I plotted to get her into a U.S. News top 10 school — no, I defined “winning” as finding a school that would allow her to flourish in college, set her up for success after college (success as defined by her, not me), and be somewhere our family could afford on what was then two government salaries. Here are my Five Favorite Books: College Application Edition.
Alex Jones Expected to Pay $1.4B to Sandy Hook Families, SCOTUS Rejects Appeal
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones was ordered to pay $1.4 billion for defamation to the Sandy Hook shooting victims’ family members a decade after the shooting. His second attempt to avoid paying has been denied by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Mikal Watts: ‘No Jury in America Will Hold Camp Mystic Responsible’
Prominent Texas plaintiff’s trial lawyer Mikal Watts, who has successfully sued some of the biggest companies in the world, is taking on his first defense client: Camp Mystic and its owners. Watts said Monday that he is officially representing pro bono the Eastland family and the Christian girls summer camp in any potential litigation resulting from the July flooding tragedy that caused more than 115 deaths, including 27 children at Camp Mystic in Kerr County.
“I’ve spent three months conducting a thorough investigation, and I believe that facts matter,” Watts told The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview Monday.
Litigation Roundup: Fort Worth Panel Says 15-Year Delay in Requesting Reporter’s Record Unexcused
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, the Texas Supreme Court requests responses in a $15.4 million personal injury appeal involving CenterPoint in a fight over public records involving Highland Park Independent School District and Ken Paxton takes an alleged “political takeover” attempt in Loving County to the courthouse.
CDT Roundup: A Bank Merger Leads the Way
The week that ended Oct. 11 saw 14 deals reported with a total value of $17.4 billion, nearly two-thirds of which was attributable to Fifth Third Bancorp acquiring Comerica in a stock swap valued at $10.9 billion. It was a bit of a drop-off from the 21 deals valued at $20.8 billion for the week prior and less in volume but better in value than the 22 deals valued at $8.4 billion this time last year.
That and more in this week’s CDT Roundup.
Samsung Hit with $445.5M Verdict in EDTX Infringement Trial
A jury in the Eastern District of Texas on Friday morning delivered to a company that accused Samsung Electronics of infringing four patents exactly what it asked for: $445.5 million in damages for the telecommunication giant’s willful use of the technology it hadn’t paid for.