The justices fired off questions about olive oil, wine, banana bread and podiums in trying to suss out where the line should be drawn on what constitutes a product “made of tobacco or a tobacco substitute.” The decision on whether nicotine pouches can be taxed as a tobacco product could have wide implications as the popularity of the products continues to grow.
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Blackfin Tells Conroe It Will Move Location of Challenged Compressor Station
The lawyer representing the owners of a luxury home furnishings store in Conroe who argued the facility next door violated a restrictive covenant called the decision a “complete victory” for his clients. The 193-mile long Blackfin Pipeline is intended to ship gas from Colorado County, just west of Houston along Interstate 10, to Jasper County, just north of Beaumont.
Asked & Answered with White & Case’s Sean Gorman: Lawyering and Life
White & Case partner Sean Gorman grew up in the small town of Wharton, Texas, which has a population of less than 9,000.
One day, when he was in middle school and visiting Houston, he pointed to a skyscraper under construction and said he would work there one day. And one day, after graduating from the University of Houston Law Center in 1988, he did.
The Texas Lawbook‘s Alexa Shrake caught up with Gorman to discuss his career, memorable cases and post-trial celebrations.
Toyota’s Derek Lipscombe Named Texas Lawbook Foundation Co-Chair
The Texas Lawbook Foundation has named Derek Lipscombe, managing counsel at Toyota North America, as the new co-chair of the nonprofit’s board of directors. Lipscombe, a former newspaper reporter who is past president of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter, has served on The Lawbook Foundation board since it was founded in 2023. The Lawbook Foundation’s sole mission is to provide support for The Texas Lawbook’s news coverage of pro bono, public service and diversity in the Texas legal community.
Once a Patient in Need, this Houston Lawyer Helps Medical Services Charity Heal Others
Houston attorney Allan Kirk, a mergers and acquisitions partner at Kirkland & Ellis, drew on his own childhood experience with clubfoot and his faith-driven desire to help others when he helped Christ Clinic — a faith-based healthcare provider for low-income and uninsured patients — secure a pro bono legal team from his firm. Kirkland aided the clinic’s joint venture with Innovative Wellness, expanding access to care in the Houston area.
GWG Bankruptcy Litigation Trustee Strikes Proposed Deal with Beneficient
The court-appointed litigation trustee overseeing the GWG Holdings bankruptcy has asked a federal judge to approve a settlement with its subsidiary Beneficient that would clear the way for the parties to jointly go after Beneficient’s former director and chief executive officer, Brad Heppner.
Dallas-Based DOBS Gets Whopping $966M Verdict Against J&J in California
Dean Omar Branham Shirley, which has racked up numerous wins on behalf of clients who allege Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused their mesothelioma, has done it again.
In a verdict returned by a California jury Monday evening, jurors determined Mae Moore, who died in December 2021 of mesothelioma, was exposed to Johnson’s baby powder or Shower to Shower, a body powder product, that contained asbestos, that the company was negligent in selling the product and that it was a substantial cause of Moore contracting mesothelioma.
Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Revives Securities Fraud Suit
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Jerry Jones takes an “L” in his latest bid to bring an early end to a sexual assault lawsuit, American Airlines is hit with a permanent injunction in an ESG-related investor suit, and a Houston-based furniture company secures a $2.1 million final judgment.
DOJ Seeks Stay of EO Proceedings Involving Susman Godfrey
The U.S. Justice Department has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to issue a stay of all proceedings involving the litigation between the Trump administration and four law firms, including Susman Godfrey, until the government shutdown is over.
‘Third Time Is a Charm’: After Two Hung Juries, Credit Card Execs Take Plea Deal
Two former executives of a Virginia-based credit card processing company received 36 months of probation after pleading guilty to defrauding the city of Sherman. As part of the plea agreement, Edward Walsh Vaughan, the former president of Electronic Transactions Systems Corp., and Hadi Akkad, the company’s former executive vice president, will forfeit $5.3 million and $1.9 million, respectively.
“This is a rare case, very unusual,” said Fort Worth criminal defense attorney Jeff Kearney, who negotiated the plea agreement with Houston trial lawyer David Gerger. “I never thought this case would get resolved. [Gerger’s] persistence and ingenuity got this settled.”