In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Dr. Phil’s son taps Jackson Walker to defend him from claims he breached a contract with New York City in the making of a television show about the city’s police department and an Energy Transfer subsidiary settles claims that violations of federal pipeline safety rules led to the death of an employee.
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A Shining Star Returns to Dallas: PepsiCo’s Nur Kara Is a Natural at Marketing Law
Nur Kara joined the corporate legal department at PepsiCo in January 2024 having never practiced marketing law.
But during the past two years, the native North Texan has played a monumental role in leading the legal efforts for major redesigns and portfolio transformations for more than 15 PepsiCo Foods brands, including top revenue-generating portfolios like Lay’s and Tostitos. Kara’s impact, according to PepsiCo executives, has been extraordinary.
Now the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Kara as one of two finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Nur Kara
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Nur Kara discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Data Security and E-Discovery Provider HaystackID Taps Dallas Lawyer as CEO
Chad Pinson, a former equity partner at Baker Botts, has joined the third-largest e-discovery services provider as its chief executive. He will take the helm of a company with growth aspirations in Texas and around the world.
Jury Awards $46M to Parents in Wrongful Death Suit
A Hays County jury found a truck driver and the company he works for liable for the death of an oil field worker. The jury awarded $46 million to the worker’s parents after deliberating for about four hours.
AI and the Limits of the New ‘Introduction’ Rule in Petitions for Review
A 2026 rule amendment by the Texas Supreme Court mandates that petitions for review begin with an introduction of no more than 1,000 words explaining why review should be granted. At first glance, the rule seems sensible, given the hundreds of petitions that the court must promptly review every year. But that perceived benefit may be illusory.
Chris Blevins: Navigating Solo Brands Through Crisis and Into Renewed Growth
As a teenager and college student, Chris Blevins watched his father — an accountant turned business entrepreneur — negotiate contracts, do deals with vendors and handle issues with clients and customers.
“I was taking a few business and law-related classes, and I started realizing that the things that frustrated him weren’t about the product or the customers, they were about navigating legal and contractual issues that felt foreign and risky,” Blevins said. “It clicked for me that I could be someone who helped businesses run better by removing the friction and risk around these issues, making things clearer and easier.”
For Blevins, the career strategy paid major dividends in 2025 when he scored some huge successes for Grapevine-based Solo Brands. As such, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook have named Blevins as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (two to five attorneys).
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Chris Blevins
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Chris Blevins discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
AI Wellness and Solar Shine in a Week Dominated by the ‘Private’ in PE
For the week ended Jan. 24, there were just eight deals reported to the CDT Roundup, with only three disclosed values totaling a little more than $1.3 billion. The week prior had 19 deals valued at nearly $18.4 billion, while the year-ago saw nine deals worth about $6.8 billion reported.
The Roundup hasn’t seen a cumulative weekly value that low since the week ended June 14 when the nine deals reported had a combined value of $478 million, and that figure is the lowest tallied by the CDT Roundup since May 2020.
As sometimes happens, the week was heavy on private equity deals that the players chose to keep … well, private. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
To Launch New Dallas Office, Dechert Snags McDermott Duo Behind Tesla’s $1 Trillion Contract
Veteran corporate lawyers and dealmakers Wilson Chu and Joanna Lin have left McDermott to launch Dechert’s new Dallas office, following their high-profile work advising Tesla on Elon Musk’s $1 trillion employment contract. Their move was quietly noted in Dechert’s announcement of 20 partner hires for new offices in Dallas and Chicago, and existing ones in key U.S. markets, marking another shift amid McDermott’s ongoing post-merger reshuffling.