Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Houston food distribution giant Sysco said Monday that it agreed to acquire Jetro Restaurant Depot for $21.6 billion cash and 91.5 million common shares, representing a total enterprise value of about $29.1 billion.
Jennifer Kaplan Schott is Sysco’s Chief Legal Officer and Eve McFadden is General Counsel.
Paul Weiss, Jones Day, Wachtell and Latham & Watkins advised on the deal.
In the legal profession, we’re trained to argue, advise and analyze. But leading is often left to chance.
This series explores what it really means to lead with clarity, courage and purpose — especially in high-stakes environments.
Drawing from her experiences as a law firm associate, in-house legal executive, board leader and mentor, Jacobs General Counsel Chasity Henry shares lessons that go beyond titles and job descriptions. Whether you’re a junior attorney, law firm partner or general counsel, Henry invites you to reflect on how your values, choices and actions shape the culture you create and the legacy you build.
The week ended March 28 saw 13 deals with a total reported value of $10.7 billion. The week prior boasted 11 deals valued at $7.5 billion. This time a year ago, there were 21 deals valued at nearly $8.2 billion. We’ll choose to reckon stability in those numbers.
Last week’s deals had Texas companies in transactions for increased investment in healthcare-related AI platforms, more data centers, and geothermal power development. While Texas lawyers advised on deals for a gas-fired power plant in the West Texas town of Pecos, a mining outfit in Greenland, and a Canadian provider of liquid cooling technologies for AI development.
President Donald Trump’s executive order targeting Susman Godfrey “violates the First Amendment many times over,” is “odious viewpoint discrimination” and should be declared unconstitutional and illegally unenforceable.
With that opening argument, lawyers for Susman Godfrey filed a new brief Friday asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold a lower court ruling permanently restraining President Trump’s executive order issued last spring targeting the Houston litigation powerhouse from being enforced. Two other corporate law firms that were the targets of President Trump’s EOs — WilmerHale and Jenner & Block — also filed briefs in their respective cases, which have been consolidated before the federal appeals court in Washington, D.C.
An inaugural program created to address the civics gap connected more than 130 students from five schools with judges, legislators, and a former U.S. Trade Ambassador for a real life Schoolhouse Rock experience.
“It is one thing to read about [civics], but it is important for students to learn directly from the leaders who are doing it,” Dallas Bar Association President Jonathan Childers said.
Without writing a single sentence to explain why, the Texas Supreme Court on Friday officially ended any efforts by tens of thousands of Texas citizens and small businesses to sue power generators for personal injuries, wrongful deaths and property damages suffered during Winter Storm Uri in February 2021.
The decision is a huge victory for large power generators such as Luminant, NRG, Calpine, Exelon and Sempra Energy, who argued that the lawsuits, which sought billions of dollars in damages, should be dismissed because the unprecedented weather, not the companies’ actions, was responsible for the injuries and damages.
Corporate shareholders Matthew Good and Robert White, as well as associate Sydny Helbert, have lateraled over to Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr from Conner & Winters. The three of them will focus on M&A, aviation transactions and other complex corporate matters.
Luke Schamel became an officer in the U.S. Navy to serve his country. Now a Houston associate at Yetter Coleman, Schamel is continuing his public service in a different uniform. He is representing the Veterans of Foreign Wars on a pro bono basis in a lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that challenges a rule that petitioners say denies veterans the full education benefits that they have earned.
At the center of the case is the VA’s “break-in-service” rule, which petitioners argue improperly requires veterans to have a gap in military service before they can access the full 48 months of education benefits available under the Montgomery GI Bill and the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
John D. Surma, a workplace safety partner, has joined Fisher Phillips in Houston from Ogletree Deakins. He will focus his practice on workplace safety, regulatory compliance and catastrophe management matters.
Minnesota-based Ecolab has agreed to acquire CoolIT Systems, a Calgary-based provider of liquid cooling technologies for AI and high-performance computing, from investment firm KKR for about $4.75 billion cash.
Kirkland & Ellis advised KKR and CoolIT, while Covington & Burling advised Ecolab.
© Copyright 2026 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.