The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

More Stories

PepsiCo Foods GC Adrienne Mosley’s ‘Remarkable Journey’

PepsiCo Foods Deputy General Counsel Adrienne Mosley entered 2025 with a dizzying number of projects on her agenda.

Mosley started the year by leading the company’s $1.2 billion acquisition of the Mexican-American foods company Siete Foods. She guided the legal components of the rebranding and reformation of PepsiCo’s Lay’s and Tostitos brands. She played a leading role in the transformation of the company’s North America legal department in the wake of the company combining its North America food and beverage operations. And she supported the overhaul of the law department’s adoption of digital technologies and process optimization. In March, corporate executives promoted Mosley to general counsel of PepsiCo Foods. 

“Adrienne stepped into the GC role amid a perfect storm — a major restructure of both the law department and the business, a new executive team and a challenging business environment,” said Phillips Murrah director Leanne Oliver, who is the former PepsiCo Foods GC. “Adrienne provided the calm during the storm.”

Bondholder Sues Ex-Judge Jones, Firms Over SDTX Bankruptcy Scandal

A proposed class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Texas claims former bankruptcy Judge David Jones, former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman and major law firms allegedly hid the romantic relationship between Jones and Freeman. Jones resigned from the bench in 2023 after news of his relationship with Freeman was publicly reported.

Energy Transfer’s Sam Hardy Reflects on ‘Verdict of A Lifetime’

Energy Transfer Partners faced months of protests that delayed the Dakota Access Pipeline, prompting a defamation suit against Greenpeace and allied groups over allegedly false statements that fueled sometimes‑violent demonstrations.

Sam Hardy became deputy general counsel in 2022, inheriting the case and hiring Gibson Dunn’s Trey and Collin Cox and former Judge Gregg Costa, valuing their deep trial experience and alignment with Energy Transfer’s aggressive, trial‑ready culture. By 2025, the company sought $350 million; a North Dakota jury instead awarded $667 million, including $400 million in punitive damages.

Hardy’s team also won a complete defense win in a $150 million fraud and contract case against Goldman Sachs and secured a $15 million settlement of a securities class action once valued above $2.1 billion, earning Hardy the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook’s recognition as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.

Energy Dominates as Deals Hit $18.4B (The Best Week Since November)

The week ending Jan. 17 saw 19 deals reported to the CDT Roundup with a total value of more than $18.4 billion.

The week prior had 18 deals valued at nearly $9 billion, and there were 19 deals worth about $7.4 billion during the same week last year. But last week was the best week by value since an absurd 21-deal, $75 billion week in early November.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

Look Closer, Think Bigger: The M&A Mindset of Celanese’s Adam Shulman

Adam Shulman lives by two lessons from his father: anything becomes interesting when examined closely, and mastery begins with the willingness to be terrible.

As vice president of corporate global strategy and development at Dallas-based Celanese, Shulman applies both principles daily. Celanese is a global leader in producing specialized chemicals and engineered materials essential to countless industries, from cellulose acetate used in glasses and packaging to high-performance polymers found in solar panels and orthopedic implants.

This appreciation for complexity and disciplined curiosity helped earn Shulman recognition from The Texas Lawbook and the DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel as a finalist for the 2025 M&A Transaction of the Year.

Mitsubishi Enters U.S. Shale Business with $7.5B Deal

Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday that it has entered the U.S. shale gas business with the acquisition of specific assets from Dallas-based private investment firm Aethon Energy Management for about $7.5 billion. Latham & Watkins advised Aethon and Vinson & Elkins represented Mitsubishi.

© 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.