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Remote Hearings: Let’s Hope They Become the Rule Rather Than the Exception

Good attorneys always puts their clients first, and that includes making sure the client is adequately represented at hearings. But is it necessary for attorneys in this day and age of ubiquitous technology to put the health and safety of themselves and others at risk? Further, if the technology is available, why are we still conducting hearings like we were Abraham Lincoln in the 1800s, tethered to live court appearances as the rule?

Barnes & Thornburg’s Victor Vital and Liz Dankers weigh in on the compelling questions COVID-19 is posing for the future of the practice of law.

Two V&E Lawyers Lead Astros to Court Win in Sign-Stealing Case

When a Massachusetts fantasy baseball contestant sued the Houston Astros in Manhattan federal court in January, legal commentators thought the case would take several months or even years before being resolved. But Hilary Preston and Michael Holmes knew better about U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff. Nine weeks later, the case against the Astros has been dismissed. Here’s how it happened.

Thompson & Knight Adds Three IP Partners

Even the coronavirus and stay-at-home orders cannot contain the ever-hot Texas lateral market. Thompson & Knight announced Monday that three intellectual property trial lawyers – Phillip Philbin, Jamie McDole and Michael Karson – have joined the firm’s Dallas office as partners.

Dwindling Oil Storage Capacity and Impacts on Energy Companies

Commodity prices fell precipitously in the first quarter of 2020 as crude producers are getting hit on both the supply and demand sides. The U.S. is reportedly only weeks away from running out of crude oil storage capacity. Many E&P and midstream companies are evaluating whether to reduce production or pipeline capacity and/or shut in wells. The issue became more urgent last weekend when the Texas Railroad Commission reported that some oil companies are already receiving letters from shippers demanding production cuts and citing the unavailability of storage capacity.

Legal Industry Experts: Law Firms Should Start Making Cuts Now

Gibson Dunn managing partner Rob Walters, fresh out of the hospital after testing positive with the coronavirus, has a unique perspective on the potential impact that COVID-19 and cheap oil prices could have on Texas law firms: “This will affect the entire legal industry [and] prove fatal for some fine businesses and law firms.”

Legal industry experts say corporate law firms across Texas should be more worried than they appear to be. Many need to cancel summer associate programs, tell new lawyers that they may not be needed this fall, start reductions in associate salaries and hold back partner draws. “It could get very bad and the Texas legal market will take an even bigger hit than others,” says an Altman Weil analyst. The Texas Lawbook provides an exclusive, in-depth report.

“Could the Parties have Anticipated the Unthinkable?” Force Majeure in the Texas Energy Industry after COVID-19

Refineries, pipelines, oil and gas rigs and energy and petrochemical production facilities are suddenly subject to suspension or shutdown as a result of a major shock in oil prices combined with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Baker McKenzie partners C. Thomas Kruse and J. Denmon Sigler analyze how these events impact current contracts and customer relationships and how disputes over these shutdowns will be treated.

SCOTX Modifies COVID-19 Civil Case Filing Deadlines

The Texas Supreme Court issued a new emergency order Wednesday that officially stays or tolls “any statute-of-limitations deadlines for the filing or service of any civil case” between March 13 and June 1. The new order takes discretion away from trial judges.

State Bar Discipline: 3 Judges, 9 Lawyers

The State Bar of Texas has made its April update on disciplinary actions. Violations include an injudicious quarrel, a judicial threat and a lawyer with an apparent penchant for forging official documents.

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