What started out as a good year became a bad year but became a good year again. Mergermarket has the numbers, The Lawbook’s Caroline Evans has the details.
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‘You Have Been Grossly Negligent’: Fireworks Continue in Legal Recruiter Case
A magistrate judge in Austin has ordered the lawyer for legal recruiter Evan Jowers to reconsider a brief filed by Jowers that heavily criticized the judge in response to a sanctions warning.
“Judges like you are the reason most Americans who are frivolously sued … don’t trust the court system to defend themselves, even if they can raise the funds,” the brief states.
Texas Pacific Land Trust Converts to Delaware Model
An iconic Texas landowner with origins as the developer of an uncompleted transcontinental railroad has reorganized as a Delaware corporation. The move settles a longstanding proxy fight over governance of one of the largest land holdings in Texas. Caroline Evans has the names of the lawyers involved.
Munis 2020: A Big Year During a Bad One
Maybe other kinds of legal work lagged in 2020, but the municipal bond market in Texas prospered as bond entities took advantage of favorable market conditions to push new projects or refinance old ones. The Lawbook’s Nushin Huq has the names of the firms that benefitted from a very good, very strange year.
DBJ: Tuesday Morning Emerges from Chapter 11
The Dallas-based home goods retailer filed for bankruptcy last May. Haynes and Boone guided the company, which is emerging with additional liquidity that will support its ongoing operations and strategic initiatives.
Updated – Fired DFW Asst GC Paul Davis: ‘I was not trying to break in’ the Capitol
Westlake-based Goosehead Insurance terminated the employment Thursday of its assistant GC, Paul Davis, who posted a video on Instagram Wednesday that appears to show himself inside the Capitol building as part of the Trump protest that turned into a riot. Davis, who posted several social media messages claiming the elections were a fraud, said Thursday that he was “fired for exercising my First Amendment rights.”
Texas Appellate Power Couple Judge Jim and Allyson Ho: How They Met Rests with Textualism
Judge Jim Ho is the first Asian American and only immigrant on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. As a child, he learned English from Sesame Street and as a judge he has received threatening racist letters. He’s a hardcore conservative who has joined liberals on the appellate court multiple times, including a recent decision that has energy executives outraged. His wife, Allyson Ho has argued multiple cases at the U.S. Supreme Court, played the harp for the justices when she clerked for Justice O’Connor and helped Justice Amy Barrett through the confirmation process. Despite young twins at home and a hurricane that destroyed their house, Theodore Boutrous Jr. says they are “the ultimate legal power couple” getting things done.
April Farris Joins First Court of Appeals
April Farris, a former Yetter Coleman appellate partner and state Assistant Solicitor General, is settling into her first workweek as a justice on Houston’s Court of Appeals. Farris says she’s delighted to return to public service and carry out the oath she took on New Year’s Day.
Halliburton Names Van Beckwith its Chief Legal Officer
One year ago, Halliburton Chief Legal Officer Robb Voyles hired Baker Botts litigation partner Van Beckwith to be the oilfield service giant’s general counsel with the idea that he would eventually replace Voyles. Eventually has arrived. In exclusive interviews, Beckwith and Voyles tell The Texas Lawbook about their moves and what is ahead.
Top 10 Commercial Litigation Moments of 2020
2020 proved to be a tense year for Texas commercial litigators. Many courthouse doors remained shuttered for in-person proceedings and jury trials were nearly non-existent. The stresses of client needs and operating a law firm loomed at home. But it’s necessary to also recognize the highlights and headways that advanced the world of litigation as lawyers trudged through the dark tunnel created by COVID-19. Natalie Posgate picks 10 of these moments.