Globally, 2019 came in as the fourth highest dealmaking year ever, thanks to U.S. buyers, but a slight slowdown in deal value and count over 2018 could portend a different-looking 2020.
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Trump Has Seated 17 Federal Judges in Texas – One Vacancy Remains
Pick your reason, but by the time Barack Obama left after two terms in office, 18 of 52 U.S. District Court seats in Texas were vacant. That’s more than a third. Today, only one seat is vacant. Knowing the new judges might be important in the New Year, Mario Nguyen of Locke Lord offers help.
State Bar of Texas Disciplinary Actions
State Bar actions include actions against three judges, two of them from Houston, as well as a justice of the peace in Waco who is refusing to conduct same-sex marriages.
Ninth Circuit Dismisses Claims that Diet Soda Kept Plaintiff Obese
A federal appeals court put plaintiffs’ lawyers on a monetary diet Monday when it affirmed a lower court’s decision to toss a lawsuit that claimed Dr Pepper/Seven Up falsely led consumers in California to believe that Diet Dr Pepper could help them lose weight. The opinion also provided an unexpected vocabulary lesson on the word ‘diet.’ Natalie Posgate explains.
CDT Roundup: 22 Deals, 19 Firms, 180 Lawyers, $7.15B
The year-end rush to ink deals continued before the holidays began, with transactions down on a volume and value basis over the previous week but up on both metrics over the same time last year.
DFW M&A Deal of the Year and Pro Bono/Public Service Finalists
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announced Monday the finalists for both the 2019 Pro Bono and Public Service Award and the M&A Deal of the Year Award.
Appellate Year-in-Review: The Fifth Circuit and SCOTX
In the appellate world, 2019 was an interesting year. The Fifth Circuit and Texas Supreme Court resolved important questions of federal and state law, providing clarity on legal standards and raising new questions to be decided in the coming years. The Fifth Circuit, for example, ruled that the TCPA does not apply in federal diversity cases, refused to limit the scope of attorney immunity and expounded upon the detail required for findings of fact.
Tricare Fraud Defense Lawyers: Trial was a ‘Lesson’ to Prosecutors
Last week’s verdict in the $100 million Tricare fraud case yielded what is believed to be the first acquittals in such cases brought by the federal government. The lawyers for the acquitted defendants told litigation writer Natalie Posgate how they and others — including the government’s star witness — helped achieve that result.
Eight-Year FLSA Case Against Precision Drilling Ends with Dismissal
The ruling is important because a victory for the plaintiffs could have had implications for the drilling rig industry and possibly other blue collar fields because it may have obligated companies to pay workers for the time spent putting on and taking off personal protective gear, Norton Rose Fulbright, the prevailing law firm said.
UPDATED: 1 Guilty, 2 Hung, 3 Acquitted in $100M Tricare Fraud Trial
After a two-fold verdict, a federal jury in Dallas has determined the fate for three more defendants in a $100 million Tricare fraud trial that spanned over two months. Natalie Posgate reports the details.