The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit has a new judge: Don Willett. The U.S. Senate voted 50 to 47 Wednesday to approve Willett, who served on the Texas Supreme Court for the past 12 years.
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Updated: Pecos Judge Enters Final Judgment in Pickens Case – Finally
Summary: A West Texas judge has entered a long-awaited final judgment in the T. Boone Pickens lawsuit against his former partners in an oil and gas deal. The judge’s order is a mixed bag worth more than $117 million for Pickens, but the real value may be in the court battle it took to get the judge to file it. Natalie Posgate has the details.
Waste Connections GC Created Culture of Servant-Leadership Amid Tremendous Corporate Growth
Patrick Shea has been busy since he joined the Waste Connections legal department in 2004. He’s overseen 300 business acquisitions, 10 debt financings for more than $10 billion, two equity offerings that raised $800 million and helped engineer the company’s relocation from California to Texas. In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Shea, who recently won the Texas GC Forum’s Magna Stella Award for GC of the Year for a Small Legal Dept., discusses Waste Connections’ tremendous growth, his biggest legal needs and what he looks for in outside counsel.
Alston & Bird Relocating to Dallas Arts District
A global law firm will relocate its growing Dallas office to two floors in Chase Tower in the city’s central business district. The relocation comes shortly after the building’s ownership group decided to begin a major upgrade to the 55-story office tower.
Fish Secures $1M in Attorney’s Fees in Bed Bath & Beyond Patent Dispute
You may as well just call it Bed, Bath & Money. A group of Dallas Fish & Richardson intellectual property lawyers said Tuesday that they scored $932,000 in attorney’s fees for their work on New Jersey-based Bed Bath & Beyond’s patent infringement victory over Inventor Holdings in August 2015.
GC John Ansbach Joins Stroz Friedberg
Stroz Friedberg, a national corporate consulting firm, announced Monday that it has hired Dallas lawyer John Ansbach, the former GC at General Datatech, as its vice president of engagement management in Dallas. Ansbach is known throughout Texas for his expertise in cybersecurity and data privacy.
Locke Lord Announces Next Firmwide Chair
David Taylor succeeds Jerry Clements, who has led Locke Lord for 11 years.
Judicial Ethics and Social Media: Still No Click and Paste Answer
An advisory committee to the Texas Supreme Court is having trouble deciding an approach to new judicial ethics guidelines for the use of social media. The new sticking point is the same as the old sticking point: the clash between free speech and the dignity of the bench. Janet Elliott has an update on the committee’s progress in The Texas Lawbook.
Corp. Deal Tracker Weekly Round-Up: Texas Lawyers Provide Their Own Holiday Activity with 10 Firms and 126 Lawyers Working 14 Transactions Worth $9.7B
A $7 billion fund formation led a post-holiday surge in transactions that also included a $285 million pickup of Linn Energy assets, a massive flatbed truck company deal and the $800 purchase of a micro-optic security technology developer. Claire Poole has the details of those deals and others in The Texas Lawbook.
Senate Judiciary Approves James Ho and Don Willett for Fifth Circuit
The Senate Judiciary Committee voted 11 to 9 Thursday to send the nominations of Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett and Gibson Dunn appellate partner James Ho to the full U.S. Senate for confirmation as new judges on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The Texas Lawbook has detailed backgrounds on both men.