Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The lawyer representing the Bartholet family, Houston solo practitioner Seth Rubinson, who has represented pipeline companies in other litigation, made it clear in an interview with The Texas Lawbook Tuesday that both he and his client are not “anti-pipeline” and “believe infrastructure projects are important.”
“But this is a case about enforcing a restrictive covenant,” Rubinson said.
CPS Energy agreed to acquire four natural gas powered electricity generation facilities in Texas for nearly $1.4 billion from PROENERGY. Dykema and Latham & Watkins are advising on the deal.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million is filed by a woman who was paralyzed after a tree fell on her SUV in East Dallas, amicus counsel defending Texas firearm restrictions dig back to 14th Century English law in support of their case, and a fight between competing Thai restaurants in Houston heats up.
Dionne Hamilton was not looking to leave Honeywell Smart Energy where she has served as general counsel for the past five years. The Houston corporate legal veteran had rejected several recruiting efforts over the years. But GE Vernova presented a vision of the company’s vision that Hamilton found enticing.
“They are leading a new era of energy — electrifying the world while simultaneously working to decarbonize it,” Hamilton, who is in her second week as GE Vernova’s GC, told The Texas Lawbook.
The week that ended Sept. 13 saw 21 transactions valued at $21 billion. That doesn’t count the late arrivals and deals outside our usual space (See “Late Arrivals and other matters…” at the bottom of this column). It’s a pretty good week when you average $1 billion per deal. For comparison, the week prior, we saw 19 deals for $8.5 billion and 24 deals for nearly $11 billion at this time last year. But each week seems a bit stranger than the last. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Artificial intelligence has quickly worked its way into every corner of the hiring process, from resumes to job descriptions. In theory, that should make life easier for both candidates and employers. But when used as a crutch, it produces documents that are inaccurate, inflated or so vague that they mislead both sides of the hiring table. My diagnosis: Too much AI, not enough human oversight.
In this week’s P.S. Column, we cover the House Appropriations Committee’s vote to cut Legal Services Corporation funding by 46 percent, a move that could leave millions without access to legal aid. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Legal Services Association makes a plea for donations to support core operations.
Jackson Walker, which represented JCPenney during its 2020 bankruptcy proceedings, has agreed to pay the estate of the department store $1.4 million as a result of a romantic relationship between a former partner and a former Houston bankruptcy judge. This latest settlement proposal requires the court’s approval, but the U.S. Trustee’s Office remains opposed to individual settlements.
Signal Peak, a new Houston-based litigation financing firm, is being sued by its founders’ former place of employment, Siltstone Capital, which has attempted to get a temporary restraining order. Texas Business Court Presiding Judge Grant Dorfman denied the request.
Dallas-based bankruptcy and litigation boutique Ross & Smith announced Thursday that it has inked a business partnership with Offit Kurman, a 280-attorney full-service firm founded in Maryland that now has 20 offices across the U.S.
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