The Texas Supreme Court heard arguments last week in a dispute between ConocoPhillips and Noble Energy. Although the case ostensibly involves liability for a $63 million oil field cleanup, many energy companies are concerned about its potential effect on the market for energy assets traded in bankruptcy. Thomas C. Wright argued for Noble, while Omar Alaniz and Richard Mithoff represent ConocoPhillips.
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Patent Infringement Lawsuits Plummet, but EDTX Still Dominates IP Litigation
There were 33 percent fewer patent infringement lawsuits filed in Texas in 2016 than there were the year before. Even so, Texas’ Eastern District has more than three times as many new patent cases lodged in its federal courts than any other jurisdiction in the U.S. The Northern District also saw its patent docket shrink. Legal experts explain the trend to The Texas Lawbook give their intellectual property predictions for 2017.
Updated: Skadden, Latham and Bracewell Advise on $2.7B Noble-Clayton Williams Deal
Houston-based Noble Energy said Monday that it will acquire all the outstanding stock of Clayton Williams Energy, a Midland-based independent E&P company, in a deal that is anticipated to create the industry’s second largest acreage position in the Permian’s Southern Delaware Basin.
Commodities Transactional Expert Chad Mills Jumps to HayBoo
Several law firms went after Mills, a Cadwalader partner in Houston who specializes in structured energy finance and transactions.
Updated- Not Quite Cheaper Than the Dozen: Six Dozen Houston Lawyers Work on $2.3B Eagle Ford Deal
The Woodlands-based Anadarko Petroleum Corp. is pulling out of the Eagle Ford Shale by selling its $2.3 billion assets there to Blackstone Group and Sanchez Energy Corp., the companies said Thursday, and the companies needed 74 lawyers from five law firms to help them do it.
Gardner Haas Scores Win for Highpoint Risk in South Carolina
A South Carolina federal judge handed Dallas-based Highpoint Risk Services and its owner Charles David Wood, Jr. a $30 million victory this week in the company’s three-year legal battle with Companion Property and Casualty Insurance.
Reed Smith Promotes One to Partner in Houston
Susan Ormand Berry focuses her practice on advising energy companies on structured finance, mergers and acquisitions and general corporate matters.
General Counsel Alana Newhook is a Star – Literally
As a law student, Alana Newhook dreamed of working as a lawyer for a professional hockey team. Five years later, she is living that dream. “[Newhook] is already the envy of many attorneys as she has combined her legal skills and talents with her passion for hockey,” says FedEx Office GC Kimble Scott. At age 29, Newhook may be the youngest corporate general counsel in Texas. This is her story.
Fish Elevates Two to Principal in Dallas
Dr. Mike Gaddis and Matthew Mattson are in the firm’s intellectual property section and patent group, respectively.
Hicks Thomas Breaks into Austin and Beaumont
The Houston-based law firm has added trial lawyer Jay Old and five of his colleagues.