Proponents of binding mandatory arbitration scored two huge victories this week in the Texas appellate courts. In two separate and unrelated rulings, the Texas Supreme Court and the Dallas Court of Appeals ordered plaintiffs in two cases – a group of customers alleging they were illegally victimized by a payday lender and an exotic dancer suing a strip club for gross negligence – to litigate their claims through private arbitration instead of the public court system.
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A Quarter Life Without the Crisis: LPCH Turns 25
Lynn Pinker Cox & Hurst is celebrating 25 years on Friday. But unlike the woes of uncertainty many twenty-somethings feel when contemplating what the hell they are doing with the rest of their lives, firm founder Mike Lynn has never felt better about his litigation boutique’s future. And even despite elite national firms rapidly changing the landscape of the Texas legal market, Lynn thinks the future is where the firm’s best days will be. He explains why in this article.
Latham Names New Houston Partner
Jesse Myers is one of 16 counsel that have been promoted to partner firmwide, according to a Latham announcement Thursday.
Shearman & Sterling and Orrick Officially Open in Austin
As first reported by The Texas Lawbook last month, Shearman has launched its first Texas outpost with a team led by Matthew Lyons, who was AKK’s Austin office managing partner, and Orrick has beefed up its Texas public finance practice with 20 former AKK attorneys.
SEC: Plano Oil Operators Used Investor Cash for Booze & Strippers
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has charged three interconnected oil and gas companies and its executives with fraudulently scheming to raise $11.7 million for drilling projects allegedly located in Kentucky and using investor money for booze, drugs, strippers and alimony payments to the CEO’s ex-wife.
Yetter Coleman Signs Lease at 811 Main in Downtown Houston
The prominent litigation boutique is leaving 2 Houston Center and will increase its footprint to 24,494 square feet on the 41st floor of 811 Main.
Houston Energy Private Equity Partner Leaves DLA Piper for Willkie
Steve Torello helped launch DLA Piper’s Houston office in 2008.
T&K Promotes Five to Partner
All of the new partners are based in Texas.
Oncor Deal with Sempra Nears Completion
A Delaware bankruptcy judge gave approval Monday for Dallas-based Energy Future Holdings to sell its 80 percent ownership stake in Oncor to Sempra. It was a key hurdle to clear before the Texas Public Utility Commission decides as early as March 8 whether to approve the deal. This article by DBJ reporter Jon Prior has details.
Updated – Corp. Deal Tracker Weekly Round-Up: 13 Firms and 69 Texas Lawyers Advise on 20 Transactions Worth $6.6B
Transaction count and value was up from the prior week, when there were 15 transactions worth $5.5 billion. However, there was one less firm and two-thirds fewer attorneys working the deals, which ranged from M&A and capital markets transactions to a private equity fundraising to venture financings, including one in artificial intelligence.