On March 17, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas dismissed Gusinsky v. Reynolds, applying and upholding the reforms to the Texas Business Organizations Code introduced in 2025 by Senate Bill 29. The opinion confirms that the Texas legal reforms associated with Y’all Street are working and should help corporations and their boards feel confident that these new statutory tools will withstand judicial scrutiny.
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There’s a New Sheriff in Town — Texas as Privacy Regulator
For many years, the privacy community took the position that the state of California was the leading data privacy regulator. The state of New York, with its active cyber enforcement by the New York Department of Financial Services, was a close second. However, in the past two years, Texas has emerged not only as a significant privacy regulator but also as an aggressive enforcer of its laws.
Texas has passed a comprehensive series of laws relating to consumer and children’s data privacy, artificial intelligence and data brokers, among other things. And the state’s attorney general has secured multibillion-dollar settlements against major technology companies for alleged violations of state laws. While the federal government and many other states have taken a light-touch approach to privacy and AI, Texas has been out front.
P.S. — Barnes & Thornburg Foundation Awards $50K Grant to Dallas-Area Nonprofit
In this packed edition of P.S., we highlight the charitable giving of the Barnes & Thornburg Foundation, collectively funded by firm lawyers and staff. Each year, five firm offices are selected to direct grants to charities in their local communities. The Dallas office was chosen this year, and it awarded a $50,000 grant to Project XVI, a Dallas-area nonprofit helping children identified as belonging to at-risk communities. Their work addresses problems that most people would drive by, said Barnes & Thornburg Dallas managing partner Thomas Haskins. Read on for more about what drew the firm to Project XVI.
Also in P.S., we report on fundraising efforts to endow a scholarship in memory of the 8-year-old twin daughters of attorneys John and Lacy Lawrence who were lost in last summer’s Hill Country floods.
Plus, Dallas was the site of the 47th Annual Texas High School Mock Trial Competition, Houston prepares to host Law Rocks and more.
Constellation Divests 4.4 GW PJM Generation to LS Power in $5B Deal
Kirkland, White & Case and Willkie advised on the divestitures which were part of an agreement last year in connection with Constellation’s $26 billion acquisition of Calpine Energy.
Jackson Walker, U.S. Trustee Reach Agreement Resolving Objections to Bankruptcy Fee Settlements
Since about 5 p.m. Tuesday — Day 1 of a three-day hearing on approval of nine settlements with former bankruptcy clients totaling roughly $4 million — Jackson Walker’s counsel and the U.S. Trustee had been working, at the judge’s direction, on reaching a compromise on the settlement language.
At the heart of the matter was the effect and scope of the language in the settlement agreements.
Specialty Dallas Real Estate Partners Move to Bracewell
Alex Dimock and Sam Murphy, real estate and finance partners, have joined Bracewell in Dallas from Holland & Knight. They will focus their practices on distressed commercial real estate, CMBS loan workouts and restructurings.
Fort Worth Biz Litigation Partner Laterals to Bonds Ellis
David Garza, a business litigation partner, has joined Bonds Ellis Eppich Schafer Jones LLP in Fort Worth from Winstead. He will focus his practice on complex commercial disputes, fiduciary duty litigation and high-stakes contract matters, according to a news release.
Remembering Judge E. Grady Jolly — ‘A Fifth Circuit Original’
Judge E. Grady Jolly, who served on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for 43 years, died Monday. He was 88.
Former Fifth Circuit Judge Gregg Costa wrote in a LinkedIn post that Judge Jolly had a “razor-sharp wit, was a world-class raconteur, and brought uncommon wisdom and judgment to deciding cases.
“Judge Jolly cared about the law and his views as much as anyone on the court. But after arguing his position with aplomb, he would walk out of the conference with his arm draped around the colleague with whom he had just disagreed, telling jokes on his way to toasting the colleague with a cocktail. We need more of that good spiritedness these days.”
Goldman Sachs Accused of Age Discrimination, Wrongful Termination in Arbitration Claim
Dallas-based Rogge Dunn Group has filed a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority arbitration claim against Goldman Sachs, alleging that it committed age discrimination, wrongful termination and unlawful withholding of earned deferred compensation. The complaint seeks more than $2 million in damages and $1 million in punitive damages.
Evidentiary Hearing Begins Over Jackson Walker Bankruptcy Settlements
On the 867th day since the U.S. Trustee moved to vacate fees awarded to Jackson Walker in bankruptcy proceedings in 34 cases involving former Houston bankruptcy judge David Jones and a former firm partner, the parties met in federal court in downtown Houston for the start of a three-day hearing.