Thousands of people are helped each year by DVAP, but many more go without legal advice and representation because there are not enough lawyers stepping up to help. Corporate law departments, including AT&T and EFH, are in a unique position to significantly impact legal aid to the poor in Dallas. While lawyers as a whole hold the keys to the courthouse doors, corporate legal departments set the stage for what is important to our legal community. If pro bono legal aid to the poor is important to local in-house lawyers, pro bono legal aid to the poor will be important to the business lawyers in our legal community as well.
More Stories
Texas Lawyers Storm the Corporate Boardroom
When global investment firm PIMCO named former American Airlines GC Gary Kennedy to its corporate board, it was joining a national trend of publicly-traded companies adding lawyers as directors. The develop reverses a decades-old policy of corporations of ignoring lawyers for board positions because attorneys are viewed as too risk-averse and too narrow in their professional focus. But former Texas GCs Charles Matthews, Scott Rozzell and Jennifer Vogel are setting a new trend.
Hope Shimabuku Takes Over as New USPTO Director
Hope Shimabuku grew up 15 minutes from the Johnson Space Center in Houston. Her mother worked for NASA on the Apollo program. Her father was an oil and gas engineer. After college, Shimabuku worked as an engineer at Dell. On Monday, she becomes the first director of the new Dallas office of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Shimabuku, a former lawyer for Blackberry and Xerox, has big challenges ahead. The Texas Lawbook has the full profile.
Legendary Trial Lawyer Joe Jamail dead at 90
Joseph D. Jamail Jr. was arguably the most famous and successful trial lawyer in history.
Chamblee Ryan Secures $1.85 Million Breach of Contract Verdict
A Rockwall jury recently ruled that a local human resources outsourcing company breached its contract with Central Freight Lines to provide workers’ compensation insurance and claims administration services.
Yetter Coleman and HayBoo Win Pro Bono Foster Care Reform Case
In a 255-page opinion, U.S. District Judge Janis Graham Jack ruled that the state is currently violating foster children’s constitutional rights by not protecting them from an unreasonable risk of harm.
Winstead and Locke Lord Advise on Houston Dynamo Deal – Updated
A group led by Mexican businessman Gabriel Brener has purchased Houston’s soccer team, the Houston Dynamo, the women’s team, the Houston Dash and the BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston.
Six Firms Advise in String of EnCap-Devon Deals
Thompson & Knight, Locke Lord, Paul Hastings, Latham & Watkins, Vinson & Elkins and Weil, Gotshal & Manges advised the companies involved in a series of exit deals that EnCap Investments struck with Devon Energy and affiliates involving core assets this week that added up to $4.8 billion in value.
Jones Day’s David Lowery Advises in $2 Billion Real Estate Deal
Charleston, S.C.-based Greystar Real Estate Partners said Tuesday that an affiliate would sell a 32-property, 10,399-unit multifamily portfolio to the real estate outfit of The Blackstone Group for $2 billion.
Shimabuku to Run USPTO’s Dallas Office
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office named Xerox Business Services Corporate Counsel Hope Shimabuku to be the first regional director of the agency’s newly-created Dallas office. A former lawyer at BlackBerry, Shimabuku will take office Jan. 4. She will be charged with building an office that will eventually include more than 100 examiners, judges, and outreach and administrative staff.