In this week’s P.S. Column, we celebrate the winners of the Texas General Counsel Forum’s Magna Stella Awards, honoring in-house legal leaders for their outstanding achievements ahead of the Nov. 20 ceremony in San Antonio. We also highlight the ongoing Dallas Women Lawyers Foundation’s auction of memorabilia from Judge Barbara Lynn’s career.
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15 Firms in Texas Achieve Lawbook 50 Elite Status
Despite ever-higher standards, more corporate law firms in Texas achieved Texas Lawbook 50 elite financial status last year than ever before. Eighteen business law firms reported revenue per lawyer for their Texas offices of $1.5 million in 2024. Eighteen firms also scored profits per partner of $3 million or more — though not the same 18. Thanks to scores of senior corporate lawyers now billing at hourly rates exceeding $2,000, 15 law firms operating in Texas achieved both of those criteria — up from 11 in 2023.
Fifth Circuit Splits in Property Rights Case, Reverses Southern District’s Judgment
An apartment complex damaged by Hurricane Harvey sees a reversal in a constitutional takings case that the city of Houston shouldn’t have denied its request for a repair permit. The case returns to the Southern District for further proceedings to compensate the apartment complex.
Online Dating Company to Pay $14M to FTC
A settlement between Match Group and the Federal Trade Commission will resolve the dating website’s alleged misleading practices. The Dallas-based company has agreed to pay $14 million and clarify its “guarantees.”
Asked & Answered with V&E’s Quentin Smith: Morehouse, Michigan and MDL — the Making of a Texas Litigator
Asked & Answered is a new standing feature The Texas Lawbook will bring readers twice a month, highlighting the work of leading Texas lawyers and offering insight into their lives outside the courtroom. In this edition, Alexa Shrake sits down with Vinson & Elkins partner Quentin Smith, who discussed securing an $80 million breach of contract verdict for Huntsman Chemicals in Louisiana and representing Oncor Electric in litigation stemming from Winter Storm Uri — as well as the only brand of jelly beans worthy of the war room.
What In-House Lawyers Can Learn from Gerri Kellman of HBO’s Succession
Amid the boardroom battles and backroom scheming of HBO’s Succession, the character Gerri Kellman — general counsel of media empire Waystar Royco — delivers one of the most compelling portrayals of in-house legal work in recent years. Unlike the show’s headline-grabbing characters, Gerri operates in whispers and carefully chosen words. For general counsel and in-house attorneys, she offers a unique case study in navigating gray areas — a study that reveals how complex, high-stakes corporate law is navigated not just by rules but by relationships, judgment and discretion.
Pandemic Loan Consultant Pleads Guilty in $300M Scam
Nathan Reis entered his guilty plea on the day his trial was to begin before U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor in Fort Worth. Reis’s wife, former Phoenix TV news anchor Stephanie Hockridge, was convicted by a jury in Judge O’Connor’s court in June.
Sidley Austin Helps Secure Landmark Pro Bono Victory After 15-Year Legal Battle
After a 15-year legal battle, Robert Velevis and Yvette Ostolaza led a Sidley Austin team to a landmark pro bono victory in a class action lawsuit against the state of Texas for unlawfully confining people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in nursing homes. A federal judge issued a sweeping 475-page opinion finding that Texas caused “irreparable injury” by failing to offer community-based living alternatives. Sidley Austin represented the plaintiffs alongside the Center for Public Representation and Disability Rights Texas.
Big D and Big Ben: London Partner Discusses Haynes Boone’s Rising Global Reach
Haynes Boone’s lateral partner activity in 2025 has been a case in point that no corporate law firm headquartered in Texas is expanding faster outside the state. One-fourth of the firm’s 20 lateral partner additions this year have been in London. The Lawbook met in person with office co-leader Nick Davis, one of those 2025 recruits, earlier this summer. “The epicenter of the world seems to be heading towards Texas right now,” he said in the interview.
Dykema in Dallas Snags Two More Veteran U.S. Prosecutors
Tiffany H. Eggers, a former criminal chief in the U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas, and Sarah R. Douglas, a former prosecutor in the fraud section, are reuniting with Leigha Simonton, the immediate former U.S. attorney, and Scott Hogan, Simonton’s former first assistant, who joined Dykema in April.