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© 2015 The Texas Lawbook. By Brooks Igo (March 1) – Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced last week that it closed on an agreement to sell a portion of its future

© 2015 The Texas Lawbook. By Brooks Igo (March 1) – Anadarko Petroleum Corporation announced last week that it closed on an agreement to sell a portion of its future

Baker Botts announced Friday that it has secured a $775 million settlement for firm client Liberty Media in a decade-long securities fraud litigation against Vivendi Universal S.A.

Houston-based electric utility company Dynegy and New Jersey private equity firm Energy Capital Partners have teamed up to acquire the U.S. fossil portfolio of French utility company, ENGIE, for $3.3 billion.

Last Thursday’s not guilty verdict against former BP Macondo site leader Robert Kaluza ended a six-year legal battle fought by Houston trial lawyers David Gerger and Shaun Clarke. The pair dismantled the government’s case in every one of the 22 counts of manslaughter and the single count of water pollution against their client

Gerger and Clarke spent more than 8,000 hours working on the case, reviewed more than 90 million pages of evidence and did battle over a 164-year-old law. They converted guest rooms on the 21st floor of the Loews Hotel in downtown New Orleans into office space. Their success in this case should be taught in law schools and CLEs.

Harper Lee opened our minds and showed us the way toward a higher level of consciousness – and for this, may she always be remembered as a person who advanced humanity’s understanding of its flaws, needs, and hopes. In To Kill a Mockingbird,and Go Set a Watchman, Lee showed us a higher wisdom about race relations, justice and the necessary civility of discourse that needs to take place between insiders and outsiders before American society can think about rising from the fractious, partisan ditch our politics have now put us in.

Lawsuits related to layoffs and job reductions in the oil patch have dramatically increased during the past 10 months. Employment complaints filed in the Southern and Western districts of Texas hit all-time highs in 2015. If filings during the first six weeks of this year are an indication, 2016 could shatter all records in Texas for lawsuits filed due to job reductions.

Rice Energy Inc. announced yesterday that it closed a $375 million strategic midstream equity investment by EIG Global Energy Partners.

Vinson & Elkins partner Doug McWilliams led the deal team for Rice. Kirkland & Ellis corporate partners Andy Calder and John Pitts co-led the legal counsel for EIG’s equity commitment.