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Commission Supports Veterans’ Access to Justice

The Champions of Justice Gala Tuesday in Austin raised $401,000 to support legal aid for veterans. That’s the good news. The bad news: Texas has nearly 1.7 million veterans, and resources are not sufficient to meet their demand for legal services. “Getting aid can make the difference between life and death,” said Harry Reasoner, chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission. And while the gala brought together diverse groups of the legal community, the Vinson & Elkins attorney encouraged the state’s lawyers to do more.

The Texas Lawbook has the scoop and photos from the gala.

Commission Supports Veterans' Access to Justice

The Champions of Justice Gala Tuesday in Austin raised $401,000 to support legal aid for veterans. That’s the good news. The bad news: Texas has nearly 1.7 million veterans, and resources are not sufficient to meet their demand for legal services. “Getting aid can make the difference between life and death,” said Harry Reasoner, chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission. And while the gala brought together diverse groups of the legal community, the Vinson & Elkins attorney encouraged the state’s lawyers to do more.
The Texas Lawbook has the scoop and photos from the gala.

What Baseball Can Do for Lawyers

Former U.S. Attorney General Dick Thornburgh admits that, when his beloved Pittsburgh Pirates defeated the New York Yankees in the 1960 World Series, it changed his life for the better. Bill Mazeroski’s dramatic walk-of home run to end Game Seven allowed Dick to begin moving back into the stream of life and out of the grief that arose when his wife died suddenly and infant son suffered a brain injury in a car wreck earlier that year.

Baseball also has the capacity to generate solid friendships among those with a like-minded passion for the game, like mine with Dick Thornburgh.

Eight Oil & Gas General Counsel and Investment Bankers Talk M&A – Or the Sudden Lack Thereof

Since 2009, Texas energy companies and private equity firms have been on the buying or selling side of more than 760 mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures that had a combined deal value of $546 billion. That red hot deal market for upstream companies crashed in Q1 of 2015 when oil and gas M&A plummeted 55 percent.

The Texas Lawbook interviewed eight oil and gas general counsel impacted by the drop in oil prices. The GCs discuss cuts to their legal budget, upcoming redetermination on oil reserves and their expectations for the M&A upstream deal market.

“We’ve been blowing and going for the past several years. We are using this opportunity to step back and take a deep breath,” said RSP Permian GC Jim Mutrie.

Eight Oil & Gas General Counsel and Investment Bankers Talk M&A – Or the Sudden Lack Thereof

Since 2009, Texas energy companies and private equity firms have been on the buying or selling side of more than 760 mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures that had a combined deal value of $546 billion. That red hot deal market for upstream companies crashed in Q1 of 2015 when oil and gas M&A plummeted 55 percent.
The Texas Lawbook interviewed eight oil and gas general counsel impacted by the drop in oil prices. The GCs discuss cuts to their legal budget, upcoming redetermination on oil reserves and their expectations for the M&A upstream deal market.
“We’ve been blowing and going for the past several years. We are using this opportunity to step back and take a deep breath,” said RSP Permian GC Jim Mutrie.

Exclusive: Texas M&A Strong in Q1, Except Oil & Gas Upstream

Texas-based companies continued their aggressive pace of M&A activity during the first three months of 2015. New Mergermarket data shows that nearly every business sector, including healthcare, technology, business services and retail, continued at near record highs in Q1. The huge exception was oil and gas upstream, which is nearly dead except for the few distressed companies selling assets because they have no other option.

By contrast, oil and gas pipeline companies continued their frantic pace of acquiring and divesting assets. Energy Transfer Partners purchased Regency Energy Partners for $18 billion, which is the largest deal so far this year.

The Texas Lawbook provides in-depth coverage.

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