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My Five Favorite Books: Allison Cook (Partner at Reese Marketos)

When I started practicing law, reading for pleasure took on another hurdle: I was intellectually intimidated. I assumed all lawyers were reading the likes of Kafka, Proust, and Tolstoy for fun. And after spending my days reading case law and briefs, the last thing I wanted to do was crack open Anna Karenina. So I simply didn’t read anything.

Now I confidently crack open yet another Frieda McFadden thriller next to my insanely intellectually curious husband, who is reading yet another Dostoevsky book. Ten years ago, that might have made me self-conscious. Now it just makes me laugh.

Judge Rejects $950M Punitive Damages Award Against J&J

A California judge has rejected a jury’s $950 million award of punitive damages against pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson. The jury awarded $16 million in compensatory damages in October 2025.

This is just one of many cases Dallas-based Dean Omar Branham Shirley is involved with against J&J at the moment.

‘Law as a Profession Rises and Falls on Leadership’

Jim Coleman, a role model and mentor for scores and scores of Texas attorneys, openly worried that law was quickly becoming just like every other business and was no longer a noble profession.

“The law, as a profession, rises and falls on leadership,” he told The Texas Lawbook in 2015.

Never have those words been more important than today.

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook are pleased to announce the launch of the Texas Lawbook Leadership Symposium, which will focus on issues facing legal industry leaders, provide insight into leadership decision-making and honor corporate general counsel and law firm executives and managing partners who have demonstrated great leadership during an era of disruption.

Alex Wolens Joins Hamilton Wingo

Hamilton Wingo continues to add experienced trial lawyers to the firm with its latest addition of Alex Wolens. Wolens spent the last six years with Winston & Strawn.

Robert Morris in Jail, Gateway Church in Court: A Look the Multifront Battle Across Texas 

While Robert Morris, the convicted child sex offender and former pastor of Gateway Church, is sitting in a jail cell in Osage County, Oklahoma, the wake of his crime continues to ripple as the high-stakes litigation involving the megachurch and its elders is spreading and unfolding in courts across North Texas.

Morris, the church, its elders and congregants and Gateway’s insurance company are mired in lawsuits playing out in state and federal courts. Claims range from defamation to dishonesty about the allocation of tithe money to a dispute over retirement payments to Morris. 

The Texas Lawbook‘s Michelle Casady takes you inside the morass of civil litigation. 

CDT Roundup: Thirteen Deals, One Theme? Energy Still Rules

For the week ended March 14, the CDT Roundup saw 13 deals reported — same as the week prior and the same as this time last year. The reported values were different, ranging from $5.9 billion last week, down from $48.1 billion during the prior week and $13.7 billion last year. The bump in value in our last report derived from BlackRock’s $33 billion take-private deal of AES. There was nothing of that magnitude this week.

There was, however, plenty of energy represented.

San Patricio County Jury Awards $198M in Sexual Assault Case

A San Patricio County jury awarded a woman $198 million in damages stemming from the sexual assault and attempted murder she experienced over a decade ago. The jury deliberated for two hours after the three-day trial Wednesday and found David Strickland liable for assaulting and shooting of Mary Kristene Chapa. They awarded $100 million in exemplary damages.

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