A fight between two former business partners who made tens of millions of dollars together building a futures prop firm in Austin before the relationship soured and spilled into separate fights in state and federal court in Texas recently ended in rare fashion. The plaintiff, Leo Riot, who in December 2024 had accused Darrell Martin and John Skelton, his former partners at Apex Trader Funding, of defrauding him, breaching contracts and misappropriating his intellectual property issued a public statement in August conceding none of his claims were true.
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Kelly Hart Adds Former SEC Trial Lawyer
Tyson Lies led investigations and prosecutions into complex securities fraud and investment misconduct at the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office.
Willkie Gains Four Dallas Partners, Names Digital Infrastructure and Data Center Lead
Willkie continues its Dallas office buildout with the addition this week of a data center and infrastructure team from Akerman led by James Grice.
Kirkland Adds Project Finance Partner in Houston
Fern Han was previously at Simpson Thacher. She has advised on deals for EnCap Investments, Saudi Aramco, Arroyo Investors and Société Générale.
SCOTX Asked to Revive Suit Against Gateway Church, Morris, Elders
The appeal to the Texas Supreme Court comes about a month after the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas determined the ecclesiastical abstention doctrine required the dismissal of nearly all the claims Cindy Clemishire brought against Robert Morris, Gateway Church and three of its elders. Clemishire argued that ruling transformed the doctrine from “a tool of qualified restraint to a totalizing shield that leaves churches immune from judicial oversight.”
Foley Adds Private Equity Specialist in Houston
The firm said Stephen Olson, who joins from Gibson Dunn, enhances its private capital capabilities and his appointment continues the expansion of its national energy and infrastructure practice.
KRCL Lands Four New Directors in Talent Pull
Kane Russell Coleman Logan announced 12 new hires this month – four directors, one senior attorney, and seven associates – across its Dallas, Houston and Austin offices.
Jury Awards More than $10M in Retaliation, Defamation Case
A Fort Worth jury found Trinity Valley School liable for defamation and retaliation and awarded its former human resources director more than $10 million in damages earlier this month. Carrie Skains sued her former employer in December 2024 for sex discrimination, retaliation and defamatory statements that claimed she kept information about a teacher who exposed himself to children in order to protect him.
Norton Rose Adds M&A Dealmaker in Austin
Jen Smith has joined Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in the corporate, M&A and securities group in Austin after about five years at Latham & Watkins, where she helped that firm open its office in the Texas capital.
Litigation Roundup: X Corp. Settles Apple Antitrust Suit in Texas
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Houston immigration attorney is accused of defrauding her clients, X Corp. settles an antitrust lawsuit against Apple in Fort Worth and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hands a loss to Lucid in a constitutional challenge to Texas’ ban on direct-to-consumer auto sales based on precedent they doubt.