In this edition of Litigation Roundup, an East Texas scammer who prosecutors said lied about representing the late Major League Baseball player Pete Rose and about owning cannabis dispensaries in Las Vegas is sentenced to prison, and the decision of a Collin County jury in a dispute between a landlord and a tenant over a rat infestation is undone by a Dallas appellate court.
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Another Billion-Dollar Win for Keurig Dr Pepper, Another Nomination for Business Litigation of the Year
Two years ago, Stephen Cole reflected on his career as the vice president and assistant general counsel of Keurig Dr Pepper and was confident his best day at the company came after a summary judgment ruling resulted in a $925 million win against competitors Coca-Cola and BodyArmor.
But Cole, now a five-year veteran of KDP, has stayed busy ever since.
In July, the company’s legal team, along with outside counsel at Kirkland & Ellis, defeated a lawsuit from Reyes Coca-Cola Bottling that had been seeking more than $1 billion in damages over the ending of an agreement that had allowed Reyes to distribute Dr Pepper/Seven Up in California and Nevada.
Because of this work, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Cole a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Stephen Cole
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Stephen Cole discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
Energy Transfer Sues Blackstone, Alleges Aiding and Abetting Fraud
Dallas-based Energy Transfer claims Blackstone directed its portfolio company EagleClaw Midstream Ventures to maximize the volumes of natural gas that it delivered into a joint venture pipeline, even if it meant diverting volumes Energy Transfer was contractually entitled to receive first. The lawsuit was filed in Reeves County.
Led By Kirkland, Four Law Firms Dominated $1B+ Texas-Led M&A Dealmaking in 2025
The Texas lawyers at four law firms — Kirkland & Ellis, Vinson & Elkins, Latham & Watkins and Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher — were the lead legal advisors in the majority of mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and divestitures valued at $1 billion or more last year.
In fact, attorneys in the Texas offices at those four large corporate law firms were lead counsel for the transactions principals — buyers, sellers or targets — in 67 of the 93 M&A deals in 2025 that had a value of $1 billion or more, according to new data from The Texas Lawbook’s Corporate Deal Tracker.
CDT Roundup: Slow Start, Big Punch: 18 Deals, Nearly $9B
For the first full week of 2026, the CDT Roundup saw 18 transactions with a reported total value of nearly $9 billion (specifically $8.958 billion), the majority of which from just three deals. About a dozen firms circled back in early January with private equity or private investment deals that closed in mid-December.
And since we’re closing the books on 2025, let’s pause for a brief look at the numbers specific to The Roundup in this week’s edition.
Children’s Health Assoc. GC Kathleen Benner’s ‘Impact will be Felt for Years to Come’
Kathleen Benner’s first job out of college, armed with a marketing degree, was traveling between manufacturing facilities to sell corrugated boxes.
“After about a year, I decided that if I wanted a more respectable and sustainable environment, I’d need a career change,” she told The Texas Lawbook.
Benner went to a bookstore and bought a book about whether to seek an MBA or a JD. “I didn’t even know what a JD was, but I read the book in one day and decided to go to law school,” she said. “That decision was validated almost immediately.”
Now the associate general counsel at Children’s Health System of Texas, Benner has been named as one of two finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (six to 20 attorneys) by The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook.
Premium Subscriber Q&A: Kathleen Benner
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Kathleen Benner discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Over Hill, Over Dale: Hobby Picked up During Army Service Carries Houston Lawyer to Mongolia
Hicks Johnson attorney Dave Finkel’s passion for riding horses took him 6,000 miles away from his home in Houston earlier this year. He was among 45 brave souls who participated in the 10-day Mongol Derby, which is the world’s longest equestrian endurance race.
Brinker’s Cam Turner: Father’s Wrongful Imprisonment Inspires Legal Excellence
Cameasha Turner was in the third grade when her mother told her the story of her father’s wrongful conviction and life-prison sentence. “It was truly a life-altering moment for me. My dad was 18 when he was wrongfully convicted,” Turner told The Texas Lawbook. “Hearing that as a child was heavy. I didn’t know how to process the shame or the hurt, but I did know one thing: It wasn’t right. Wanting justice for my dad is what sparked it, but understanding the power of education is what carried me the rest of the way.”
More than two decades later, Cam Turner is corporate counsel at Dallas-based Brinker where she is making major decisions and achieving significant successes on the operations of the multibillion-dollar hospitality company whose restaurant brands include Chili’s and Maggiano’s Little Italy. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook have named Turner as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year, which is awarded to counsel who have been in-house for three years or less.