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5th Circuit Judge Southwick to Take Senior Status, Opening a Bush-Era Seat - Judge Leslie Southwick, an 18-year veteran of the Fifth Circuit, has announced he is taking senior status, opening a seat on the bench for President Donald Trump to make an appointment. Texas lawyers who've appeared before Judge Southwick, including Dykema's Chris Kratovil, Norton Rose Fulbright’s Anne Johnson and Lynn Pinker's David Coale, praised his fairness and civility on a bench often defined by sharp ideological divides. September 28, 2026
Dallas Jury Hits Expro Holdings with $7.7M Verdict for Breach of Contract - A Dallas County jury deliberated for about two and a half hours before unanimously awarding more than $7.7 million to Arlington-based MCR Oil Tools last week, finding its longtime business partner Expro Holdings had breached a contract. The 20-year business relationship between the companies came to an end in 2023 when Expro chose not to renew its licensing agreement. September 28, 2026
Frisco Clinic Owner Convicted in $17M TRICARE Fraud Scheme that Funded Gold-Plated Cybertruck - A Fort Worth federal jury convicted Kevin Curry on all nine counts of a healthcare fraud and kickback scheme that bilked TRICARE out of more than $17 million, with prosecutors saying he used stolen doctors' identities and fabricated records to bill for unnecessary treatments. Curry's case was one of seven North Texas prosecutions tied to a recent DOJ healthcare fraud takedown that charged 455 defendants in schemes exceeding $6.5 billion nationwide. Northern District of Texas prosecutors, along with defense counsel from firms including Foley, McDermott Will & Schulte, Barnes & Thornburg and McGuireWoods, are handling related cases making their way through federal court. September 28, 2026CDT Roundup: What Happened to the Q3 Bump? - For the week ended Sept. 26, the CDT Roundup saw just seven deals reported with a combined value of just over $6.3 billion. There were no billion-dollar M&A transactions and more than half the deal value resided in CapM debt issues.
Given that summer is over and the close of Q3 is just days away, we were expecting more traffic. September 27, 2026
Given that summer is over and the close of Q3 is just days away, we were expecting more traffic. September 27, 2026
Asked & Answered with Gibbs & Bruns’ Caitlin Halpern: A 48-Hour Trial Prep and a Hurricane-Day Release - In this edition of Asked & Answered, Gibbs & Bruns partner Caitlin Halpern recalls a first trial that came together in 48 hours and a parole win that ended in a hurricane. She also talks about the rise of the Texas Business Court and the pop playlist that gets her ready for the trial. September 24, 2026Senate Confirms Judges for SDTX, NDTX - The U.S. Senate confirmed Angela Colmenero as federal judge for the Southern District of Texas Wednesday with a 50-47 vote, succeeding Judge Lee H. Rosenthal. The Senate also confirmed Kasdin Mitchell as federal judge for the Northern District of Texas Friday with a 49-45 vote. She is succeeding Judge Barbara Lynn. September 23, 2026
Tarrant County Jury Awards $24M to State of Washington - A Tarrant County jury unanimously awarded the state of Washington $24 million in damages in a fraudulent transfer and veil piercing case against two affiliated Frisco-based wealth advisory businesses. September 23, 2026
Centerpiece
2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel of the Year Award Recipients Announced - Howard Energy Partners, BioBridge Global, and Valero are repeat winners. Lawyers at Frost Bank claimed two honors. In-house counsel at Affinius Capital, Alterman, CPS Energy, and Lewis Energy also scored gold. ACC San Antonio and The Texas Lawbook Monday announced the recipients of the 2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Awards. September 28, 2026
Energy Boom to Space Race: The Stellar Career of Hillary Holmes - In a wide-ranging interview, Gibson Dunn capital-markets leader Hillary Holmes takes Texas Lawbook subscribers inside a career that placed her at the center of SpaceX’s historic public offering this year. But that is only the latest chapter in a much deeper Texas story that charts her rise from the Houston “deal room” of her childhood to one of the country’s top corporate lawyers, known for her instinct to see beyond the transactions themselves. September 24, 2026Expert Voices
Refining the Case for Houston as a Seat for International Arbitration: Where the City Stands and What Comes Next - Houston has the courts, the law and the infrastructure to compete as a seat for international arbitration, but few people outside Texas seem to know it. A recent CLE session dug into what's holding the city back, and what a working group is now doing about it, from a modernized arbitration statute to a data-backed appeal to general counsel. September 21, 2026
What the Let Kids Play Act Could Mean for Private Investment in Youth Sports - The Let Kids Play Act is the first attempt by federal lawmakers to address growing issues and concerns around the $40 billion-plus U.S. youth sports ecosystem. We’ve been following this bill closely for professional and personal reasons: We are transactional lawyers who guide private equity clients through significant deals and fundraising, and we are each the parent of three children who are competitive student-athletes.
If enacted, the Let Kids Play Act would be the very definition of a game-changer for youth sports. So how did we get here? September 18, 2026
If enacted, the Let Kids Play Act would be the very definition of a game-changer for youth sports. So how did we get here? September 18, 2026
Stories You Might’ve Missed
The Real Harry Potter’s ‘Magic Wand — Loyalty to the Law’ - “Your boss is a crook!” Arthur Golden, a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell and a lawyer for Big Tobacco, screamed into the telephone in the fall of 1998. “A crook!”
On the other end of the line, Harry Potter, then a special assistant attorney general in Texas running the tobacco litigation, who was appointed three decades ago by then-Texas Attorney General Dan Morales to lead the historic lawsuit brought by the state of Texas against Big Tobacco. Potter and Golden had negotiated the details of the historic $15.3 billion settlement agreement between the state of Texas and large cigarette makers.
“Arthur was extremely angry — livid,” Potter said. “He talked about secret lawyer contracts. I didn’t know anything about it, but it sent chills throughout my body."
In Part II of The Texas Lawbook's series on the tobacco litigation, learn the story of the real Harry Potter, a Houston lawyer whose secret power was his ethics and commitment to the law. July 16, 2026
