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Dallas Judge: Mask Mandate Protects Her ‘Personal Health Condition’ - Dallas County Court at Law Judge D’Metria Benson said the mandatory mask mandate that she ordered for all participants in her courtroom is necessary to protect a personal health condition that makes her “highly susceptible to infection.”

But the lawyer who originally made the allegations said he has recently witnessed Judge Benson at campaign fundraisers and events where neither the judge nor anyone was wearing a mask. May 18, 2026Mark Curriden
TI, Tech Firms Want Ukrainian Lawsuit Dismissed - Texas Instruments, Intel and two other semiconductor and technology companies are asking a Dallas federal judge to dismiss lawsuits brought by five Ukrainian citizens who claim that microchips, processors and programmable devices made by the four companies are being used by the Russian military in its war against Ukraine. A star-studded crew of trial lawyers on both sides of the litigation will present arguments Tuesday to U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater. May 18, 2026Mark Curriden
NextEra, Dominion Energy Merge in Stock Swap Valued at $66.8B - NextEra Energy and Dominion Energy announced Monday an agreement to merge in an all-stock transaction valued at $66.8 billion. Kirkland & Ellis advised NextEra with a team led by Zach Savrick and Andy Calder in Houston with David Feirstein, who works from Houston and New York, and Brooksany Barrowes in Washington, D.C. Dominion Energy is being advised by McGuireWoods. May 18, 2026Jason Philyaw
CDT Roundup: Light Week, Heavy Energy as Power Plays Drive Activity - For the week ended May 16, the CDT Roundup reported on 12 deals – eight of which were in capital markets – with a total value of about $6 billion, which are both down from the prior week's 21 deals valued at $11.3 billion.

Despite the light slate, last week's transactions were dominated by energy of all kinds. May 17, 2026Jason Philyaw
Panel Leaves $5M Jury Award Intact for Attorney Who Said Opposing Counsel Groped Her - Houston personal injury lawyer Michelle Teresa Acosta had sued San Antonio divorce lawyer Allan Roy Manka after she said he “grabbed” and “squeezed” her butt in the lobby of the Wilson County Courthouse in Floresville in June 2019. A jury agreed, and awarded her $5 million in compensatory damages. This week, that award was left intact by the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio. May 15, 2026Michelle Casady
Dallas Jury Clears ExxonMobil in Securities Fraud Case - A Dallas jury deliberated for more than three hours after a 14-day trial in U.S. District Judge Ed Kinkeade’s courtroom before finding ExxonMobil did not have any intent to commit the fraud it was accused of. The lawsuit was filed nearly a decade ago. May 15, 2026Alexa Shrake
Courts in Texas, California, Separately Reject Houston Lawyer’s Claim to Stake in Napa Winery - In March, Harris County District Judge Tanya Garrison entered final judgment, in accordance with a jury’s verdict, in favor of Frederick Schrader. And on April 30, U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim in California entered findings of fact siding with Schrader Cellars, too. Lawyer Robert Roach has already filed notice he’d be appealing the Harris County judgment. May 14, 2026Michelle Casady
In Trial Between Brothers, Travis County Jury Awards $116M for Breach of Fiduciary Duty - Following a two-week trial, a Travis County jury unanimously found a brother had breached his fiduciary duty to the business he and his sibling cofounded. Texas Disposal Systems CEO Bob Gregory and his brother Jimmy Gregory started the company in 1977 with split ownership. May 14, 2026Alexa Shrake

Centerpiece

ExxonMobil’s David Kern ‘Spearheading Efforts to Question Age-old Assumptions’ - As the corporate world focuses on artificial intelligence, global disruption caused by tariffs and now the closing of the Strait of Hormuz, ExxonMobil has quietly undertaken two massive, strategic corporate restructurings that dramatically change the business by implementing its “Retail Voting Program” and filing to redomicile from New Jersey to Texas.

While each of these transformational efforts required teams of in-house and outside counsel, lawyers agree that there is one critical common denominator in making these initiatives successful: ExxonMobil Managing Counsel David Kern. ACC Houston and The Texas Lawbook have named Kern as the recipient of the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department. May 16, 2026Mark Curriden
LyondellBasell GC Jeff Kaplan — Producing Exceptional Results in Times of Crisis - The multimillion-dollar lawsuits were piling up. Dozens of them, accusing LyondellBasell of “unsafe and hazardous practices” that led to a chemical leak in 2021 at its La Porte facility, causing two deaths and scores of injuries. Legal analysts predicted the Houston-based chemical company would be tagged with damage awards in the billions of dollars. The job of defending LyondellBasell fell to its 65-attorney legal department, led by its longtime general counsel Jeff Kaplan.

The result: 45 cases dismissed on summary judgment, 20 cases settled for nuisance value, three cases settled with funds from indemnitors and fatality case settlements fully reimbursed by the insurance carrier. And Kaplan and Lyondell are the recipients of the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Legal Department of the Year. May 16, 2026Mark Curriden

Expert Voices

The Rise of ‘DEXIT’: Why Corporations are Swapping Delaware for Texas - The corporate landscape in the United States is shifting as a growing number of companies are making the choice to “DEXIT.” This article looks at reasons shareholders are citing in SEC filings for making the decision to redomicile in Texas. May 14, 2026Byron F. Egan
Business Court: April 2026 Decisions - The Court continues to cement its judicial heavyweight status — with the month’s marquee event ringing in a 90-page opinion in the high-profile fight between the Dallas Mavericks and Dallas Stars over control of the American Airlines Center. The Court also maintained its strategy of deploying Rule 166(g) to narrow cases early and tackled personal jurisdiction. May 11, 2026Zack Ewing & Michael Patton

More Stories

DOJ, Four Law Firms Clash at D.C. Court of Appeals
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News Analysis: Trump EOs v. Law Firms — All Eyes on Judge Neomi Rao
More Stories

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Stories You Might’ve Missed

  • ‘The Golden Age for Corporate Law in Texas is Now’ (Updated) - Never in history have Texas corporate lawyers worked so many hours, charged such enormous rates and raked in more revenue and profits than they are right now. The Texas offices of more than three dozen law firms scored record-high revenues in 2025 — and many of them surpassed their old records by tens of millions of dollars, according to new Texas Lawbook 50 data.

    Citing increased demand for legal services and healthy hourly rate increases, 48 of the Lawbook 50 law firms generated more revenue and more profits in their Texas operations in 2025 than they did in 2024.     April 30, 2026Mark Curriden

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