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JCPenney Estate, Jackson Walker Reach Potential $1.4M Settlement - Jackson Walker, which represented JCPenney during its 2020 bankruptcy proceedings, has agreed to pay the estate of the department store $1.4 million as a result of a romantic relationship between a former partner and a former Houston bankruptcy judge. This latest settlement proposal requires the court’s approval, but the U.S. Trustee’s Office remains opposed to individual settlements. September 11, 2025
Litigation-Financing Firms to Battle in Arbitration Over Alleged Trade Secrets and Breach of Contract Violations - Signal Peak, a new Houston-based litigation financing firm, is being sued by its founders' former place of employment, Siltstone Capital, which has attempted to get a temporary restraining order. Texas Business Court Presiding Judge Grant Dorfman denied the request. September 11, 2025
Win, Lose or Draw? SCOTX Punt in Poker House Appeal Leaves Legal Gray Area Intact - The city of Dallas failed to convince the Texas Supreme Court that its intervention was warranted in a dispute that started after the city granted, then revoked, then reinstated, a certificate of occupancy to a local poker room. September 10, 2025
Former Student Seeks $100M for TCU’s Alleged Mishandling of Rape Investigation - A former Texas Christian University student filed a lawsuit Wednesday with the Eastern District of Virginia claiming discrimination and gross malfeasance for how university officials handled her rape complaint. The anonymous student, going by Emily Doe, claims the university violated Title IX policies in how it handled her complaint. September 10, 2025
Texas Law Graduates Win Precedent-Setting Civil Rights Case Before Receiving Bar Exam Results - Just a few days before joining Kirkland & Ellis as litigation associates, and while awaiting the results of their bar exams, Gabrielle Olubanke Howells and Lizeth Badillo Garcia notched their first court win — a precedent-setting decision from a panel of judges at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The rare opportunity to argue a pro bono case before a federal appeals court before bar admission was the result of a collaboration spearheaded by Kirkland & Ellis Partner Zack Ewing, who was inspired by the graduates to emulate a program afforded to him while a student at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. September 10, 2025Phillips 66 Acquires Full Ownership of WRB Refining for $1.4B - The deal, advised by Sidley Austin and Bracewell, gives Phillips 66 full control of refineries in Illinois and Texas. September 9, 2025
Litigation Roundup: Houston Lawyer Helps Steer $1.5B AI Copyright Settlement - In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Texas sues over a data breach that targeted students and teachers, a Susman Godfrey partner in Houston helps secure a $1.5 billion settlement for authors in an AI copyright lawsuit, and a final judgment is entered in favor of a luxury home designer who alleged a competitor copied its designs. September 8, 2025
DOBS Gets $34.2M Mesothelioma Verdict for Former Shipyard Worker - A former shipyard worker in Portland, Oregon, developed mesothelioma after working with John Crane gaskets and packing for over a decade. A jury last Friday found the company liable for the fatal cancer. The case was first tried earlier this summer but ended in a mistrial after four days of jury deliberations. September 8, 2025
Centerpiece
Barbara Lynn’s Fourth Act: The Role of Sage and Admired Advisor - Dallas federal Judge Barbara Lynn has shattered many legal industry glass ceilings, impacted the careers of hundreds of Texas lawyers and handled some of the biggest and most important trials in North Texas over the past quarter century — the civil rights trial against former Dallas police officer Amber Guyger, the corruption trial of then-Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don Hill and terrorist Hosam Maher Husein Smadi, who attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction in an effort to blow up the 60-story Fountain Place skyscraper.
Last week, Judge Lynn — the first woman in history to be the chief judge of the Northern District of Texas and widely praised as one of the best trial judges in the U.S. — stepped away from public service to join the litigation boutique founded by her husband, where she will focus on mediating complex and large-dollar disputes and advising lawyers involved in bet-the-company litigation.
As Judge Lynn enters her encore, legal experts agree that her career has had an historic impact on North Texas, the legal profession and the role of women in the law. (Illustration by William Pelic) September 11, 2025
Asked & Answered with Jackson Walker’s Juan Alcala: Crawling out of Poverty and Finding Passion - Asked & Answered is a standing feature The Texas Lawbook will bring readers every other week, highlighting the work of leading Texas lawyers and offering insight into their lives outside the courtroom. In this edition, Jackson Walker partner Juan Alcala discusses representing Chevron and arguing before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Alcala recently joined Jackson Walker from Holland & Knight. September 10, 2025Expert Voices
How Candidates and Employers Can Avoid AI Pitfalls in the Hiring Process - Artificial intelligence has quickly worked its way into every corner of the hiring process, from resumes to job descriptions. In theory, that should make life easier for both candidates and employers. But when used as a crutch, it produces documents that are inaccurate, inflated or so vague that they mislead both sides of the hiring table. My diagnosis: Too much AI, not enough human oversight. September 12, 2025
Stories You Might’ve Missed
JSX GC Kerrie Forbes: ‘Law and Aviation in My Blood’ - Kerrie Forbes stood behind a huge red ribbon on the tarmac at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport with a 30-seat JSX jet behind her. It was 11 a.m. on April 28, the grand opening of JSX’s new Southern California airport terminal, which Forbes describes as her best day on the job since she joined JSX as chief legal officer in January 2024. Orange County was the 2016 birthplace of JSX — a now Dallas-headquartered public charter jet operator offering business-class service to more than 350,000 passengers last year — and the site of its rebirth of sorts nine years later. Legal industry experts say that Forbes, who was an in-house lawyer at Southwest Airlines for 16 years, was the perfect lawyer to be JSX’s first general counsel. She recently discussed her career and more in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook. August 11, 2025
