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Hearing in Merit Street Media Case Premiered Tuesday - Northern District Bankruptcy Judge Scott Everett heard from counsel representing Dr. Phil’s Merit Street Media and Trinity Broadcasting Network Tuesday, who argued about whether the celebrity television psychologist acted in bad faith by filing for bankruptcy. The hearing on the motion to dismiss and partial summary judgment is expected to last through Thursday, and Dr. Phil is on the list of potential witnesses who will testify. (File photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP) September 16, 2025Judge Halts Construction of Natural Gas Pipeline, Compressor Station in Conroe - The lawyer representing the Bartholet family, Houston solo practitioner Seth Rubinson, who has represented pipeline companies in other litigation, made it clear in an interview with The Texas Lawbook Tuesday that both he and his client are not “anti-pipeline” and “believe infrastructure projects are important.”
“But this is a case about enforcing a restrictive covenant,” Rubinson said. September 16, 2025
“But this is a case about enforcing a restrictive covenant,” Rubinson said. September 16, 2025
San Antonio Utility Buys Four Natural Gas Plants for $1.4B - CPS Energy agreed to acquire four natural gas powered electricity generation facilities in Texas for nearly $1.4 billion from PROENERGY. Dykema and Latham & Watkins are advising on the deal. September 16, 2025
Litigation Roundup: Lawyer Notches Fifth Circ. Win in Long-running Feud with Former Firm - In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a lawsuit seeking more than $1 million is filed by a woman who was paralyzed after a tree fell on her SUV in East Dallas, amicus counsel defending Texas firearm restrictions dig back to 14th Century English law in support of their case, and a fight between competing Thai restaurants in Houston heats up. September 15, 2025
New GE Vernova GC Dionne Hamilton: ‘We’re Working to Make the World a Better Place’ - Dionne Hamilton was not looking to leave Honeywell Smart Energy where she has served as general counsel for the past five years. The Houston corporate legal veteran had rejected several recruiting efforts over the years. But GE Vernova presented a vision of the company’s vision that Hamilton found enticing.
“They are leading a new era of energy — electrifying the world while simultaneously working to decarbonize it,” Hamilton, who is in her second week as GE Vernova’s GC, told The Texas Lawbook. September 15, 2025CDT Roundup: From Corrugated to Crypto, Deals Keep Venturing Outside the Box - The week that ended Sept. 13 saw 21 transactions valued at $21 billion. That doesn't count the late arrivals and deals outside our usual space (See "Late Arrivals and other matters..." at the bottom of this column). It's a pretty good week when you average $1 billion per deal. For comparison, the week prior, we saw 19 deals for $8.5 billion and 24 deals for nearly $11 billion at this time last year. But each week seems a bit stranger than the last. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup. September 14, 2025
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
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
