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Texas Hires Ex-AG Barr to Sue ISS Over Alleged ESG Bias - Round Two of a fight between the state of Texas and proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services is now underway before Round One has ended, after a new lawsuit was filed by the state in Collin County this week. May 21, 2026
Trucking Co. Hit With $49M Jury Verdict in West Texas - The unanimous jury verdict was returned after three days of trial just before 8 p.m. Wednesday. Steffan Robert Mick, a 29-year-old married father of two, was killed in January 2025 when an OPG Logistics 18-wheeler turned in front of him on a farm-to-market road near Midland. May 21, 2026
Gibson Dunn Guides SpaceX on Potential Record‑Shattering IPO - Elon Musk's SpaceX filed a Form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission Wednesday for a much-anticipated initial public offering of its common stock that will trade on Nasdaq and Nasdaq Texas under the symbol "SPCX."
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher is advising SpaceX led by capital markets partners George Sampas in New York and Hillary Holmes, Harrison Tucker and Atma Kabad in Houston. Davis Polk is advising the underwriters. May 20, 2026
Asked & Answered with King & Spalding’s Bruce Hurley: AI & Civility in the Practice - In this edition of Asked & Answered, King & Spalding partner Bruce Hurley reflected on his career and recently being named trial lawyer of the year by the Texas chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates. Hearing the stories from family who were trial lawyers pushed him toward becoming a trial lawyer himself. May 20, 2026
Simon Greenstone Panatier Secures $10.2M Jury Win in Minneapolis - Lawyers from Dallas-based Simon Greenstone Panatier recently secured a $10.2 million jury verdict for a mesothelioma client in Minneapolis. May 20, 2026
Judge Gilstrap Won’t Permanently Enjoin Samsung After Jury’s Infringement Finding - U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap has determined Collision Communications, a patent holder that secured a $445.5 million infringement verdict against Samsung Electronics last year, failed to show it was also entitled to a permanent injunction to prohibit ongoing infringement. May 19, 2026
Tech Companies Make Their Case for Dismissing Ukrainian Tort Lawsuits - Tom Melsheimer and lawyers for Texas Instruments, Intel and two other tech companies told U.S. District Judge Sidney Fitzwater Tuesday that he should dismiss a potential precedent-setting case in which five Ukrainians injured or killed in Russian missile and drone attacks have sued for allegedly providing the microchips that guide the Russian weapons. Melsheimer told the judge that the plaintiffs’ lawsuits are fatally flawed because they fail to directly link the technology companies’ products to horrific attacks on Ukrainians, fail to show misconduct by the chip makers and failed to have filed their lawsuits in a timely manner. May 19, 2026
Bitcoin Depot Hires V&E to Lead Bankruptcy - One of the largest bitcoin ATM operators filed Monday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in the Southern District of Texas, but company executives say they plan to use the bankruptcy process for “an orderly wind-down of operations and a sale of the company’s assets” because the company’s “current business model is unsustainable.” May 19, 2026
Litigation Roundup: ActBlue Taps Lynn Pinker to Defend AG Suit - In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Justice Evan Young, in a concurrence, says the services of a pro bono lawyer sure would help a pro se litigant trying to amend her son’s inaccurate death certificate and American Airlines will have to face some claims arising from a 14-year-old’s in-flight death after the Fifth Circuit partially reversed a summary judgment win. May 18, 2026
Centerpiece
Shell USA’s Cisselon Nichols Hurd Is Advancing Diversity While Setting the Standard in Environmental Law - After meeting a lawyer at her elementary school’s career day, Cisselon Nichols Hurd went home and informed her mother she did not want to follow in her footsteps of becoming a teacher. She wanted to become a lawyer instead.
That’d be just fine, her mother replied.
Fast forward to 2009, and Hurd’s mother accompanied her to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Hurd helped steer a groundbreaking environmental case that narrowed seller liability, endorsed apportionment principles and remains a cornerstone to the Superfund practice.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring Hurd, Shell USA Senior Counsel, with the Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion award at the May 28 ceremony. May 21, 2026
Shell USA Senior Counsel Sara Keith ‘Does It All’ - Sara Keith is one of those people who seems to do it all and make it look effortless.
At Shell USA, where she serves as senior legal counsel of global litigation, Keith manages complex legal matters while also devoting significant time to pro bono work, mentoring young lawyers and leading service initiatives across Houston’s legal community — all while raising two daughters.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring Keith with the Harry Reasoner Pro Bono Advocacy Award at the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards on May 28. May 21, 2026
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‘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, 2026
