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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, 2026
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, 2026
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, 2026
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, 2026
DOJ, Four Law Firms Clash at D.C. Court of Appeals - Federal courts cannot review President Donald Trump’s executive orders denying security clearance to anyone or any group of people, even if those orders target all Asians or Hispanics, Catholics or Jews, a lawyer for the Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday.
“It is not reviewable,” Abhishek Kambli, a lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
But the attorney for the four law firms argued that President Trump’s EOs targeting them last year had nothing to do with national security, but instead were motivated by viewpoint discrimination. May 14, 2026
“It is not reviewable,” Abhishek Kambli, a lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
But the attorney for the four law firms argued that President Trump’s EOs targeting them last year had nothing to do with national security, but instead were motivated by viewpoint discrimination. May 14, 2026
Auto Insurers Hit with Putative Class Action Alleging Scheme to Deny Coverage - Two auto insurance companies operating in Texas are facing a putative class action lawsuit accusing them of targeting low-income residents, collecting premiums and then “disappearing” when insureds make a claim. Houston personal injury law firm Kherkher Garcia filed the lawsuit in Harris County District Court Tuesday evening on behalf of “hundreds and possibly thousands of Texas insureds” who have policies with AmTex Auto Insurance and Redpoint County Mutual Insurance Company. May 14, 2026
News Analysis: Trump EOs v. Law Firms — All Eyes on Judge Neomi Rao - The court battle between the Trump administration and four corporate law firms, including Houston-based Susman Godfrey, is being argued Thursday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.
While many legal scholars agree that the likelihood of winning the appeal decisively favors the law firms, the focus will be on appellate Judge Neomi Rao, a conservative jurist, former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and champion of the Federalist Society. May 13, 2026
Chief Justice to Dallas Judge: Reconsider Mask Mandate - Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice James Blacklock has told a Dallas trial judge that she needs to reconsider her standing order requiring mask mandates and disclosure of personal health information before entering her courtroom. May 13, 2026Centerpiece
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, 2026
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, 2026
Expert Voices
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, 2026
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, 2026
