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Howard EP GC T.J. Campbell is ‘In the Room Making the Critical Decisions’ - T.J. Campbell and his legal team at Howard Energy Partners have had a busy year. During the past 16 months, he has negotiated the acquisition of Epic’s ethylene pipeline, acquired Cheniere’s interest in Midship Pipeline, raised nearly $3 billion of proceeds, successfully resolved a major litigation matter — a wrongful death case resulting from a fire at a natural gas processing plant in Orla, Texas — and negotiated the transaction documents for the Outer Loop Utility Project, a new 60-mile natural gas pipeline designed to connect local gas supply to existing energy infrastructure in San Antonio and the surrounding areas. Citing his extraordinary successes, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department to T.J. Campbell. October 23, 2025Top Stories
Top Stories
Legal Aid Work Celebrated at Luncheon with SCOTX - Real world stories related by legal services lawyers highlighted the impact of Texas Access to Justice Foundation funding at this year’s event. Justice Brett Busby presented awards to Greenberg Traurig and the Texas Department of Housing & Community Affairs. October 23, 2025
Asked & Answered with Crawford, Wishnew & Lang’s Haleigh Jones: Moot Court, Mentorship and Becoming a Mom - In this edition of Asked & Answered Crawford, Wishnew & Lang partner Haleigh Jones sat down with The Texas Lawbook to discuss her career, memorable cases and mentorship. Jones coaches the moot court team at Southern Methodist University, which she says she hopes to do for her whole career. The 2024 team won the American Bar Association competition. October 23, 2025Texas Book Review Law ‘Unconstitutionally Compels Speech, is Void for Vagueness, and is an Unconstitutional Prior Restraint’ - U.S. District Judge Alan D. Albright on Tuesday issued a 24-page opinion permanently banning Texas from enforcing certain parts of HB 900, referred to as the READER Act, which stands for Restricting Explicit and Adult-Designated Educational Resources. He wrote that while the state has an interest in protecting children “from obscene content in the school setting,” the challenged law “misses the mark on accomplishing its goal and is unconstitutional.” October 22, 2025
Former Federal Prosecutor, Dallas Attorney Plead Guilty to Deleting Texts Judge Ordered Them to Produce - Both Barrett Howell and Carlos Lopez pled guilty to disposing of government records and aiding and abetting Wednesday in the Northern District of Texas, Fort Worth Division. Each has waived their right to appeal and face a maximum term of imprisonment of one year, a fine not to exceed $100,000 and a term of supervised release of up to one year. As of Wednesday, a sentencing date had not been set. October 22, 2025
Dykema’s New White Collar Group Sees First Criminal Defense Win in WDTX - Men who were federally indicted for an alleged healthcare fraud scheme involving urine drug tests won't have to face those charges after prosecutors asked a judge to toss the case. The dismissal is the first criminal defense win for Dykema’s new Texas white collar team, which launched in August. October 21, 2025
National Fuel Buys CenterPoint Ohio Natural Gas Operations for $2.62B - Texas lawyers from Jones Day and Gibson Dunn advised the parties in CenterPoint's sale of a local distribution network that consumes 60 billion cf of natural gas each year. October 21, 2025
Newest SCOTX Justice Tries for Federal Bench - Justice James P. Sullivan has interviewed to become a U.S. District Court Judge in Austin. It would be a fast track for Sullivan, who joined the Texas Supreme Court in January. Federal Magistrate Judge Dustin Howell also is said to be under consideration for the bench once held by Lee Yeakel. October 20, 2025
Litigation Roundup: Lawyers Can’t Shake $525K Sanction - In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a federal judge in Fort Worth makes a business pitch to Apple and X Corp., a hefty sanction is upheld against two lawyers, and a pro se litigant is called out by a Fifth Circuit panel for citing cases that “appear to be fake” in her sex discrimination appeal. October 20, 2025
Centerpiece
Stakeholder GC Jonathan Ellis ‘Turns Adversity into Opportunity’ - Jonathan Ellis traces his desire to be a lawyer to the third grade when his mother told him about a former landlord who refused to refund her a $100 deposit under false pretenses. "This was a time in her life when $100 was life-changing money," he said. But a lawyer who employed his mom as a bookkeeper wrote a letter to the landlord who quickly refunded the money. That's when he realized lawyers have influence. Three decades later, Ellis is the general counsel of San Antonio-headquartered Stakeholder Midstream, which focuses on in-field natural gas and oil gathering as well as transportation and storage.
“Jonathan has faced numerous high-pressure challenges, which has frequently required him to manage multiple projects at once using outside counsel from different law firms,” said Clifford Chance partner Todd Lowther.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department to Ellis. October 21, 2025
Lee Cusenbary’s ‘Career Shows How Much One Person Can Do to Make a Difference in a Community’ - Lee Cusenbary is a legend in the Texas business and legal communities. His name and reputation will forever be connected to elevating ethics — so much so that the Association of Corporate Counsel San Antonio Chapter named its highest honor after him. During 17 years as the GC at Mission Pharmacal, Cusenbary successfully led the San Antonio company through several complex multidistrict litigation cases, highly-technical patent infringement disputes, and guided it through numerous acquisitions and divestitures.
"Lee has left a lasting mark on the in-house counsel community, the San Antonio legal profession and the broader public," said Dykema member Jeffrey Gifford. "Lee made his career about being more than an excellent corporate counsel. He also made it about building a culture of ethics and of giving back.”
ACC San Antonio and The Texas Lawbook are awarding Cusenbary the 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. October 20, 2025
Expert Voices
What Corporate Lawyers Need to Know About Recent Changes to Texas Law - Texas has made bold moves in its efforts to attract corporations by implementing one of the most sweeping sets of reforms to its corporate law. The Texas Business Organizations Code positions the Lone Star State as an increasingly attractive option for the state of incorporation. This article highlights the key points that corporate lawyers need to know about recent changes to the TBOC. October 19, 2025
Stories You Might’ve Missed
Toyota’s Derek Lipscombe Named Texas Lawbook Foundation Co-Chair - The Texas Lawbook Foundation has named Derek Lipscombe, managing counsel at Toyota North America, as the new co-chair of the nonprofit’s board of directors. Lipscombe, a former newspaper reporter who is past president of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter, has served on The Lawbook Foundation board since it was founded in 2023. The Lawbook Foundation’s sole mission is to provide support for The Texas Lawbook’s news coverage of pro bono, public service and diversity in the Texas legal community. October 8, 2025
