Lawyers, Guns and Money: An occasional series on movies, TV and other stories about lawyers and the law — Young Mr. Lincoln  (1939, Dir. John Ford) 

A tall, folksy man in a stovepipe hat rides into town on a mule, looking to get his law practice off the ground. He quickly ingratiates himself to the community, making fast friends and even judging a pie contest at the county fair (where he also wins a rail-splitting contest, naturally). Like a good lawyer, or perhaps just a hungry lawyer, he weighs his pie duties carefully, going back and forth between the peach and the apple, steadily gobbling down both. He’s a man of the people, and soon he’ll become a rather impromptu defense attorney in a murder trial.

December 24, 2024 Chris Vognar

P.S. — Law Firms Share Holiday Spirit with Those in Need

With fewer than five days until Christmas Day and the start of Hanukkah, corporate law firms in Texas continue to demonstrate their giving spirit for those in need. During the past month, The Texas Lawbook’s P.S. column has highlighted nearly 20 law firms for their contributions to helping feed, clothe and house thousands of Texans who are struggling. Today, we turn the spotlight on three law firms — Sidley Austin, Katten and White & Case — for the support they are providing to those less fortunate.

December 20, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. — Texas Law Firms Step Up to Help Others for the Holidays — Including Squishmallows

Texas business lawyers made a lot of money in 2024, and now they are giving back. And they are apparently giving back in a currency called Squishmallows.

From Texas-based firms such as Gray Reed and Akin Gump to national operations Greenberg Traurig, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose Fulbright, O’Melveny & Myers and Winston & Strawn, lawyers are adopting angels, families, children centers and food banks. They are providing gifts for foster children, families that have been the victims of abuse and homeless veterans.

A prime objective of the Texas Lawbook Foundation is to employ journalists who showcase the public service and pro bono work of lawyers in Texas — to demonstrate that law is more than a great paying job. It is an honorable profession.

In this weekly issue of P.S., The Texas Lawbook continues to highlight specific public service efforts of nine law firms in Texas.

The staff of The Lawbook thanks you for being a good citizen.

December 13, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S.: Join the Joy: Texas Lawyers Help Those Less Fortunate

Billy Bob Thornton in Bad Santa had the “Three Bs,” and now The Texas Lawbook has the “Three Ps” — public service, pro bono and positive press. Bracewell, O’Melveny & Myers, Haynes Boone and Yetter Coleman are the first four law firms in Texas to provide information on their efforts to help those in need during the holidays. The details of their initiatives are included in this week’s P.S. column. Please send us the good work you are doing and thank you for the other firms that have sent us their efforts. They will be included in next week’s P.S. column.

December 6, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. — Oncor GC Matt Henry: ‘We Can Do This!’

The Dallas Bar Association’s annual Equal Access to Justice Campaign is hitting crunch time in its efforts to raise $1.25 million for legal aid for the poor and disadvantaged. More than 50 lawyers, law firms and corporate legal departments have already donated between $5,000 and $25,500. The State Bar of Texas has awarded its annual Minority Counsel honors. The personal injury law firm J.D. Silva & Associates is giving away 500 new winter coats. 

November 22, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. — This Week’s Givers: Haynes Boone, Squire Patton Boggs, John DeWitt Gregory Trust and Witherite

The Dallas Bar Association’s Equal Access to Justice Campaign is about one-third of the way to its $1.4 million goal. Texas Appleseed raised $544,000 at its annual Good Apple Dinner last week, including a $1,000 donation from The Texas Lawbook. A Dallas plaintiff’s law firm is the first in the legal industry to announce it is sponsoring a Thanksgiving food giveaway. And a Squire Patton Boggs senior partner in Dallas will be honored next week for a career of professionalism.

November 15, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. — 2024 DFW Pro Bono and Diversity Award Nominations Now Welcomed

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are seeking nominations for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service, Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion and Create Partnership. The awards recognizing pro bono and diversity celebrate the efforts and successes of corporate in-house counsel who use their positions to serve their communities and the legal profession.

This week, P.S. also highlights Texas Veterans Legal Aid Week and efforts by Texas Access to Justice, legal aid programs, local bar associations and law schools providing free legal services to qualified military veterans in Texas.

November 8, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. Spotlights Chevron, Jennifer Banda, Lael and Peter Brodsky, Latham, Sidley and Haynes Boone

In this week’s P.S. column, we highlight upcoming events such as Texas Appleseed’s annual Good Apple Dinner and the Institute for Energy Law’s Excellence in Diversity and Inclusion Award reception. The Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas School of Law has a new executive director. Haynes Boone gives the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program $25,500. And the Texas Chapters of the American Board of Trial Advocates honor Fort Worth trial lawyer Steve Laird with its first-ever Ethics and Civility Award.

Plus, The Texas Lawbook seeks your contributions or efforts in helping those in need for the holidays.

November 1, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. — ACC San Antonio, Texas Lawbook Announce Partnership, Honor Christine Reinhard and Vincent Johnson for Ethics, Leadership

The Texas Lawbook and the Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter have agreed to a new media content partnership similar to partnerships The Lawbook has with ACC chapters in DFW and Houston. And as part of the partnership, ACC San Antonio has announced that it is honoring St. Mary’s University School of Law professor Vincent R. Johnson and San Antonio labor and employment lawyer Christine Reinhard with the 2024 Lee Cusenbary Ethical Life and Leadership Award. This week’s P.S. column also highlights the new leadership of the Houston Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel, led by chapter president and Pattern Energy Senior Counsel Lauren Haller.

October 4, 2024 Mark Curriden

Lawyers, Guns and Money: An occasional series on movies, TV and other stories about lawyers and the law — Dark Waters (2019, Dir. Todd Haynes)

Todd Haynes has made an homage to ‘50s melodrama (Far From Heaven), a lesbian love story based on a Patricia Highsmith novel (Carol) and a boldly prismatic study of Bob Dylan (I’m Not There), among other movies. Regardless of subject, there’s always something a little unstable at the core of his films, something bordering on horror without actually crossing into that realm. Haynes is a poet of isolation and distance, an acute conveyor of loneliness that threatens to bleed into something more tragic.

This quality permeates Dark Waters, Haynes’ 2019 legal drama based on the true story of Rob Bilott, an environmental lawyer who made it his mission to hold DuPont accountable for poisoning the people of West Virginia with chemical waste in the local water supply.

September 27, 2024 Chris Vognar