Harvard to Houston: V&E’s Dealmaker Powerhouse

Lande Spottswood is one of the country’s top dealmakers, hired by public companies and private capital alike for her expertise with complex transactions.

Her path to the transactional world wasn’t linear. A onetime biochemical sciences major planning for an MD/PhD, Spottswood realized lab life was not for her and pivoted to Harvard Law School, where a course on Delaware takeover doctrine (and the drama of corporate raiders and contested deals) hooked her on M&A.

The Texas Lawbook caught up with the Vinson & Elkins partner to talk about these topics, Texas transaction trends, including the ongoing consolidation in energy and more, as well as how important it is to enjoy a Friday afternoon margarita on the porch. At least when the Houston weather will actually allow you to do so.

November 30, 2025 Jeff Schnick

The 40-Year Legacy of Pennzoil v. Texaco — An Appeal for the Ages

Executives at Texaco woke up Nov. 20 — exactly 40 years ago today — like it was the morning after aliens attacked in the movie Independence Day. A day earlier, a Houston jury ruled the New York-based oil and gas giant had tortiously interfered with a 1984 agreement Getty Oil made to merge with Pennzoil and awarded Pennzoil $10.53 billion. Texaco’s stock took a beating — dropping from $80 per share when the litigation started to $32 the week following the trial. Some Wall Street analysts were openly warning about bankruptcy. The company’s convertible bonds plummeted in value. Texaco’s debt rating was cut by Standard & Poor’s. Interest accruing on the judgment was $2.8 million every single day.

Between Thanksgiving 1985 and Christmas 1987, the two energy companies and their ever-expanding roster of litigators did battle. The litigation itself multiplied, including a precedent-setting federal case in New York over Texaco’s appeals bond, a monumental appellate battle, a bizarre decision by the Texas Supreme Court, the world’s largest corporate bankruptcy at the time and a historic settlement.

Both sides hired major reinforcements — fresh legs and fresh eyes, if you will — as the trial teams had been going full speed for 21 straight months. The appeals team for Texaco beefed up with several heavy hitters from Fulbright & Jaworski and David Boies of Cravath in New York. Pennzoil added a Texas superstar in V&E’s Harry Reasoner and Laurence Tribe of Harvard Law School.

In Part II of our series looking back at the significance of the Pennzoil v. Texaco trial, The Lawbook examines the post-verdict appeals, which were historic and precedent-setting.

November 20, 2025 Mark Curriden & Alexa Shrake

Electricity Is the New Oil: Texas Power Deals Top $100 Billion So Far This Year

Texas is at the center of a historic boom in power and utility M&A, fueled by the massive energy demands of data center expansions and the global power race driven by the AI revolution.

It’s no secret that energy, particularly in the form of electricity, has become the foundation of dealmaking in anticipation of the need for hyperscale computing and data storage.

But the demand for power and utility deals, large and small, would be hard to overstate. In the first three quarters of 2025, Texas lawyers handled more M&A transactions involving power and utility projects than in any full year since 2018. Not only are there more deals, but they are larger. Far larger. In the first three quarters of 2025, Texas-related deals in the power and utilities sector hit $106.5 billion. By comparison, the record-setting M&A year of 2021 saw eight P&U transactions totaling $3.7 billion. (Photo by Stephanie Tacy/NurPhoto via AP)

November 16, 2025 Allen Pusey

The Art of the Complicated Deal: Dealmakers Level Up

Deals involving hundreds of millions and billions of dollars are, by their nature, complicated. But over the past two years, publicly reported deals, even as described in their regulatory releases, have grown more intricate and detailed. The reasons vary from deal to deal, but complexity has become a near constant.

November 2, 2025 Allen Pusey

Dynamic Energy Deal Duo: Catching up with Skadden’s Emery Choi and Mingda Zhao

Skadden’s Houston M&A group recently welcomed veteran oil and gas partners Emery Choi and Mingda Zhao, reuniting them with prominent Texas dealmaker Steve Gill. Together, Choi and Zhao bring years of experience steering energy sector clients through high-stakes M&A, joint ventures and cross-border investments. Their record includes leading transactions such as billion-dollar-plus deals for Continental Resources, Marathon Oil and Occidental Petroleum. The duo recently shared with The Texas Lawbook their insights on today’s energy M&A landscape, shifting capital trends and the evolving deal dynamics shaping the current market.

August 30, 2025 Jeff Schnick

Five Firms Lead Pack on H1 Lateral Hiring

Despite seven business-focused law firms in Texas boosting their ranks significantly through new hires, new data shows that lateral partner movement slowed during the first six months of 2025 — though the decline looks steeper than it really was because the first half of 2024 was a record-setting year for partner moves. The Texas offices of three law firms — Dykema, Greenberg Traurig and Jackson Walker — led the pack by each hiring nine partners from competitors during H1 2025.

July 31, 2025 Mark Curriden & Christi Trammell