Court Stays Susman’s Challenge to President’s EO During Gov’t Shutdown; Trustee Seeks Same Against Jackson Walker

Citing the shutdown of the federal government, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit issued an order Wednesday staying all proceedings in the litigation brought by U.S. law firms related to presidential executive orders seeking to punish them for representing clients that President Donald Trump opposes. Meanwhile, 1,400 miles southwest, the U.S. Trustee in Houston has asked the federal court to issue the same order in the government’s litigation against the Jackson Walker law firm related to the romance scandal involving former bankruptcy judge David Jones in the Southern District of Texas.

October 9, 2025 Mark Curriden

ARM Announces $2.3B FID on Mustang Express Pipeline

Vinson & Elkins advised ARM Energy Holdings on the decision, which will link Texas gas fields with Sempra's Port Arthur LNG Phase 2 project on the Texas Gulf Coast.

October 9, 2025 Allen Pusey

Midwest Law Firm with Texas Offices Merges with Northeast Firm

Cincinnati-based Frost Brown Todd, which has operations in Dallas and Houston, announced Wednesday that it is merging with the Newark-headquartered law firm Gibbons. The merged firm will be called FBT Gibbons and will have about 800 lawyers in 25 offices across the country.

October 8, 2025 Mark Curriden

SCOTX Hears Arguments in Nicotine Pouch Tax Appeal

The justices fired off questions about olive oil, wine, banana bread and podiums in trying to suss out where the line should be drawn on what constitutes a product “made of tobacco or a tobacco substitute.” The decision on whether nicotine pouches can be taxed as a tobacco product could have wide implications as the popularity of the products continues to grow. 

October 8, 2025 Michelle Casady

Blackfin Tells Conroe It Will Move Location of Challenged Compressor Station 

The lawyer representing the owners of a luxury home furnishings store in Conroe who argued the facility next door violated a restrictive covenant called the decision a “complete victory” for his clients. The 193-mile long Blackfin Pipeline is intended to ship gas from Colorado County, just west of Houston along Interstate 10, to Jasper County, just north of Beaumont. 

October 8, 2025 Michelle Casady

Once a Patient in Need, this Houston Lawyer Helps Medical Services Charity Heal Others

Houston attorney Allan Kirk, a mergers and acquisitions partner at Kirkland & Ellis, drew on his own childhood experience with clubfoot and his faith-driven desire to help others when he helped Christ Clinic — a faith-based healthcare provider for low-income and uninsured patients — secure a pro bono legal team from his firm. Kirkland aided the clinic’s joint venture with Innovative Wellness, expanding access to care in the Houston area. 

October 7, 2025 Krista Torralva

GWG Bankruptcy Litigation Trustee Strikes Proposed Deal with Beneficient 

The court-appointed litigation trustee overseeing the GWG Holdings bankruptcy has asked a federal judge to approve a settlement with its subsidiary Beneficient that would clear the way for the parties to jointly go after Beneficient’s former director and chief executive officer, Brad Heppner. 

October 7, 2025 Michelle Casady

Dallas-Based DOBS Gets Whopping $966M Verdict Against J&J in California 

Dean Omar Branham Shirley, which has racked up numerous wins on behalf of clients who allege Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder caused their mesothelioma, has done it again. 

In a verdict returned by a California jury Monday evening, jurors determined Mae Moore, who died in December 2021 of mesothelioma, was exposed to Johnson’s baby powder or Shower to Shower, a body powder product, that contained asbestos, that the company was negligent in selling the product and that it was a substantial cause of Moore contracting mesothelioma.

October 6, 2025 Michelle Casady

Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Revives Securities Fraud Suit

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Jerry Jones takes an “L” in his latest bid to bring an early end to a sexual assault lawsuit, American Airlines is hit with a permanent injunction in an ESG-related investor suit, and a Houston-based furniture company secures a $2.1 million final judgment.

October 6, 2025 Michelle Casady

DOJ Seeks Stay of EO Proceedings Involving Susman Godfrey

The U.S. Justice Department has asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to issue a stay of all proceedings involving the litigation between the Trump administration and four law firms, including Susman Godfrey, until the government shutdown is over.

October 6, 2025 Mark Curriden