Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
For the week ended June 13, the CDT Roundup reported on ten deals with a disclosed value of $11 billion.
A year ago at this time, the Roundup reported on nine deals with a combined disclosed value of $478 million.
By far the largest deal of the week was a massive venture involving PE, a sovereign fund, a power provider and a major chipmaker. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
A Dallas influencer who has cultivated an image for her 400,000 followers of a body-positive, health-conscious, family-friendly mother of three alleges an intimate apparel company “disempowered and humiliated” her by posting an AI-generated deepfake image appearing to show her partially nude body on Instagram. Tranchin’s lawyer, Brett Rosenthal of Reese Marketos, told The Texas Lawbook that EBY had not only disclaimed responsibility for the post, but at one point also threatened his client with a breach of contract claim after she declined to provide additional content to the company.
Following a weeklong trial, the 12-member jury awarded no damages Thursday morning after deliberating for nearly four and a half hours. A group of 13 investors had sued a Houston lawyer claiming he breached his fiduciary duty when he sold a property that formerly housed an LA Fitness for $8.5 million instead of a higher value.
Jerry Jones’ neighbor, reality TV show actor and Dallas developer Bill Hutchinson, has been sued by three anonymous plaintiffs claiming he sexually assaulted them. The women also sued Virgin Hotel Dallas, of which he is a minority owner, alleging it was negligent and aware of his behavior toward young women but failed to act. Counsel gave opening statements Thursday morning.
A Los Angeles jury hit Johnson & Johnson with a $32 million verdict in favor of the family of a woman who used the company’s baby powder for years and died of mesothelioma. Johnson & Johnson has vowed to "immediately appeal."
Two Texas law firms this week have joined a half-dozen national law firms in announcing associate compensation increases of $10,000 for new and more junior lawyers and $20,000 salary jumps for more senior associates.
The pay hikes will raise compensation for first-year associates to $235,000, fourth-year lawyers to $320,000, and the base salary for eighth-year associates — the year before being up for partnership — to $445,000. With annual bonuses, many corporate law firms will pay their most senior and successful associates nearly $600,000 annually.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Houston appellate court parses who owes a duty of care in a wrongful death lawsuit involving a crash allegedly caused by a driver who was engaging in phone sex, and investigators with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s Fort Worth regional office reach a deal to end claims a Dallas-based real estate investment company president was lying to investors.
For the week ended June 6, there were 14 deals reported to CDT Roundup with a combined disclosed value of about $9.5 billion.
That said, you might take note of the overabundance of material covered in our Late Arrivals and Other Matters section, as well as other deals in this week's edition.
A jury trial began in Dallas County Judge Maria Aceves’ courtroom Wednesday in a breach of contract and fiduciary duty case over two men whose business partnership soured. The property at the center of the suit was once an LA Fitness next to the old Valley View mall, which the Dallas Mavericks have announced will be their new arena and an entertainment district.
The analytical drug discovery and development services and research company Inotiv and 18 of its affiliated entities filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Wednesday in the Southern District of Texas.
Inotiv, which cites $500 million to $1 billion in both liabilities and assets, hired Ropes & Gray and Hunton Andrews Kurth as its lead legal advisors.
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