Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Exxon petitions the U.S. Supreme Court to halt climate change cases, a former Honeywell International employee had religious exemptions for the COVID-19 vaccine, Tesla faces a federal class action lawsuit over robotaxi safety, a $15 million jury verdict was reversed in favor of CenterPoint Energy and more.
Kerrie Forbes stood behind a huge red ribbon on the tarmac at Orange County’s John Wayne Airport with a 30-seat JSX jet behind her. It was 11 a.m. on April 28, the grand opening of JSX’s new Southern California airport terminal, which Forbes describes as her best day on the job since she joined JSX as chief legal officer in January 2024. Orange County was the 2016 birthplace of JSX — a now Dallas-headquartered public charter jet operator offering business-class service to more than 350,000 passengers last year — and the site of its rebirth of sorts nine years later. Legal industry experts say that Forbes, who was an in-house lawyer at Southwest Airlines for 16 years, was the perfect lawyer to be JSX’s first general counsel. She recently discussed her career and more in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook.
Fifty-six Texas emergency medical physician groups will get to pursue legal claims that two dozen Blue Cross Blue Shield insurance plans underpaid them for treating patients. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Friday that a Texas federal judge wrongly dismissed hundreds and hundreds of claims for tens of millions of dollars by ER doctors from Texarkana to Port Arthur and from Collin County to Odessa.
The week ending Aug. 9 was a strong one by any measure: 19 deals for $16 billion. It follows 17 deals at $19 billion the week prior and compares very favorably with 20 deals for $12 billion this time last year. There were, of course, a healthy number involving data centers or data center infrastructure. Those will be moving the dial for a while. But the word that best describes the week is "wrinkled." Because there were lots of wrinkles. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
A Texas freight trucking company brought a complaint to the Texas Business Court, alleging an Indiana company caused $28 million in damages for alleged fraudulent schemes. The defendant calls the complaint “baseless” in a motion to dismiss.
The number of business-focused law firms offering summer bonuses to associates is growing. New York-based corporate law firm Milbank became the largest firm to announce that it is offering summer bonuses for its associates. Two DFW boutique law firms, Bell Nunnally and Vartabedian, Hester & Haynes, announced during the past week that their partners were paying their associates summer bonuses in excess of $5,000. The managing partners at Vartabedian and Bell Nunnally said they are simply rewarding everyone's hard work and to share some of the fruits of a successful first half of the year.
Vinson & Elkins and Gibson Dunn advised on the deal, which extends Western Midstream's reach for critical water resources into Eastern New Mexico.
Two major energy companies announced earnings Wednesday and both revealed upstream deal activity valued at more than $2 billion. ConocoPhillips announced a $1.3 billion sale of assets in the Anadarko Basin, which was advised by Haynes Boone.
GWG Holdings bondholders call for U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Marvin Isgur to step away from the case, alleging he is protecting David Jones, a former bankruptcy judge, and Elizabeth Freeman, a former Jackson Walker partner with whom Jones had an undisclosed romantic relationship.
Intelligent Wellhead Systems’ lawsuit alleging patent infringement against Downing Wellhead Equipment was dismissed by an Eastern District Court judge this week. This is the second win Haynes Boone has seen for Downing this summer.
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