P.S. — DBA Honors Shonn Evans Brown with MLK Jr. Justice Award, SMU Law Secures Major First Amendment Clinic Funding, and More

In this edition of P.S., we spotlight the Dallas Bar Association’s Martin Luther King Jr. Justice Award Luncheon. During the event, Shonn Evans Brown of Heidelberg Materials North American was honored with the MLK Jr. Justice Award for her leadership, commitment to justice and service to the legal profession and broader community. We also share news that SMU Law donors met a fundraising goal set by the Stanton Foundation, which provided a $2 million endowment gift. There’re also some important dates you don’t want to miss: Attorneys Serving the Community has opened applications for its 2026–2027 beneficiary partnership, and the annual Champions of Justice Gala announced the date of its 2026 event. Last but not least, William Toles, a litigation shareholder at Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, has been selected to receive the James H. “Blackie” Holmes Award from the Dallas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

January 23, 2026 Krista Torralva & Elle Grinnell

Brett Barnes Helps Build Presidio into a Publicly Traded Powerhouse

Brett Barnes is a landman.

His title is general counsel for Presidio Production, a Fort Worth upstream oil & gas company. But Barnes is a landman. Maybe not in the sense of the popular Paramount streamer — "I've never been kidnapped by a cartel," he notes — but a landman, nonetheless.

For the last eight years, he's been GC at Presidio Petroleum, a company that acquires mature, producing oil and gas properties in a market that is hitting a newfound stride. The company is on the cusp of going public thanks to a deSPAC merger announced late last year.

The DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and The Texas Lawbook have named him 2025 GC of the Year for a Solo Legal Department.

January 21, 2026 Allen Pusey & Mark Curriden

Asked & Answered with Chrysta Castañeda: Cases, Career and Coffee

In this edition of Asked & Answered, trial lawyer Chrysta Castañeda reflects on her career and offers advice for young lawyers. While she has closed her firm, retiring for good is not in her plans.

January 21, 2026 Alexa Shrake

My Five Favorite Books: Kristen Cook (Chief Legal Officer at The Brink’s Company)

While I gravitate toward fiction, I do enjoy mixing in leadership and business books to challenge myself and broaden my perspective, but I won’t stray from fiction for too long, as I am convinced that even the lightest works of fiction offer valuable insights. Each of these works has moved me profoundly, resonating with me on a personal level. They all share themes that have shaped my outlook and contributed to my understanding of myself and the world.

January 21, 2026 Kristen Cook

Litigation Roundup: Egg-Cellent Settlement Nets 2.1M Eggs for Texas Food Banks

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we give you details on the unusual terms of a settlement Texas reached with Cal-Maine Foods in a price gouging suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals issues a ruling being hailed as a victory for taxpayers, and a doctor in the Valley goes to prison for fraud involving adult day care centers. 

January 20, 2026 Michelle Casady

Bondholder Sues Ex-Judge Jones, Firms Over SDTX Bankruptcy Scandal

A proposed class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Texas claims former bankruptcy Judge David Jones, former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman and major law firms allegedly hid the romantic relationship between Jones and Freeman. Jones resigned from the bench in 2023 after news of his relationship with Freeman was publicly reported.

January 20, 2026 Alexa Shrake

Energy Dominates as Deals Hit $18.4B (The Best Week Since November)

The week ending Jan. 17 saw 19 deals reported to the CDT Roundup with a total value of more than $18.4 billion.

The week prior had 18 deals valued at nearly $9 billion, and there were 19 deals worth about $7.4 billion during the same week last year. But last week was the best week by value since an absurd 21-deal, $75 billion week in early November.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

January 18, 2026 Jason Philyaw

Look Closer, Think Bigger: The M&A Mindset of Celanese’s Adam Shulman

Adam Shulman lives by two lessons from his father: anything becomes interesting when examined closely, and mastery begins with the willingness to be terrible.

As vice president of corporate global strategy and development at Dallas-based Celanese, Shulman applies both principles daily. Celanese is a global leader in producing specialized chemicals and engineered materials essential to countless industries, from cellulose acetate used in glasses and packaging to high-performance polymers found in solar panels and orthopedic implants.

This appreciation for complexity and disciplined curiosity helped earn Shulman recognition from The Texas Lawbook and the DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel as a finalist for the 2025 M&A Transaction of the Year.

January 18, 2026 Allen Pusey & Mark Curriden

Mitsubishi Enters U.S. Shale Business with $7.5B Deal

Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday that it has entered the U.S. shale gas business with the acquisition of specific assets from Dallas-based private investment firm Aethon Energy Management for about $7.5 billion. Latham & Watkins advised Aethon and Vinson & Elkins represented Mitsubishi.

January 16, 2026 Jason Philyaw

Harris County Judge Lauren Reeder Succeeds in Keeping Challenger Off Ballot

The race for the 234th District Court bench in Harris County has gotten ugly.

Incumbent Judge Lauren Reeder and challenger Kim McTorry both allege the other played a role in trying to coerce them into dropping out of the race. The allegations range from threats to expose a brief decade-old affair to offers of a $50,000 bribe.

At the conclusion of a hearing that stretched across two days, Senior Judge Christi Kennedy, who was sitting on the case by assignment, determined Thursday night that McTorry's petition was invalid and ordered that she not appear on the March primary ballot.

January 15, 2026 Michelle Casady