Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The CDT Roundup occasionally spotlights a lawyer whose pops up in connection with one of our larger deals. Mitch Tiras has popped up lots of times over the years, this last week in connection with the $1.54 billion Quanta Services acquisition of Cupertino Electric. We take a quick look at his recent work, along with the usual list of deals reported last week and the lawyers behind them.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a Whistleblower who sued Kellogg, Brown and Root sees his $1.1 million recovery wiped out on appeal, another class action lawsuit over a data breach is filed against AT&T and a Uri-related gas delivery fight against Pioneer Natural Resources is revived.
A mostly Texas team from Akin Gump advised Tellurian while Norton Rose Fulbright advised Woodside, which the Australian company claims positions it to be a global LNG powerhouse.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman advised Spokane-based Clearwater on the deal, which included lawyers from Austin. Sofidel, a major provider of tissue products in Europe and eight states in the U.S., says it plans to continue its expansion in North American markets.
The lateral partner market in Texas hit a fevered pitch during the first six months of 2024 — especially in Houston and among litigation practices, according to exclusive Texas Lawbook data. Some big-name lawyers changed locations during H1 2024. Dozens of the lateral partner moves are the result of a few law firms opening new offices in Texas. Four law firms took their first plunge into the Texas legal market by hiring lateral partners. Lawbook database manager Christi Trammell and reporter Mark Curriden provide the inside numbers and Lotus Legal Search Founder Kate Cassidy offers the analysis.
U.S. Chief Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo Rodriguez officially administered the oath Tuesday to former Weil, Gotshal & Manges partner Alfredo Perez to become the newest bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of Texas. In an order signed July 16 by Chief Judge Rodriguez, Judge Perez will immediately join the Southern District’s complex case panel, which handles larger corporate Chapter 11 bankruptcies. Judge Perez, who will have chambers in Galveston, replaces former Houston Bankruptcy Judge David Jones.
Doubling down on an argument that was central in its original petition to the court, The Boeing Company told the Texas Supreme Court in a motion for rehearing filed Wednesday that without intervention, Texas will remain “a national outlier on conflict preemption under the federal Railway Labor Act.” The aerospace company is hoping to bring an end to a lawsuit brought by the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association alleging Boeing’s false representations about the airworthiness of the 737 MAX aircraft cost it millions of dollars.
Creditors and debtors in a Texas Two-Step bankruptcy case in Houston reached an agreement Wednesday that both sides believe will resolve more than 200 medical malpractice claims brought by inmates against prison healthcare provider Tehum Care Services, a subsidiary of Corizon Health. Tehum, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 2023, agreed to pay $75 million to creditors, including the plaintiffs who accuse Corizon and Tehum of providing inadequate medical care that led to injuries and deaths at about 50 prisons in more than two-dozen states.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is overstepping its authority and bringing unfair enforcement actions against the cryptocurrency industry, several interested parties have argued in amicus briefs filed in a lawsuit asking Judge Reed C. O'Connor to rule that digital assets are not securities. LEJILEX, a Texas company that intends to launch a digital asset trading platform, filed suit against the SEC in February. Seven states also argue the SEC’s aggressive actions threaten to preempt dozens of state laws.
Out-of-state lawyers led the Hunton Andrews Kurth team that counseled the buyer and a Dallas group from Winston assisted the seller on the transaction, which comes with a 30-day "go-shop" period.
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