After being dragged into six fights by a former associate who alleges he’s owed back wages — before the labor commissions in California and Texas, the bar associations in each state and courts there — the Berg & Androphy partner David Berg is asking a Harris County district judge to sanction Justin Carl Pfeiffer. In an answer and counterclaim filed Monday, Berg referred to Pfeiffer as “unhinged” and a “vexatious litigant” who “harasses all whom he claims have wronged him.”
Texas M&A Law Firm Rankings Q1-Q3
The Texas lawyers at 12 corporate law firms were involved as lead counsel in 20 or more M&A deals during the first nine months of 2022. Four firms were lead legal advisors in more than 60 deals. One firm saw its attorneys in Austin, Dallas and Houston hit triple digits in deal count for lead legal advisors during the first three quarters of 2022.
The Texas Lawbook has released its exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker M&A law firm rankings for Jan. 1 through Sept. 30. The mission is to document transactional work done by lawyers in the Lone Star state.
CDT Roundup: 21 Deals, 15 Firms, 212 Lawyers, $2.9B
As financing costs continue to endure at higher levels, no region seems to have been spared a drop in deal value — even when deals continue at an active pace. A recent Mergermarket report notes that even in the southern U.S., often a statistical outlier, the value of mergers and acquisitions are depressed as smaller deals in sectors like technology and communications gain in number. The CDT Roundup has more on the Mergermarket report, naming a few of the big deals that led the quarter — along with a cavalcade of Texas lawyers who reported their involvement in 21 transactions last week.
GOP Missive to ESG Practitioners: Real Threat or Political Theater?
Whatever its purpose or intent, a letter from five GOP senators to 51 lawyers involved in ESG transactions at their firms was mystifying to those who would talk about it. Sent five days in advance of the recent mid-term elections, the threatening tone of the letters was in keeping with a series of attempts to curb, through their lawyers, corporate support for environmental mandates, energy transition investments and changes in corporate governance — despite increasingly vocal and influential investor demand.
P.S. — Holiday Giving Begins
Holiday giving is already ubiquitous across the Texas legal community. A few ways lawyers are giving back are through turkey meal deliveries, food drives and suit donations. All in this week’s P.S. column.
Governor’s Justice Appointments in Volkswagen, Audi Case Stand
The German car manufacturers had argued that Gov. Greg Abbott shouldn’t be allowed to hand-pick two justices from lower courts to replace the two Texas Supreme Court justices who recused themselves from deciding the lawsuit Texas is bringing against them.
Diamondback Grabs Midland Basin Properties from Lario Oil for $1.4B
Kirkland advised the buyer and V&E the seller in what is proving to be a dramatic pickup in second-half oil and gas deals.