Plenty Unlimited Incorporated, a Wyoming-based vertical farming company, and six of its affiliated entities, announced Sunday that it had voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 protection in the Southern District of Texas.
How This Third-Year Haynes Boone Associate Became ‘Professor Potts’
Haynes Boone associate Bradley Potts credits a high school teacher for making him believe he could and should become a lawyer. But that teacher instilled something else in Potts: a love for teachers and teaching. And starting this semester at the UT School of Law, his students are learning what the real world of finance practice looks like from the ground up. Nick Peck explains how that happened after only three years of actual practice.
Paul Weiss: Competitor Law Firms Came for Our Clients, Not to Help Us
The chairman of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison — a global corporate law firm that has been working to open an office in Houston — said in a memo to its lawyers Sunday that he tried to get other large law firms to join together to fight against the Trump administration’s attacks on his firm and other law firms, but none did. “Disappointingly, far from support, we learned that certain other firms were seeking to exploit our vulnerabilities by aggressively soliciting our clients and recruiting our attorneys,” Brad Karp wrote in a 1,620-word letter, which was first obtained and published by The American Lawyer. The firm counts Texas energy giants Exxon Mobil, Chevron and Noble Corp. as major clients. The firm is currently the lead legal advisor for Party City in its bankruptcy case in Houston.
CDT Roundup: First Quarter Deadline for Filing Deals is Two Weeks Away
In this edition of CDT Roundup for the week ending March 22, the Corporate Deal Tracker saw 18 deals with an aggregate value of $5.2 billion. That eclipses the prior week in volume (13 deals) but falls far short in value ($13.7 billion). Still, the week parses well against the same week last year which saw 18 deals for $5.4 billion. Also, The Lawbook has new 2025 quarterly deadlines for deal submissions to qualify for its annual firm and lawyer deal rankings. Firms and lawyers who wish to be considered for the first quarter and year-end Lawbook leaderboards for M&A and CapM must submit all of their first-quarter deals by April 7 at 5 p.m.
UPDATED: At Justice’s Request, Stephen Hammer Argues First SCOTUS Case
A fourth-year associate in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher made his first oral argument at the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday when he defended a ruling by a lower court that neither the U.S. Justice Department nor the defendant in the case believe was correct.
Energy Transfer Wins $660M Jury Verdict Against Greenpeace in Dakota Access Pipeline Case
The torts and defamation case centered on the role of Greenpeace, the activist international environmental group, on protests in 2016 and 2017 against a controversial North Dakota pipeline. Greenpeace, based in the Netherlands, said the verdict could cause an end to its U.S. organization. Trey Cox, a Dallas partner at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, led the legal effort for the plaintiffs with an all-Texas team.
Justices Dig Into Preemption Issue in Boeing, Southwest Airlines Pilots Association Case
The crux of the case is whether the Railway Labor Act preempts the claims brought by SWAPA. Boeing says it does because deciding the case requires interpretation of the collective bargaining agreement between Southwest Airlines and its pilots. SWAPA says the RLA does not preempt its suit because the act only applies to claims between airline carriers and employees, and Boeing is not either of those.
Special Master Tells Judge Gilstrap ‘Bad Faith Conduct’ Requires Sanction of Irell & Manella Lawyers
Samsung had asked the court to sanction opposing counsel in a sealed motion filed in October, alleging attorneys representing CogniPower had deposed a Samsung representative using a doctored document. David Folsom of Texarkana was appointed by the court to serve as special master and investigate the issue in October.
NCAA Beats Back Texas’ ‘Sex Screening’ Temporary Injunction Bid
The NCAA had told the court there was no evidence to support Texas’ contention that any men were competing in women’s sports. “As previously represented to this Court, the NCAA is not aware of any transgender female student-athletes in any division of women’s college basketball. Moreover, even if there were, the 2025 policy would prevent them from competing.”
SCOTX Considers Ownership of ‘Produced Water’
Advances in technologies to treat water produced from oil and gas fracking operations has made what was a worthless by-product into a potentially valuable resource. It’s now worth fighting for, as evidenced by arguments in the closely watched case of Cactus Water Services v. Cog Operating.