Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The first bench trial for the Texas Business Court resulted in a win for Marathon Oil in Houston. Marathon filed its declaratory judgment lawsuit after Mercuria claimed Marathon owed it $17.4 million for failing to deliver natural gas during Winter Storm Uri in 2021.
Sanderson Farms, five East Texas poultry and cattle farms and the Consolidated Water Supply Corporation have asked an Anderson County judge to reject legal efforts by Dallas businessman Kyle Bass to intervene in their water rights litigation.
The Lanier Firm was among the six law firms that filed suit against Camp Mystic Monday, joining Yetter Coleman, Arnold & Itkin, Howry Breen & Herman, Tefteller Law and The Armstrong Firm. In total, 15 families are represented across four lawsuits. The flood killed 25 campers and two counselors at the camp. According to those involved in the litigation, more lawsuits are expected to be filed in coming days, but some families have decided against legal action.
Camp Mystic and the family that runs the Christian girls summer camp have been accused of putting “profit over safety” by the families of seven campers and two counselors who died in the July 4 flood.
Three separate lawsuits were filed Monday in Travis County district court.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann has been tapped to represent a trading card company that accuses Irving-based Panini America of using its market dominance to stifle competition and create a monopoly in the industry, and Jackson Walker is hit with a new lawsuit over the scandal involving its former bankruptcy partner and a sitting judge.
Another jury trial stemming from the Watson Grinding explosion that killed three people and destroyed hundreds of homes in 2020 recently ended in Harris County. The plaintiffs were seven victims of the explosion. The two-week trial ended with a verdict against 3M Company.
There were standing ovations and dancing celebrations, boisterous cheers and even many tears at the inaugural 2025 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Awards on Thursday. The stories of extraordinary business and legal successes achieved by in-house corporate lawyers at San Antonio’s most prominent businesses — Whataburger, Valero, USAA, BioBridge Global, UT San Antonio, Zachry Group, VisionWorks, Howard Energy and OCI — were toasted and memorialized. The Texas Lawbook has photos from the awards event.
The aerospace manufacturer, founded in 2011, is being sold to Nashville-based Arcline Investment Management. Kirkland & Ellis, Ropes & Gray and Paul Hastings are legal advisors on the deal.
The week ended Nov. 8 began with one of the largest deals in years, as Irving consumer products giant Kimberly-Clark acquired the manufacturer of Tylenol. Overall, CDT saw 21 deals with a total value of nearly $76 billion for the week ending Nov. 8. That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Also in this edition of P.S., the Good Apple Dinner celebrated Shell USA’s Travis Torrence, who delivered an inspirational speech to “stand tall.” The event raised a record $745,788 for the nonprofit public interest law center. And Jackson Walker launched its first firmwide “6-1-1 Day of Service,” uniting all six offices to prepare thousands of meals for Texas families — an effort that took on added meaning amid the federal government shutdown.
© Copyright 2026 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
