Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
Is Dallas-based developer Mike Ward a shrewd, hardworking businessman who has made a few mistakes? Or is he a power-hungry conman who used illegal transfers to steal millions of dollars over 20-plus years from the Property Owners Association at The Cliffs Resort?
David Houck had no interest in the oil and gas industry when he first became a lawyer. Now, more than four decades later, he is considered the dean of the energy bar. ACC Houston and The Texas Lawbook are rewarding his work and lifetime of learning with a Lifetime Achievement Award in the 2019 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards.
Litigation finance firm Longford Capital announced Tuesday that it is opening an office in Dallas. The Chicago-based private investment company has hired John Garda, a commercial litigator who has been the managing partner of the Dallas office of K&L Gates, to lead its Texas operations. The Texas Lawbook has the insider details.
As The Texas Lawbook has noted, capital markets activity – especially in the energy industry – has been moribund so far this year. Last week, the Austin analytics provider Drillinginfo confirmed that unsettling view. While the $22 billion worth of debt and equity raised in the first quarter was up 9% over the fourth, it was down a concerning 45% year-over-year. Drillinginfo says Wall Street is enforcing discipline in the energy sector, and in her weekly Roundup, Claire Poole describes exactly what that means.
The legal battle stems from an October 2013 incident in which Camille Grammer alleges her ex-boyfriend assaulted her in a Houston hotel room after they got in an argument. The defamation trial is U.S. District Judge Karen Gren Scholer's second jury trial since joining the bench last year. Natalie Posgate is in the courtroom.
One of the most discussed parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 is IRC section 199A, which includes the complex rules for determining when a taxpayer can deduct up to 20% of certain “pass-through” income. Jason Freeman of Freeman Law provides an analysis of the Treasury's final regulations governing this provision.
With the help of a deep-pocketed backer, property owners are duking it out with the owner of the resort, who says he has been unfairly targeted.
A state district judge in Harris County has ordered two former executives of a Superior Energy subsidiary to pay $72 million, after a jury ruled in December that they committed fraud, breached their fiduciary duties and misappropriated trade secrets against their former company. Natalie Posgate reports.
Early last week, M&A activity for the year was lagging. Then came the $33 billion sale of Anadarko to Chevron. With that deal, everything changed – at least statistically. The equity and debt markets continue to be stingy, so what do companies do for new capital? Claire Poole has the answer, along with her weekly roundup of deals involving Texas lawyers.
Corporate lawyers operating in Texas made a record-smashing amount of money in 2018. Exclusive new research by The Texas Lawbook shows that the top 50 business law firms with offices in Dallas, Houston and Austin generated just a hair shy of $6 billion in revenues in 2018 – a 6% increase from 2017. Twenty-six corporate law firms worked more hours and collected more dollars last year than ever before. Several elite legal practices had huge financial gains last year. A few large Texas legacy law firms experienced significant economic declines in 2018. The Texas Lawbook has the details.
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