Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
National law firms seeking to open in Texas repeatedly called Dick Sayles and Mark Werbner in recent years, but the duo always chose to stay partners at their Dallas litigation boutique. Until now. After 25 years, Sayles Werbner has closed.
The Eleventh Court of Appeals ended 2018 by tossing $43.1 million of a nearly $50 million West Texas jury award, ruling that a group of West Texas oil and gas investors who called themselves "partners" had no partnership at all. Allen Pusey explains.
As the legal environment becomes more competitive, law firms are expanding into markets that offer lower costs, strong business environments and large, growing millennial populations – including markets like Austin, Dallas and Houston – according to a new report from commercial real estate firm CBRE.
There are lots of reasons for mergers and acquisitions: to simplify corporate structure; to diversify product mix; to extend geographic reach. There is also the need for cash: to pay down debt, to boost shareholder return or to invest in lucrative prospects. In her Top 10 Texas M&A Deals, Claire Poole found an array of those motives on display in 2018.
In yet another show of support for mandatory arbitration, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled unanimously that a duly assigned arbitrator has the power to decide a dispute, even when it involves conflicting court orders. The Lawbook's Janet Elliott explains.
As the year ends, at least one trend is becoming clear: private equity funds are getting larger, generating a need for more and bigger investments. In her weekly Roundup, The Lawbook’s Claire Poole shows how that will likely affect dealmaking in 2019.
The general counsel and corporate legal departments at Adeptus Health, AT&T, Capital One, EnLink Midstream, Interstate Batteries, J.C. Penney, Kimberly-Clark, Match, North Texas Tollway Authority, NGP Energy Capital, Pier 1 and Toyota are finalists for the 2018 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards in North Texas. The Lawbook has details.
U.S. District Judge Reed O’Connor has become the federal judge that Republican state attorneys general and politically conservative special interest groups across the U.S. turn to when they want a federal law or policy overturned or banned. And he has not disappointed. Legal experts say that O’Connor’s decision Friday striking down the Affordable Care Act made him an automatic finalist for future openings on the federal appeals court.
With a new year barreling in, what do we expect of 2019? Well, maybe a slow start, at least in IPOs. New issues are likely down for 2018, and though their value is up, that might not continue. Still, in a slow starting season there are a few issues that may hit the market soon. The Lawbook's Claire Poole has the names and numbers in her weekly CDT Roundup
Neiman Marcus countered a $1 billion fraudulent transfer lawsuit filed by one of its debtholders, charging that the suit is part of an illegal scheme for the debtholder to injure the Dallas-based luxury retailer and “extract improper benefits for itself.” The Lawbook's Natalie Posgate details the new litigation.
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