Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this edition of Asked & Answered, trial lawyer Chrysta Castañeda reflects on her career and offers advice for young lawyers. While she has closed her firm, retiring for good is not in her plans.
While I gravitate toward fiction, I do enjoy mixing in leadership and business books to challenge myself and broaden my perspective, but I won’t stray from fiction for too long, as I am convinced that even the lightest works of fiction offer valuable insights. Each of these works has moved me profoundly, resonating with me on a personal level. They all share themes that have shaped my outlook and contributed to my understanding of myself and the world.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, we give you details on the unusual terms of a settlement Texas reached with Cal-Maine Foods in a price gouging suit, the U.S. Court of Appeals issues a ruling being hailed as a victory for taxpayers, and a doctor in the Valley goes to prison for fraud involving adult day care centers.
A proposed class action lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Texas claims former bankruptcy Judge David Jones, former Jackson Walker bankruptcy partner Elizabeth Freeman and major law firms allegedly hid the romantic relationship between Jones and Freeman. Jones resigned from the bench in 2023 after news of his relationship with Freeman was publicly reported.
Energy Transfer Partners faced months of protests that delayed the Dakota Access Pipeline, prompting a defamation suit against Greenpeace and allied groups over allegedly false statements that fueled sometimes‑violent demonstrations.
Sam Hardy became deputy general counsel in 2022, inheriting the case and hiring Gibson Dunn’s Trey and Collin Cox and former Judge Gregg Costa, valuing their deep trial experience and alignment with Energy Transfer’s aggressive, trial‑ready culture. By 2025, the company sought $350 million; a North Dakota jury instead awarded $667 million, including $400 million in punitive damages.
Hardy’s team also won a complete defense win in a $150 million fraud and contract case against Goldman Sachs and secured a $15 million settlement of a securities class action once valued above $2.1 billion, earning Hardy the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook’s recognition as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
The week ending Jan. 17 saw 19 deals reported to the CDT Roundup with a total value of more than $18.4 billion.
The week prior had 18 deals valued at nearly $9 billion, and there were 19 deals worth about $7.4 billion during the same week last year. But last week was the best week by value since an absurd 21-deal, $75 billion week in early November.
That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.
Adam Shulman lives by two lessons from his father: anything becomes interesting when examined closely, and mastery begins with the willingness to be terrible.
As vice president of corporate global strategy and development at Dallas-based Celanese, Shulman applies both principles daily. Celanese is a global leader in producing specialized chemicals and engineered materials essential to countless industries, from cellulose acetate used in glasses and packaging to high-performance polymers found in solar panels and orthopedic implants.
This appreciation for complexity and disciplined curiosity helped earn Shulman recognition from The Texas Lawbook and the DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel as a finalist for the 2025 M&A Transaction of the Year.
Mitsubishi Corp. said Friday that it has entered the U.S. shale gas business with the acquisition of specific assets from Dallas-based private investment firm Aethon Energy Management for about $7.5 billion. Latham & Watkins advised Aethon and Vinson & Elkins represented Mitsubishi.
The race for the 234th District Court bench in Harris County has gotten ugly.
Incumbent Judge Lauren Reeder and challenger Kim McTorry both allege the other played a role in trying to coerce them into dropping out of the race. The allegations range from threats to expose a brief decade-old affair to offers of a $50,000 bribe.
At the conclusion of a hearing that stretched across two days, Senior Judge Christi Kennedy, who was sitting on the case by assignment, determined Thursday night that McTorry's petition was invalid and ordered that she not appear on the March primary ballot.
Houston energy infrastructure company Talen Energy said Thursday that it has acquired two power generating plants in the PJM market from New Jersey-based investment firm Energy Capital Partners for $2.55 billion cash and about $900 million in stock. Talen General Counsel John Wander worked with Kirkland & Ellis and White & Case on the deal.
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