Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
The U.S. Department of Justice filed suit in Northern California Thursday seeking to block the $14 billion acquisition of Juniper Networks by Texas-based Hewlett Packard Enterprise Company. Although investigated and recommended during the Biden Administration, the lawsuit is the first major regulatory litigation by the incoming Trump Administration.
Bernard Tubeileh, the former head of U.S. operations for Global Oil & Gas of Germany, says the company knew about the payments, mostly in the form of commissions paid through a third party, and authorized them — though the details aren’t in writing.
The Human Rights Defense Center is suing Grayson County and the sheriff, claiming the facility’s rejection of books, magazines and other materials sent to inmates violates the organization’s First and Fourteenth Amendment rights. The lawsuit, filed in September, argues that the jail’s policies prevent inmates from receiving important legal literature, with no clear process for challenging rejections. U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant had questions for both sides during a hearing Monday on the plaintiff’s motion for a preliminary injunction.
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, an ExxonMobil unit is hit with a $5.6 million jury verdict in Houston, Amazon, after appealing to the Texas Supreme Court but before any real movement in the appeal, settles a wrongful death lawsuit in which it alleged a state district judge was going to force it to disclose confidential and proprietary information, and a trade secrets fight between competing compounding pharmacies heats up.
When Micheal W. Dobbs took his first in-house job and joined Texas Pacific Land Corporation in August 2020, the pandemic was raging and the company was in the midst of arguably the biggest change in its more than 132-year history: transitioning from operating as a liquidating business trust to a Delaware corporation. He is now the senior vice president, secretary and general counsel of TPL, which is one of the largest landowners in the state. Dobbs and his outside counsel at Sidley have been named as one of two finalists for the 2024 Business Litigation of the Year Award by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
To be a success in the legal profession hinges much more on how you work than where you work. Taking ownership of your own success and not expecting someone else to provide it for you is every bit as important today as it was 40 years ago. But what the series revealed is that different generations have a different sense of what go-getting looks like today.
Diversified Energy Company has agreed to acquire a private Houston-based oil and gas company, Maverick Natural Resources, for $1.275 billion from EIG Partners. Lawyers from Kirkland, Latham and Gibson Dunn are advising on the deal.
Jacobs GC Justin Johnson began his legal journey inspired by criminal law depicted in TV dramas. Initially pursuing criminal defense, he worked on felony appeals during law school. However, a 2L summer assignment shifted his focus to M&A. Captivated by its pace and complexity, Johnson is now known for his ability to calmly direct complex deals — and that’s why he is a 2024 finalist for the DFW M&A Deal of the Year Award.
Last year was a year of transition, particularly in M&A. According to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, that augurs a really optimistic outlook for M&A in 2025. Simplifications in strategies, governance and geography are driving a surge in M&A, particularly the corporate variety. This week's Roundup looks at the data behind the Goldman optimism, as well as the deals that shaped last week.
Days after becoming the new Drake Software GC in 2022, Willa Kalaidjian learned Cinven was buying Dallas-based digital tax filing platform TaxAct for $720 million. Kalaidjian's assignment: Help develop a new name for the combined businesses and lead the integration. Enter TaxAct senior counsel Nicola Hobeiche, who joined the new company via the merger. The duo immediately started the lengthy process integrating legal, compliance, procurement and legislative affairs. But they also had to simultaneously address a potentially devastating threat to the company: a series of class-action lawsuits filed in California, Illinois and Pennsylvania and separate charges brought by multiple state attorneys general related to the allegations of improper use of personal and financial information by a third-party vendor for TaxAct. Citing the extraordinary achievements of the legal department of five, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Taxwell as one of two finalists for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Corporate Legal Department of the Year.
© Copyright 2025 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.
