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Dallas-Based DOBS Gets $1.5B Verdict in Latest Johnson & Johnson Baby Powder Jury Trial  - Dallas-based Dean Omar Branham Shirley on Monday secured a $1.5 billion verdict against Johnson & Johnson and other defendants in a jury trial in Baltimore, a figure which includes a whopping $1 billion in punitive damages assessed only against Johnson & Johnson.  December 22, 2025Michelle Casady
Harbour Energy buys LLOG Exploration for $3.2B - Harbour Energy said Monday that it agreed to acquire Louisiana-based LLOG Exploration Co. for $3.2 billion, including $2.7 billion cash and $500 million of common stock, giving the U.K. oil company its first deepwater presence in the U.S. Bracewell advised Harbour with a team led by partners in London, Houston and Washington, D.C. December 22, 2025Jason Philyaw
Troutman Pepper Locke Leads Pro Bono Nuisance Suit Against Fort Worth Motel - A pair of Fort Worth residents face “imminent and irreparable harm” if the nuisance caused by a long-beleaguered motel is not stopped, a pro bono legal team from Troutman Pepper Locke and the Dallas-based nonprofit Advocates for Community Transformation are arguing in Tarrant County. The lawsuit, brought by two residents of the West Meadowbrook neighborhood, follows other suits brought by the city of Fort Worth and the state of Texas. December 22, 2025Krista Torralva
CDT Roundup: $10B Week Fueled by Fusion - For the week ended Dec. 20, The CDT Roundup saw 11 transactions reported with a total value of about $10.2 billion, which is roughly on par with the prior week's 15 deals for nearly $10 billion, though up from the 11 transactions at $3 billion this time last year. The week's top transactions and more in this edition of CDT Roundup. December 21, 2025Jason Philyaw
Dallas-Based Firm Secures $65.5M Verdict Against J&J in Minnesota - Johnson & Johnson owes a 37-year-old mother of three $65.5 million in damages for causing her mesothelioma, a jury in Minnesota determined Friday afternoon.

Anna Jean Houghton Carley, who was diagnosed with terminal peritoneal mesothelioma in February, alleged exposure to Johnson & Johnson’s baby powder throughout her childhood exposed her to asbestos and contributed to her developing mesothelioma. 

Ben Braly of Dean Omar Branham Shirley, who represented Carley at trial, said the case wasn’t just about compensation, but about “truth and accountability.”   December 19, 2025Michelle Casady
Camp Mystic Defendants Want New Venue, Deny Wrongdoing  - In the four separate lawsuits filed in Travis County District Court by families whose daughters were killed in the July 4 flooding of the Guadalupe River that swept through Camp Mystic, the defendants are arguing the cases should not proceed in Austin.

Instead, the cases should be litigated in Kerr County, where Camp Mystic sits and where “all relevant events in this lawsuit took place,” recently filed motions argue. December 19, 2025Michelle Casady

Centerpiece

John Nance Garner: The Texas Lawyer Who Was a Heartbeat Away - The famous saying that characterized the American vice presidency as “not worth a warm bucket of spit” was first uttered about 85 years ago. 

However, the man behind that famous aphorism is largely forgotten. Lost in the tranquility of history’s footnotes stands a West Texas frontier lawyer and judge whose impact extended far beyond the courtroom. He left a significant mark on the judicial, legislative and executive branches of America’s constitutional republic. That country lawyer from the southwest who became America’s 32nd vice president was John Nance Garner.

In this special feature for The Lawbook, historian and author James Lumley offers an important review of Garner’s 50-year legal and political career. December 24, 2025James Lumley
DFW Celebrates Two Legal In-house Rookies and a Lifetime Achiever - Elaine Rodriguez has been a corporate general counsel, including the past 14 years at DFW Airport, longer than Cameasha Turner and Nur Kara have been alive, but all three are being honored by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.

ACC-DFW and The Lawbook are pleased to announce that Rodriguez is being recognized with the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. Past DFW Lifetime Achievement Award recipients include Gary Kennedy of American Airlines, Leanne Oliver of PepsiCo, Chris Luna of T-Mobile, Derek Lipscombe of Toyota and Marita Covarrubias of Tenet Healthcare.

Turner, who is corporate counsel at Brinker International, and Kara, who is the legal director for marketing and advertising at PepsiCo North America, are the finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year. December 23, 2025Mark Curriden

Expert Voices

How Dallas’s Three New Stock Exchanges May Reshape Securities Fraud Enforcement - In a development that could fundamentally reshape the landscape of federal securities enforcement, three major stock exchanges are establishing operations in Dallas within the Northern District of Texas. This geographic diversification of America’s securities exchange infrastructure represents more than mere business expansion — it signals a potential seismic shift in federal criminal and civil securities enforcement. Cases that historically could only be prosecuted in Manhattan may soon find their way to Dallas courtrooms, bringing with them the possibility of different judicial approaches, jury pools and enforcement priorities. December 18, 2025Elisha J. Kobre

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Stories You Might’ve Missed

  • The Legacy of Pennzoil v. Texaco 40 Years Later — The Civil Jury Trial of the Century - Pennzoil v. Texaco's legacy remains significant, as it changed how companies handle mergers and acquisitions, caused the Chamber of Commerce to designate Texas as a judicial hellhole in 1986 and directly led to two decades of massive tort reform efforts that dramatically limited the rights of Texans to sue businesses, doctors and insurance companies for wrongdoing. It also launched Texas trial lawyer Joe Jamail to national stardom and made him the richest trial lawyer in American history. In this in-depth article, The Texas Lawbook provides a detailed timeline of the events involved in the historic litigation, as well as comments from more than a dozen lawyers about the legal strategies employed. November 18, 2025Mark Curriden & Alexa Shrake

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