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Bankruptcy Judge Mulls Potential Action after Jackson Walker Show-Cause Hearing - Chief U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Eduardo V. Rodriguez took under advisement Thursday whether to sanction Jackson Walker, expand the universe of cases subject to fee disgorgement or even appoint a special master if needed after an hourlong show-cause hearing in Houston. The hearing was prompted by the court’s discovery of more undisclosed cases in which former judge David Jones presided while romantically involved with former Jackson Walker partner Elizabeth Freeman. October 22, 2026Michelle Casady
Dallas Business Court Jury Rejects Synergy’s $100M Claims, Orders $1.5M Refund to Blackbrush - The 12-member jury delivered a complete defense victory for Blackbrush Oil & Gas and affiliated investors Thursday, rejecting clean-energy developer Synergy Thermogen’s $100 million-plus breach-of-contract and fraud claims in the Texas Business Court. Following a two-week trial before Judge Bill Whitehill and seven hours of deliberations, jurors found that Synergy and founder Rich Halvorson fraudulently induced the parties’ advisory agreement, ordering them to return the investors' entire $1.5 million seed investment. October 22, 2026Alexa Shrake
Camp Mystic Bankruptcy Judge: Debtors Get a Chance to Cure Conflicts, No Trustee Appointment for Now  - U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Christopher Lopez denied without prejudice competing motions to appoint a Chapter 11 trustee or to approve independent fiduciaries in the Camp Mystic bankruptcy, giving the debtors until Oct. 28 to file an amended plan to give independent fiduciaries control over the potential settlement of wrongful death lawsuits. The proposed plan the camp filed, he said, failed to provide the kind of independence necessary “to move these cases forward.” October 22, 2026Michelle Casady
Fort Worth Appeals Court Rules Pro Hac Vice Admission Opens Door to Texas Lawsuit Against California Lawyer and Firm - In a 42-page opinion authored by Justice Dabney Bassel, the three-justice panel partially revived a lawsuit against California-based Global Legal Law Firm and partner James C. Huber. The court ruled that Huber’s pro hac vice admission in a Texas commercial dispute subjected him to Texas personal jurisdiction after he allegedly demanded that a witness withdraw sworn testimony. October 22, 2026Krista Torralva
$100M Dispute in Synergy v. Blackbrush Reaches Jury - After closing arguments in the Texas Business Court trial, 12 jurors now weigh the 46-page charge. Synergy accuses Blackbrush Oil & Gas of sabotaging its clean-energy technology. Blackbrush says Synergy founder Rich Halvorson squandered its $1.5 million investment. October 21, 2026Alexa Shrake
Westlake Chemical Gets Win in East Texas Pipeline Easement Dispute  - The lead lawyer for Westlake Chemical said defeating the motion for a permanent injunction seeking to shut down a section of ethylene pipeline can be viewed as a win for Texas’ midstream energy industry. Express H20 Pipeline and ROW had argued a 3.5-mile portion of the Westlake pipeline violated its exclusive, blanket easement. October 21, 2026Michelle Casady
KKR’s Arctos Acquires 7.5% of Atlanta Falcons - Kirkland & Ellis advised Dallas-based Arctos in the addition of the Falcons to its portfolio of NFL-approved minority investments. In addition to Atlanta, the KKR-backed sports investor now has ownership positions in Cleveland, Los Angeles and Buffalo. League rules limit private equity ownership to 10 percent or less. October 21, 2026Jason Philyaw
Active Panel Questions Parties During East Texas Water Dispute Oral Argument - The Texas 12th Court of Appeals heard oral arguments in hedge fund executive Kyle Bass’ effort to revive an ultra vires lawsuit against the Neches and Trinity Valleys Groundwater Conservation District over halted water well permits, which the district argues is barred by a prior settlement. October 20, 2026Michelle Casady

Centerpiece

Affinius Capital’s Rachel Donnelly is the ‘Simone Biles of the Texas Legal Community’ - Rachel Donnelly once planned to become a forensic psychologist before a law degree changed her path. Now she’s chief compliance officer and deputy general counsel at Affinius Capital, where she’s helped steer the firm through SEC exams, a corporate rebrand and its expansion into AI-driven data centers. Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named her the winner of the 2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Chief Corporate Compliance Officer of the Year. October 21, 2026Mark Curriden
Brenna Nava’s Hard Work, Leadership ‘Literally Saving Lives’ - The 2017 class of Leadership San Antonio was touring the nonprofit healthcare organizations BioBridge Global and helping assemble packets used to match marrow donors with patients. One class member — Rackspace Technology Senior Counsel Brenna Nava, a former high school dance teacher turned corporate in-house counsel — was fascinated.

Seven years later, Preferred Legal Counsel President Morgan Matson called Nava with an interesting opportunity: the deputy general counsel position at BioBridge. Nava is the 2026 San Antonio Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department. October 19, 2026Mark Curriden

Expert Voices

Contractor, Employee or Something New? The Classification Questions Facing College Athletic NIL Collectives - With booster-funded collectives accounting for the vast majority of college athletic NIL compensation, universities and third-party collectives face mounting legal exposure over whether student-athletes are independent contractors, common-law employees or an entirely new legal hybrid. In Part 2 of a series for The Texas Lawbook, this article examines how clearinghouse scrutiny, performance benchmarks and IRS control tests could trigger joint-employer liability under the Fair Labor Standards Act. October 21, 2026Marc D. Katz & Maria A. Garrett
Book Excerpt: Reconstructing Immigration - Texas built a parallel deportation system, the Supreme Court narrowed judicial review, and the practical consequences are landing in Texas courthouses first. October 16, 2026Loren Steffy

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  • Energy Boom to Space Race: The Stellar Career of Hillary Holmes - In a wide-ranging interview, Gibson Dunn capital-markets leader Hillary Holmes takes Texas Lawbook subscribers inside a career that placed her at the center of SpaceX’s historic public offering this year. But that is only the latest chapter in a much deeper Texas story that charts her rise from the Houston “deal room” of her childhood to one of the country’s top corporate lawyers, known for her instinct to see beyond the transactions themselves. September 24, 2026Allen Pusey

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