Texas Pulse

  • Houston Attys Escape Defamation Suit Over Sex Assault Case

    A Texas appeals court said a group of Houston attorneys could escape a defamation suit brought by a man accused of sexual assault by one of their clients, writing that he did "not even raise a scintilla of evidence" that the attorneys knew statements they made to the media about their client's case were false.

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    'Law Moms' Share Tales Of Juggling Family And Careers

    From mental health and substance abuse to feelings of grief and guilt, a "Law Moms" book from eight attorneys offers candid accounts of balancing their roles as mothers and lawyers, with the hope that the stories will remind other women facing similar struggles that they’re not alone.

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    Faegre Drinker Confirms Operational, Administrative Layoffs

    A spokesperson for Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP confirmed to Law360 Pulse on Wednesday that the firm laid off "less than 5%" of its total operations and administrative staff earlier this year.

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    Sheppard Mullin Adds Winston & Strawn Real Estate Duo

    Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP has strengthened its real estate, energy, land use and environmental practice with two partners in Houston who joined from Winston & Strawn LLP.

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    Ex-Maryland Insurance Commissioner Rejoins DLA Piper

    Former Maryland Insurance Commissioner Kathleen Birrane has rejoined DLA Piper to lead the firm's U.S. insurance regulatory practice.

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    This GC Believes In A 'Cross-Functional' Approach For Attys

    Law360 Pulse caught up with the newly minted general counsel at Benson Hill, who has degrees in industrial engineering, law and business — all of which, he said, impact how he views issues and have shaped the attorney he is today.

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    Fennemore Craig Launches Remote Work Program

    Fennemore Craig PC announced on Tuesday a new remote work program called Fennemore Forward, along with the hiring of a Taylor English Duma LLP remote programming director to lead the initiative.

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    Small And Midsize Firms Plan To Invest In AI, Meritas Reports

    A majority of responding small and midsize business law firms within the international legal network Meritas are planning to invest more in technology in the next five years, according to a survey published Tuesday.

  • Texas Judge Gets Warning For Sexually Harassing Colleague

    A Fort Worth trial judge has been issued a public warning and ordered to attend demeanor and sexual harassment instruction over findings that he "engaged in a pattern of sexually harassing conduct" toward a fellow judge, according to a decision by the Texas State Commission on Judicial Conduct.

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    Thompson Coe Insurance Ace Joins Mitchell Williams In Texas

    Mitchell Williams Selig Gates & Woodyard PLLC has fortified its insurance regulatory practice in the Lone Star State with a counsel in Austin who came aboard after more than two decades of practice with Thompson Coe Cousins & Irons LLP.

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    O'Melveny Names New Leaders, Combines Practice Groups

    O'Melveny & Myers LLP announced several new leadership appointments Monday, along with the launch of a combined securities litigation and financial services practice group.

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    Tropical Storm Beryl Shutters Texas Law Firm Offices, Courts

    As Tropical Storm Beryl slammed into the Texas coast Monday, a number of Houston-area courts and law firm offices closed their doors in the face of a bruising weather event that has reportedly led to at least two deaths and left millions without power.

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    Bracewell Adds Energy Pro From Baker Botts In Houston

    Bracewell LLP announced Monday that it has boosted its energy regulatory group with a partner in Houston who came aboard from Baker Botts LLP.

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    3 Things That Have Surprised Firm Leaders So Far In 2024

    Law firm leaders approached 2024 with caution as economic and political uncertainties loomed large. Yet, the first half of the year still brought unanticipated developments, with artificial intelligence continuing its rapid proliferation and a competitive lateral hiring market among the surprises that unfolded.

  • How Reshaped Circuit Courts Are Faring At The High Court

    Seminal rulings from the U.S. Supreme Court's latest term will reshape many facets of American society in the coming years. Already, however, the rulings offer glimpses of how the justices view specific circuit courts, which have themselves been reshaped by an abundance of new judges.

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    Breaking Down The Vote: The High Court Term In Review

    The U.S. Supreme Court's lethargic pace of decision-making this term left the justices to issue a slew of highly anticipated and controversial rulings during the term's final week — rulings that put the court's ideological divisions on vivid display. Here, Law360 takes a data dive into the numbers behind this court term.

  • High Court Flexes Muscle To Limit Administrative State

    The U.S. Supreme Court's dismantling of a 40-year-old judicial deference doctrine, coupled with rulings stripping federal agencies of certain enforcement powers and exposing them to additional litigation, has established the October 2023 term as likely the most consequential in administrative law history.

  • The Sharpest Dissents From The Supreme Court Term

    The U.S. Supreme Court's session ended with a series of blockbuster cases that granted the president broad immunity, changed federal gun policy and kneecapped administrative agencies. And many of the biggest decisions fell along partisan lines.

  • 5 Moments That Shaped The Supreme Court's Jan. 6 Decision

    When the high court limited the scope of a federal obstruction statute used to charge hundreds of rioters who stormed the Capitol, the justices did not vote along ideological lines. In a year marked by 6-3 splits, what accounts for the departure? Here are some moments from oral arguments that may have swayed the justices.

  • The Funniest Moments Of The Supreme Court's Term

    In a U.S. Supreme Court term teeming with serious showdowns, the august air at oral arguments filled with laughter after an attorney mentioned her plastic surgeon and a justice seemed to diss his colleagues, to cite just two of the term's mirthful moments. Here, we look at the funniest moments of the term.

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    Law360's Legal Lions Of The Week

    New Civil Liberties Alliance, Latham & Watkins LLP, Clement & Murphy PLLC and Cause of Action Institute easily lead this week's edition of Law360 Legal Lions, after persuading the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a 40-year-old precedent that said when judges should defer to federal agencies' interpretations of law in rulemaking.

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    Court To Weigh Scope Of Ex-Judge's Atty Romance Testimony

    A Texas bankruptcy judge said he must determine the scope of a deposition over a former judge's concealed romantic relationship with an ex-Jackson Walker LLP attorney, reversing course on a stipulation and ruling he has "exclusive authority" to "authorize and set limits regarding the nature of the testimony."

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    The Firms That Won Big At The Supreme Court

    This U.S. Supreme Court term featured high-stakes oral arguments on issues including gerrymandering, abortion and federal agency authority, and a hot bench ever more willing to engage in a lengthy back-and-forth with advocates. Here's a look at the law firms that argued the most cases and how they fared.

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    Office Snapshot: Naman Howell Makes Landing In Space City

    About six months after launching its Houston shop, longtime Texas law firm Naman Howell Smith & Lee PLLC has demonstrated its commitment to Space City with a long-term lease and room to grow in the One Northgate office building.

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    Legal Jobs Continued To Tick Up In June

    The U.S. legal sector added 1,400 jobs in June, continuing an uptick that began this spring, according to preliminary data released Friday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Expert Analysis

  • Resume Gaps Are No Longer Kryptonite To Your Legal Career Author Photo

    Female attorneys and others who pause their careers for a few years will find that gaps in work history are increasingly acceptable among legal employers, meaning with some networking, retraining and a few other strategies, lawyers can successfully reenter the workforce, says Jill Backer at Ave Maria School of Law.

  • Law Firm Guardrails For Responsible Generative AI Use Author Photo

    ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence tools pose significant risks to the integrity of legal work, but the key for law firms is not to ban these tools, but to implement them responsibly and with appropriate safeguards, say Natalie Pierce and Stephanie Goutos at Gunderson Dettmer.

  • Opinion

    We Must Continue DEI Efforts Despite High Court Headwinds Author Photo

    Though the U.S. Supreme Court recently struck down affirmative action in higher education, law firms and their clients must keep up the legal industry’s recent momentum advancing diversity, equity and inclusion in the profession in order to help achieve a just and prosperous society for all, says Angela Winfield at the Law School Admission Council.

  • Law Firms Cannot Ignore Attorneys' Personal Cybersecurity Author Photo

    Law firms that fail to consider their attorneys' online habits away from work are not using their best efforts to protect client information and are simplifying the job of plaintiffs attorneys in the case of a breach, say Mark Hurley and Carmine Cicalese at Digital Privacy and Protection.

  • Why Writing CLE Should Be Mandatory For Lawyers Author Photo

    Though effective writing is foundational to law, no state requires attorneys to take continuing legal education in this skill — something that must change if today's attorneys are to have the communication abilities they need to fulfill their professional and ethical duties to their clients, colleagues and courts, says Diana Simon at the University of Arizona.

  • How To Find Your Inner Calm When Client Obligations Pile Up Author Photo

    In the most stressful times for attorneys, when several transactions for different partners and clients peak at the same time and the phone won’t stop buzzing, incremental lifestyle changes can truly make a difference, says Lindsey Hughes at Haynes Boone.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Support Gen Z Attorneys? Author Photo

    Meredith Beuchaw at Lowenstein Sandler discusses how senior attorneys can assist the newest generation of attorneys by championing their pursuit of a healthy work-life balance and providing the hands-on mentorship opportunities they missed out on during the pandemic.

  • Law Firm Cybersecurity Should Not Get Lost In The Cloud Author Photo

    A recent data leak at Proskauer via a cloud data storage platform demonstrates key reasons why law firms must pay attention to data safeguarding, including the increasing frequency of cloud-based data breaches and the consequences of breaking client confidentiality, says Robert Kraczek at One Identity.

  • Advice For Summer Associates Uneasy About Offer Prospects Author Photo

    There are a few communication tips that law students in summer associate programs should consider to put themselves in the best possible position to receive an offer, and firms can also take steps to support those to whom they are unable to make an offer, says Amy Mattock at Georgetown University Law Center.

  • How Law Firms Can Cautiously Wield AI To Streamline Tasks Author Photo

    Many attorneys are going to use artificial intelligence tools whether law firms like it or not, so firms should educate them on AI's benefits, limits and practical uses, such as drafting legal documents, to remain competitive in a rapidly evolving legal market, say Thomas Schultz and Eden Bernstein at Kellogg Hansen.

  • Opinion

    Attorneys Should Have An Ethical Duty To Advance DEI Author Photo

    National and state bar associations are encouraging attorneys to apply diversity, equity and inclusion practices in the legal profession and beyond, and these associations should take it one step further by formally recognizing ethical duties for attorneys to promote DEI, which could better the legal profession and society, says Elena Mitchell at Moore & Van Allen.

  • Keys To Managing The Stresses Of Law School Author Photo

    Dealing with the pressures associated with law school can prove difficult for many future lawyers, but there are steps students can take to manage stress — and schools can help too, say Ryan Zajic and Dr. Janani Krishnaswami at UWorld.

  • Can Mandatory CLE Mitigate Implicit Bias's Negative Impacts? Author Photo

    Amid ongoing disagreements on whether states should mandate implicit bias training as part of attorneys' continuing legal education requirements, Stephanie Wilson at Reed Smith looks at how unconscious attitudes or stereotypes adversely affect legal practice, and whether mandatory training programs can help.

  • Ditch The Frills And Start Writing Legal Letters In Plain English Author Photo

    To become more effective advocates, lawyers need to rethink the ridiculous, convoluted language they use in correspondence and write letters in a clear, concise and direct manner, says legal writing instructor Stuart Teicher.

  • Series

    Ask A Mentor: How Can I Negotiate My Separation Agreement? Author Photo

    Kate Reder Sheikh at Major Lindsey discusses how a law firm associate can navigate being laid off, what to look for in a separation agreement and why to be upfront about it with prospective employers.

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