Dykema has added attorneys Mike Toth and Ashley Shapiro Bunyard to its Austin office, both in the firm’s Litigation Department.

Toth is a former justice on the Texas Third District Court of Appeals at Austin. Before taking the bench, Toth served as a special counsel to the Texas Office of Attorney General, where he developed and implemented litigation strategy in a broad range of high-profile cases involving significant executive-level deliberation on complex legal issues. Toth has litigated in state and federal courts across Texas and achieved numerous nationwide victories in cases involving federal regulations, the firm said.

Toth earned his J.D., as well as an M.A. in history, from the University of Virginia, and a B.A., magna cum laude, in history from Stanford University. After graduating from law school, he served as a trial attorney in the United States Marine Corps, and Toth remains a major in the Marine Corps Reserves assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps in the Pentagon. Toth is a former law clerk to Judge Edith H. Jones on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Shapiro Bunyard joins Dykema as an associate practicing in corporate matters in both state and federal court. She has experience representing clients in commercial disputes concerning breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, and misappropriation of trade secrets, the firm said.

Shapiro Bunyard earned a J.D. and a B.B.A. in marketing from the University of Oklahoma. She spent nearly four years in the Dallas office of Sumner Schick LLP.

If the U.S. House of Representatives impeaches President Trump, that would put John Roberts, a man known for his temperance and modest view of judicial power, in an uncomfortable place: at the direct center of a bitter political battle, reports Time magazine.

If the impeachment goes through the House, then the Senate will conduct the trial, with the chief justice of the United States overseeing the proceedings.

That eventuality, reports Time, “would force him to engage very publicly in helping determine the fate of the president who has called him an ‘absolute disaster.'”

The Washington Times reports that the prospect of Roberts presiding over the proceedings has caused rumblings in Washington that the chief justice should recuse himself.

Read the Time article.

The 10th edition of “Best Law Firms,” published by U.S. News & World Report and Best Lawyers, ranks 14,365 law firms in various areas of legal practice.

Presented in tiers, the rankings give designations to firms in 75 major practice areas nationally and in 127 practice areas regionally.

In the group of 75 practice areas, some of the firms earning top recognition include Jones Day in commercial litigation, K&L Gates in corporate law, Troutman Sanders in energy law, McDermott Will & Emery in health care law, Covington & Burling in insurance, Bracewell in oil and gas, and Cooley in technology law.

Read the article.

A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against former special counsel Robert Mueller, rejecting a conspiracy theorist’s claim that Mueller pressured him to commit perjury during the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to a Courthouse News report.

Jerome Corsi alleged that Mueller violated the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure by leaking grand jury information about him to the media to pressure him into giving false testimony.

Courthouse News’ Jack Rodgers quotes the ruling: “The article explicitly references Mueller’s ‘case,’ indicating that the information relates to his investigation and not to the grand jury’s investigation. Moreover, the article does not attribute any information to Mueller or anyone else associated with the grand jury investigation.”

Read the Courthouse News article.

A New Jersey appeals court took the unusual step of booting county prosecutors off a drug case after the office spied on a defense attorney preparing for trial, finding that when Middlesex County detectives put a wire on a key witness, they may as well have been “hiding in the closet,” reports NJ.com.

The appellate court gave the state attorney general’s office 45 days to assign it to “untainted attorneys” in another jurisdiction and ordered a hearing over whether the prosecutors’ key witness will be allowed to testify, according to NJ.com’s S.P. Sullivan.

Detectives at the county prosecutor’s office paid an informant $180 to secretly record a meeting with defense lawyer Joseph Mazraani.

Read the NJ.com article.

A post on Gray Reed’s Energy & the Law blog discusses the question: Under Louisiana law, does the operator’s bad faith preclude recovery for the non-operator’s breach of a joint operating agreement if the operator caused the non-operator to breach the JOA but did not itself breach?

Charles Sartain summarizes the background of Apache Deepwater, LLC v. W&T Offshore, Inc., a conflict between parties to a joint operating agreement for operations on offshore deepwater wells.

The case was complicated by conflicting provisions in the JOA.

Read the article.

Stephanie C. Gaston has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Houston office as a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group.

In a release, the firm said Gaston focuses her practice on resolving labor and employment matters for private employers, public entities, and nonprofits. Her clients include school districts, housing authorities, special districts, and governmental entities. She defends companies facing discrimination, harassment, retaliation, class actions, and other claims under federal, state and local laws, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII, ADA, FMLA, USERRA, and the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act. She also advises and counsels employers on minimizing the risks of litigation, developing employment policies, and drafting and enforcing employment and severance agreements, including those with non-competition, non-solicitation and non-disclosure provisions. In addition, she has prepared numerous affirmative action plans and represents clients in administrative agency investigations. She also represents business clients in commercial litigation.

Prior to joining Bradley, Gaston was a member at Clark Hill Strasburger.

Gaston received her J.D. from Baylor University School of Law and her Bachelor of Arts (summa cum laude) from the University of St. Thomas.

Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, P.C., announced that the firm has been highly ranked nationally and in St. Louis and Chicago in the 2020 edition of the U.S News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.”

Greensfelder ranked in Tier 1 – the highest possible ranking – for Franchise Law and also earned high rankings nationally for the following practice areas:

– Litigation – ERISA
– Advertising Law
– Health Care Law
– Litigation – Construction

The firm was ranked in Tier 1 for the St. Louis metropolitan area for the following practice areas:

– Advertising Law
– Commercial Litigation
– Construction Law
– Corporate Law
– Employment Law – Management
– Franchise Law
– Health Care Law
– Labor Law – Management
– Litigation – Construction
– Litigation – ERISA
– Litigation – Insurance
– Real Estate Law
– Tax Law
– Trusts & Estates Law

Additionally, the firm was highly ranked in St. Louis for the following practice areas:

– Appellate Practice
– Copyright Law
– Criminal Defense: White-Collar
– Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
– Government Relations Practice
– Litigation – Labor & Employment
– Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
– Mergers & Acquisitions Law
– Patent Law
– Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
– Securities / Capital Markets Law

For the Chicago metropolitan area, Greensfelder was ranked in Tier 1 for Franchise Law and was highly ranked for Criminal Defense-White Collar.

Each year, The Best Lawyers in America and U.S. News & World Report rank law firm practice areas nationally and across more than 180 metropolitan areas. The “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on client evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a national or metropolitan ranking, a law firm practice area must have at least one lawyer in that practice ranked as a “Best Lawyer.”

Dallas-based Deans & Lyons LLP has earned recognition among the Best Law Firms in the country for 2020 by U.S. News & World Report and The Best Lawyers in America. The firm was singled out for its commercial litigation work.

Earlier this year, trial lawyer and firm co-founder Michael Lyons was featured in The Best Lawyers in America guide for 2020 as one of the country’s outstanding commercial litigators, a selection based on peer review and editorial evaluation. The Best Law Firms list only includes firms that have at least one attorney in the Best Lawyers guide.

“I’m extremely pleased for our firm, and I am honored to have made the Best Lawyers list. Recognition based on the respect of your peers and competitors is particularly meaningful,” said Mr. Lyons, an accomplished trial lawyer who represents both plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial and personal injury litigation.

Selection for the annual Best Law Firms listing involves client evaluations and practice-specific editorial and peer review. The full 2020 listing can be found at https://bestlawfirms.usnews.com/.

In addition to his 2020 Best Lawyers honors, Lyons has consistently earned selection to the Texas Super Lawyers list, as well as D Magazine’s Best Lawyers in Dallas for personal injury and business litigation work, the firm said in a release.

A member of the Million Dollar and Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forums, Lyons has earned additional accolades that include recognition as a Top 100 Lawyer in the Dallas-Fort Worth area by Super Lawyers for 2018 and 2019, Lifetime Achievement status among America’s Top 100 Attorneys for Texas, and America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators for North Texas in 2017-19.

Freeborn & Peters LLP announced that the 2020 edition of the U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms” guide has ranked the firm nationally in seven practice areas, and awarded high rankings for multiple firm practice areas in Chicago; Richmond, Va.; and Tampa, Fla.

Freeborn was ranked nationally for Antitrust Law, Commercial Litigation, Copyright Law, Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures & Television, Insurance Law, Trusts & Estates Law, and Venture Capital Law.

Freeborn was ranked by “Best Law Firms” for the following practice areas in the Chicago metropolitan area:

– Antitrust Law (Tier 1)
– Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law (Tier 3)
– Commercial Litigation (Tier 1)
– Copyright Law (Tier 1)
– Government Relations Practice (Tier 1)
– Criminal Defense: White Collar (Tier 2)
– Insurance Law (Tier 1)
– Energy Law (Tier 2)
– Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures & Television (Tier 3)
– Environmental Law (Tier 3)
– Litigation – Antitrust (Tier 3)
– Litigation – Trusts & Estates (Tier 2)
– Trusts & Estates Law (Tier 1)
– Venture Capital Law (Tier 2)

In addition, Freeborn was ranked by “Best Law Firms” in Tier 1 for Insurance Law in the Richmond metropolitan area, and in Tier 1 for Commercial Litigation in the Tampa metropolitan area.

The Best Lawyers in America® and U.S. News & World Report annually rank law firm practice areas nationally and across more than 180 metropolitan areas. The “Best Law Firms” rankings are based on client evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys, and analysis of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a national or metropolitan ranking, a law firm practice area must have at least one lawyer in that practice ranked as a “Best Lawyer.” The 2020 “Best Law Firms” rankings are published on the U.S. News & World Report website at http://BestLawFirms.USNews.com.

Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP announced that the firm has been named the nation’s “Law Firm of the Year” for Construction Law in the 2020 edition of U.S. News – Best Lawyers “Best Law Firms.” In addition, “Best Law Firms” awarded the firm Tier 1 national rankings for four practice areas and Tier 1 metropolitan rankings across 70 practice areas and in all 10 of its offices.

Bradley was ranked in Tier 1 nationally for its Commercial Litigation, Construction Law, Litigation – Construction, and Mass Tort Litigation / Class Action – Defendants practices.

This marks the second time in three years that Bradley has been named the “Law Firm of the Year” for Construction Law. The firm said only one law firm in the U.S. per legal practice area receives this recognition each year.

The complete list of the firm’s Tier 1 metropolitan rankings, organized by market/office, is provided below.

The Best Lawyers in America and U.S. News & World Report ranked law firm practice areas nationally and across more than 180 metropolitan areas for the 2020 edition of “Best Law Firms.” Rankings are based on client evaluations, peer reviews from leading attorneys, and review of additional information provided by law firms as part of the formal submission process. To be eligible for a national or metropolitan ranking, a law firm practice area must have at least one lawyer in that practice ranked as a “Best Lawyer.”

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Birmingham in the following practice areas:

– Antitrust Law
– Appellate Practice
– Arbitration
– Banking and Finance Law
– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
– Bet-the-Company Litigation
– Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
– Closely Held Companies and Family Businesses Law
– Commercial Litigation
– Construction Law
– Copyright Law
– Corporate Compliance Law
– Corporate Governance Law
– Corporate Law
– Criminal Defense: White-Collar
– Economic Development Law
– Education Law
– Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
– Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
– Employment Law – Management
– Energy Law
– Environmental Law
– Financial Services Regulation Law
– Franchise Law
– Government Relations Practice
– Health Care Law
– Information Technology Law
– Insurance Law
– International Trade and Finance Law
– Labor Law – Management
– Land Use & Zoning Law
– Leveraged Buyouts and Private Equity Law
– Litigation – Antitrust
– Litigation – Banking & Finance
– Litigation – Bankruptcy
– Litigation – Construction
– Litigation – Environmental
– Litigation – ERISA
– Litigation – Insurance
– Litigation – Intellectual Property
– Litigation – Labor & Employment
– Litigation – Land Use & Zoning
– Litigation – Real Estate
– Litigation – Securities
– Litigation – Tax
– Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
– Mergers & Acquisitions Law
– Municipal Law
– Non-Profit / Charities Law
– Patent Law
– Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
– Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
– Professional Malpractice Law – Defendants
– Public Finance Law
– Real Estate Law
– Securities / Capital Markets Law
– Tax Law
– Trademark Law
– Trusts & Estates Law
– Water Law

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Charlotte, N.C., in the following practice areas:

– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
– Commercial Litigation
– Construction Law
– First Amendment Law
– Litigation – Bankruptcy

The firm received a Tier 1 metropolitan ranking for Dallas in the following practice area:

– Commercial Litigation

The firm received a Tier 1 metropolitan ranking for Houston in the following practice area:

– Construction Law
– Litigation – Construction

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Huntsville, Ala., in the following practice areas:

– Appellate Practice
– Commercial Litigation
– Corporate Law
– Litigation – First Amendment
– Mediation
– Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants
– Mergers & Acquisitions Law
– Patent Law
– Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
– Real Estate Law
– Tax Law
– Trusts & Estates Law

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Jackson, Miss., in the following practice areas:

– Appellate Practice
– Bet-the-Company Litigation
– Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
– Commercial Litigation
– Construction Law
– Corporate Law
– Health Care Law
– Insurance Law
– Land Use & Zoning Law
– Litigation – Construction
– Litigation – Environmental
– Litigation – Insurance
– Litigation – Intellectual Property
– Litigation – Labor & Employment
– Litigation – Real Estate
– Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
– Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
– Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Montgomery, Ala., in the following practice areas:

– Bet-the-Company Litigation
– Commercial Litigation
– Employment Law – Management
– Litigation – Insurance
– Litigation – Labor & Employment
– Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
– Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
– Public Finance Law
– Tax Law

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Nashville, Tenn., in the following practice areas:

– Arbitration
– Banking and Finance Law
– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
– Bet-the-Company Litigation
– Business Organizations (including LLCs and Partnerships)
– Commercial Litigation
– Construction Law
– Corporate Governance Law
– Corporate Law
– Economic Development Law
– Eminent Domain and Condemnation Law
– Employee Benefits (ERISA) Law
– Employment Law – Management
– Energy Law
– Entertainment Law – Motion Pictures & Television
– Entertainment Law – Music
– Government Relations Practice
– Health Care Law
– Insurance Law
– Labor Law – Management
– Land Use & Zoning Law
– Litigation – Banking & Finance
– Litigation – Bankruptcy
– Litigation – Construction
– Litigation – Health Care
– Litigation – Intellectual Property
– Litigation – Labor & Employment
– Litigation – Patent
– Litigation – Tax
– Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
– Media Law
– Mediation
– Mergers & Acquisitions Law
– Municipal Law
– Patent Law
– Product Liability Litigation – Defendants
– Public Finance Law
– Real Estate Law
– Tax Law
– Trusts & Estates Law

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Tampa, Fla., in the following practice areas:

– Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights / Insolvency and Reorganization Law
– Commercial Litigation
– Corporate Law
– Employment Law – Management
– Litigation – Bankruptcy
– Securities Regulation

The firm received Tier 1 metropolitan rankings for Washington, D.C., in the following practice areas:

– Construction Law
– Litigation – Construction
– Mass Tort Litigation / Class Actions – Defendants
– Product Liability Litigation – Defendants

The 2020 “Best Law Firms” rankings are published on the U.S. News & World Report website at http://BestLawFirms.USNews.com.

Christopher E. Hamilton has joined Crawford, Wishnew & Lang PLLC in its office in Dallas.

In a release, the firm said Christopher, a native Texan who was a U.S. Navy SEAL before pursuing a career in law, has experience in representing individuals and entities in matters involving construction defects, products liability, personal injury and wrongful death, among other things. His practice at CWL also will include other areas of litigation, including business, employment and intellectual property disputes.

Hamilton graduated from Texas A&M School of Law in 2018, where he was decorated and active within the school’s Oral Advocacy Program, placed second in the National Sports Law Negotiation Competition, and was named chair of the Alternative Dispute Resolution section. He received the Order of the Barristers prior to his graduation.

The firm said that, as a law student, Hamilton interned with Dallas District Court Judge Bonnie Goldstein and, during that time, met and developed a relationship with CWL partners Dave Wishnew, Michael Lang and Trey Crawford. This relationship initially led to Hamilton taking a clerkship at the partners’ former firm, Gruber Hail Johansen Shank LLP, and, ultimately, led to Christopher joining CWL as an associate.

His service as a U.S. Navy SEAL and Central Intelligence Agency operator spanned more than 11 years, during which time he conducted operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Pakistan.

D.C. Toedt III, writing in the On Contracts blog, describes how  parties to a contract often circulate just signature pages to be signed, and the problems that can arise with that practice.

He also explains the importance of making sure that the signed version is identified (e.g., with a running header).

He analyzes a lawsuit that involved a former vice president of a company who sued to compel the company to give her the equity that she claimed was due to her under the “signed” agreement. But the parties, after sending revised drafts back and forth, had apparently signed signature pages for different versions of the agreement.

Read the article.

The China Law Blog has published part one of an expected series of posts setting out exactly what foreign companies should do (and not do) to protect their intellectual property in China.

The author, Dan Harris of Harris Bricken, tells the story of a prospective client who sought help because a Chinese manufacturer he was working with on a product started selling a new product that happened to have the same features and functions as the product the American developer had submitted to the manufacturer.

Harris’ firm told the prospective client not much could be done because the nondisclosure agreement with the manufacturer was worthless in China. And U.S. patents won’t provide much practical protection, either.

The firm’s lawyers explained that the developer would have been better off if he had an NNN agreement —non-use, non-disclosure, and non-circumvention — that would be enforceable in a Chinese court with jurisdiction over the Chinese defendant. .

Read the article.

A California Court granted a defendant’s motion to compel arbitration based on a duly formed and consented arbitration clause via a “clickwrap” agreement, despite the plaintiff’s argument that no contract was ever formed because the purpose of the contract was to facilitate the selling and distribution of marijuana, which is illegal under federal law.

A post by Womble Bond Dickinson describes a case in which the defendant was hit with a putative class action in California federal court claiming it violated the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.

The defendant’s terms of service, which were hyperlinked in the sign-up box, contained a clause providing for arbitration of disputes with a class-action waiver.

Read the article.

A new post on Global Private Equity Watch discusses the continued need for vigilance in the wording of forum of selection provisions in agreements.

Author Glenn D. West takes a look at a recent Delaware ruling on an anti-suit injunction attempting to prevent a suit being prosecuted in Texas.

The court granted the injunction against the Texas suit because the fraud claims would require construction and interpretation of the agreement.

Read the article.

Flexera has posted a complimentary on-demand webinar discussing the role of in-house and external counsel in managing open source software in the business environment.

“Having some best practice guidelines that more clearly define your role and help you guide companies through license compliance and risk management only reinforces and bolsters one of your most important responsibilities as a legal advisor,” the company says in its invitation to view the event.

Speakers are Amy Chun, partner in Knobbe Martens, and Marty Mellican, vice president and associate general counsel of Flexera.

Some of the topics covered include:

• Key data points that emphasize there’s a lack of understanding regarding the amount of OSS companies are using
• The range of OSS risk and what that means to you
• Actionable steps and tips for managing OSS risk including available tools, how to flag issues, implement policy, and update agreements

Watch the webinar.

The Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday approved and sent to the full Senate for consideration the nomination of Sarah Pitlyk — rated unqualified by the American Bar Association — to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, reports Blomberg Law.

Three other federal district court nominees also advanced, but action on two controversial appeals court picks was again deferred.

The ABA’s Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary in September rated Pitlyk as not qualified for the lifetime appointment, saying she lacks the requisite courtroom experience to serve as a trial judge.

“The disagreement boiled over Oct. 30 when the committee clashed over the role of the ABA Standing Committee after it issued a harsh assessment of Lawrence VanDyke, who also received an unqualified rating for a seat on the U.S. Appeals Court for the Ninth Circuit,” writes Bloomberg’s Madison Alder.

Read the Bloomberg Law article.

A U.S. appeals court ruled Thursday that judges on a patent review panel were unconstitutionally appointed, casting a cloud over some of its work, according to a Bloomberg report.

The court ordered a new hearing before different judges at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s review board in a dispute over a surgical device. The court suggested other pending patent challenges may suffer the same fate, report Bloomberg’s Susan Decker and Greg Stohr.

“The Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit said that, under a 2011 law that created the reviews before the panel, called the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, judges had so much authority they should have been appointed by the president and confirmed by the Senate.”

Read the Bloomberg article.

The Houston Chronicle reports that an appeals court justice serving Southeast Texas continues to sit on the bench as she suffers from Alzheimer’s disease, all while facing familial discord over the control of her $8 million estate, court records show.

The Chronicle‘s Samantha Ketterer explains:

“Her sons launched an effort this month to become her legal guardians, alleging that Justice Laura Carter Higley, 72, is continuing with her daily routine in a manner contrary to the path of her failing cognitive health. That includes driving herself to work downtown and serving in her capacity on the First Court of Appeals based in Houston, said sons Garrett C. Higley and Robert Carter Higley.”

Documents filed in probate court indicate that she received an official diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease in October.

Read the Houston Chronicle article.