Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

May 07, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

Vinson & Elkins and Andrews Kurth broke out of the Texas big-firm pack in 2006 and moved into a select group of U.S. firms with particularly vibrant corporate practices. V&E and Andrews Kurth, both based in Houston, are among six Texas-based firms that earned spots on Corporate Scorecard 2007, the annual corporate-work ranking published annually by The American Lawyer.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

May 23, 2008 | Law.com

The state of Texas did not have authority to remove some of the more than 450 children from the Yearning for Zion ranch located outside Eldorado, Austin's Third Court of Appeals ruled on May 22. In a per curiam opinion, the three-justice panel granted a writ of mandamus sought by 38 women who are mothers to some of the children.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys and Miriam Rozen

4 minute read

December 01, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

Margott Williams visited the historic Olivewood Cemetery in Houston for the first time in 1999, because she wanted to have her grandmother, who had just passed away, buried next to her grandfather. But Williams was shocked at the condition of the neglected and overgrown cemetery, which is the oldest African-American cemetery in Houston. Since then, two nonprofit organizations have contested control of the cemetery in court.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

June 28, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

In 1985, Texas lawyers used the telephone and fax machine to communicate, first-year associates at BigTex firms made about $42,000 annually and the largest Texas firms had about 400 lawyers. The business of law is nothing like it was 25 years ago. Locke Lord's Jerry Clements (pictured) says when she began practicing law in 1981, Texas firms were very much identified with a particular city.

By Jeanne Graham and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

May 18, 2006 | Law.com

Federal prosecutor Sean Berkowitz told the jury in former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling's criminal trial that it has an opportunity to decide which witnesses told the truth, and that their only option is to find the defendants lied. In wrapping up the prosecution's rebuttal argument before the jury retired for deliberations, Berkowitz said on Wednesday that Lay and Skilling lied on the witness stand and lied repeatedly to investors about Enron's financial condition.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

15 minute read

December 19, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

Former Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay used a public speech on Dec. 13 to exhort other former Enron employees to come forward to "speak the truth" about Enron as witnesses at his criminal trial, which begins in a Houston federal courtroom in January 2006.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

March 02, 2009 | Texas Lawyer

Obstruction Guilty Plea Means "Mr. Kent" Loses Bench — Will His Bar Card and Freedom Be Next? U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent's decision to plead guilty to the obstruction charge on Feb. 23 in exchange for the government dropping five sex abuse charges — combined with his lawyer's announcement that Kent was "retiring" from the bench — will cost Kent any chance at a standard judicial retirement salary and most likely his bar card and freedom, five experts say.

By John Council and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

18 minute read

October 13, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

The issue of whether Arthur Andersen employees had fair notice of a pending investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission into Enron Corp.�s financial reporting dominated oral arguments on Oct. 9 in Andersen�s appeal of its obstruction of justice conviction.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

October 24, 2005 | Law.com

Whatever the outcome of Harriet Miers' Supreme Court nomination, life at Locke Liddell & Sapp, the Texas firm where she was a partner, will never be the same. Since President Bush tapped Miers for the Court, the firm has become the focus of national attention, a situation that raises its profile and presumably will bring new business. But the public hunt for any tidbit of information about Miers and the firm where she practiced for most of her career also brings attention to past problems at Locke Liddell.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

13 minute read

July 10, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

Many firms in Texas � and some in-house legal departments � staff legal clinics on a regular basis, say a number of legal services executives from around Texas.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

11 minute read