Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

March 14, 2006 | Law.com

Michael Ramsey, Kenneth Lay's criminal defense attorney, hammered hard on Andrew Fastow's credibility and honesty during his Monday cross-examination of Fastow, the former Enron chief financial officer who has pleaded guilty to two criminal charges in connection with the investigation into the collapse of the formerly high-flying energy company. Under persistent questioning from Ramsey, Fastow admitted several times that he lied to Lay and others and stole from the company.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

September 28, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

A grand jury in Travis County indicted U.S. Rep. Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, Wednesday, Sept. 28, alleging he participated in a criminal conspiracy to violate the Texas Election Code.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

July 28, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

When A&B Valve & Piping Systems faced a bet-the-company suit filed by Houston's National Oilwell Varco, a competitor, the company's executives needed legal reinforcements. They turned to John Zavitsanos and his firm, Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Anaipakos of Houston. Zavitsanos says A&B, at his recommendation, also hired another firm for appeals and trial, and other counsel to represent individual defendants.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

October 15, 2010 | Law.com

Two former attorneys at Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas have sued the organization and two of its executives, alleging the defendants violated the Texas Wiretap Act when a telephone conversation they had at work with a co-worker was intercepted and recorded. Kervyn B. Altaffer Jr. and Sophia Katherine Palat, now practicing together at Altaffer & Palat, each say they resigned from LANWT in September 2009 after they learned of the recording. "I handed in a letter, and I left. This was kind of a big deal," Palat says.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

April 13, 2004 | The Legal Intelligencer

The last thing Enron Corp. defendant Lea W. Fastow wanted to hear was word from U.S. District Judge David Hittner that he was rejecting a plea agreement requiring her to spend only five months in federal prison.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

May 02, 2011 | Law.com

Following a market move by large New York City firms, both Vinson & Elkins and Akin Gump will pay spring bonuses in May to associates and counsel who received 2010 year-end bonuses. Neither Texas firm has paid spring bonuses before.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

March 03, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

Jenkens & Gilchrist, which has taken some hits in the wake of troubles in its tax-shelter practice, is losing its New York office to Troutman Sanders, an Atlanta firm.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

May 30, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

Two solo practitioners in Dallas are fighting a sanctions order imposed in April by U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle of Dallas. Boyle found the lawyers acted in bad faith by filing and pursuing a "baseless" malpractice suit against the defunct Butler & Binion; five former lawyers at the firm; and Glast, Phillips & Murray of Dallas, the firm where two of the former Butler & Binion lawyers now practice.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

March 30, 2007 | Corporate Counsel

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filed a civil complaint on Wednesday that alleges two former in-house lawyers at Houston-based Enron Corp. violated federal securities laws by misrepresenting and omitting material information from Enron's public securities filings. The lawyers are Jordan H. Mintz, a former vice president and general counsel of Enron's Global Finance group, and Rex R. Rogers, a former Enron vice president and associate general counsel.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

May 10, 2007 | Law.com

Vinson & Elkins and Andrews Kurth, both based in Houston, 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. Six Texas-based firms earned spots on Corporate Scorecard 2007, the annual corporate-work ranking published annually by The American Lawyer. But of those six, only V&E and Andrews Kurth are among the 15 firms from across the United States with the most top-ten rankings on the Corporate Scorecard charts.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read