Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

April 04, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

By hiring New York icon Rudolph Giuliani as the nucleus of a New York office, Houston-based Bracewell & Patterson found a clever way to reduce the risk of making the expensive move into the Big Apple's market. The 60-year-old firm did more than simply bring on Giuliani, the author, political figure, former federal prosecutor and former New York mayor, as a partner who will help launch the firm's New York office in May. On March 31, Bracewell & Patterson changed its name to Bracewell & Giuliani.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

November 26, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

For the past five years, Ken Jones, an enthusiastic poet and reluctant attorney, has organized poetry readings for the Art Institute of Houston, now held monthly at a Borders bookstore in Houston.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

May 17, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

A federal prosecutor told jurors May 17 that Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling lied on the witness stand and lied repeatedly to investors about Enron Corp.'s financial condition. "It's a crime to lie to your investors," he told them during the prosecution's rebuttal argument.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

November 29, 2005 | Law.com

Houston-based Fulbright & Jaworski, with international offices in London, Hong Kong and Munich, recently set up a beachhead in the Middle East by picking up a group of six lawyers, including five from Bryan Cave, and setting up associations with local firms in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. New partner John V. Lonsberg will lead the firm's Middle East practice.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

January 11, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

Third-year law student Giselle Torres says it may sound trite, but she accepted an offer to become an associate with Bracewell & Giuliani mostly because she connected with the people at the Houston-based firm. Torres is among the lucky law students who landed summer associate positions at BigTex firms in 2009 and received offers for permanent jobs they will start sometime after graduating in May.

By Miriam Rozen, Jeanne Graham and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

11 minute read

December 22, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

Lawyers for a biotechnology company in Houston allege a fee contract between their client and its former lawyers violates Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct and because of that they want the Texas Supreme Court to overturn an arbitration panel decision awarding fees to the former lawyers.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

July 23, 2007 | Law.com

An arbitration panel has ordered the firm of Houston plaintiffs lawyer John M. O'Quinn to pay $35.7 million in damages to a class of 3,450 former breast implant clients who allege the firm overcharged them for expenses. With interest and attorney fees, the order calls for the firm to pay as much as $58 million to the plaintiffs and their attorneys. One of the arbitrators on the panel noted that plaintiffs lawyers have been "struggling for years" on how to handle general expenses in a mass tort case.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

July 19, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

Mark Werbner of Dallas says a federal judge's July 13 opinion and order against Jordan-based Arab Bank may pave the way for his clients' long-awaited trial in their suit alleging the bank knowingly participated in funding terrorist organizations. The suit is the first brought under the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA) against a commercial bank, as opposed to a government or a terrorist organization, he says.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

June 12, 2008 | Law.com

Law students across the nation will be streaming into chilly conference rooms this summer, ready to start their clerkships. Hopefully, they'll be dressed to impress, or they could find their career options cut shorter than Britney Spears' hot pants. "We don't want our people wearing anything that would embarrass them, our firm or, more importantly, our clients," says Godwin Pappas Ronquillo partner Don Godwin. Veteran attorneys give some fashion tips on what's appropriate for summer associates.

By Jenny Burg Davis and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

February 22, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

If any small firm deserves a Purple Heart for surviving the battle damage the insurance defense practice took during the late 1990s, it`s Dallas` Johnson & Sylvan. theWhile other firms began weaning themselves off the traditional practice several years ago, tiring of restrictive guidelines placed on them by insurance companies and auditors who scoured their billables, the 10-lawyer firm stuck with it, never complaining.

By JOHN COUNCIL and BRENDA SAPINO JEFFREYS

8 minute read