Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

May 10, 2010 | Law.com

A former client of Locke Lord Bissell & Liddell has sued the Dallas-based firm, alleging the firm's negligence in handling a federal court declaratory judgment action led to a default judgment against it. The plaintiff alleges the firm failed to keep it apprised of developments, including discovery requests and depositions, and as a result a federal judge entered a default judgment dismissing its counterclaim and giving $2 million in escrowed money -- the subject of the underlying suit -- to other parties.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

September 19, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

Since Sept. 7, hundreds of volunteer lawyers in Houston have been giving advice to Hurricane Katrina evacuees over the telephone and in person, at times right at the shelters.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

11 minute read

April 12, 2006 | Law.com

Former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling testified Tuesday that he and co-defendant Kenneth Lay, Enron's ex-chairman, never conspired to defraud investors by presenting false and misleading financial statements. Lay faces six fraud and conspiracy charges in the trial, now in its 11th week. Prosecutors allege that Skilling and Lay participated in a conspiracy to misrepresent Enron's financial condition, but the defendants have blamed the company's problems on actions by former CFO Andrew Fastow.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

May 05, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

Although Dan Morales lives in a home valued at $1.2 million in the scenic hills of West Austin, the former Texas attorney general asked a federal judge on April 25 to appoint a federal public defender to represent him on federal charges.

By Miriam Rozen, Brenda Sapino Jeffreys and Mary Alice Robbins

11 minute read

April 03, 2008 | Law.com

Daniel Petrocelli asked a 5th Circuit panel on Wednesday to throw out former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling's conviction. The 2006 trial in which Skilling was convicted on criminal counts related to the collapse of Enron was "fundamentally unfair and defective," Petrocelli told the court, citing a 5th Circuit opinion that held that a corporate employee does not unlawfully deprive his employer of his honest services when the employee's conduct was carried out in pursuit of the employer's goals.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

April 19, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals decided against giving Napoleon Beazley a second habeas corpus review and lifted the stay preventing his execution for a murder committed when he was 17.

By BRENDA SAPINO JEFFREYS

4 minute read

August 22, 2005 | Law.com

Texas Lawyer Jose Luis Betancourt could have had a good time spending about $2.7 million he won from the Texas lottery. But instead, the U.S. government gets to keep the winnings it seized from the convicted drug trafficker, and Betancourt will serve a 292-month sentence in federal prison on a drug trafficking conviction. U.S. Attorney Chuck Rosenberg says he's pleased the 5th Circuit found prosecutors properly used forfeiture statutes. "Mr. Betancourt's luck ran out, and appropriately so."

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

2 minute read

August 20, 2007 | Law.com

The steering committee of lawyers representing plaintiffs suing BP over a deadly explosion at the company's refinery wants Houston lawyer Ronald Krist off the defense team. But a Texas appeals court has denied a writ of mandamus seeking to overturn a lower court's denial of a motion to disqualify Krist as counsel on the ground that his firm formerly represented four plaintiffs who sought damages from BP after the 2005 explosion. Meanwhile, the first trial in the BP litigation may begin this month.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

June 28, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

The collapse of Houston-based Enron Corp. in 2001 was a shot heard around Texas and the nation. Before the dust settled on the unprecedented business disaster, the company filed what was then the largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy ever, the U.S. Department of Justice established an Enron Task Force to determine who to blame for the corporate downfall, and Congress passed the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. Former Chairman Ken Lay (pictured) died after he was convicted of criminal charges in the Enron case.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

October 29, 2007 | Texas Lawyer

San Antonio plaintiffs lawyer Mikal Watts says he ended his exploratory bid for the U.S. Senate on Oct. 23 for family reasons, not because of concern over his business relationship with Corpus Christi's Mauricio R. Celis or his firm, CGT Law Group International.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

13 minute read