Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

July 20, 2009 | Texas Lawyer

It's crunch time for the nearly 3,000 would-be Texas lawyers who will take the Texas bar exam July 28-30. With butterflies in their stomachs and sweaty palms, the nervous test-takers probably can use some advice from Texas attorneys who went through the same rite of passage. Texas Lawyer talked to Manny Alvarez (pictured) and 11 other lawyers who share their best test-taking tips, some of them with interview videos.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, John Council and Mary Alice Robbins

14 minute read

August 15, 2006 | National Law Journal

Jerry K. Clements, a litigation partner in Locke Liddell & Sapp in Austin, Texas, will become the 378-lawyer firm's new managing partner on Jan. 1 when current managing partner Bryan Goolsby, a corporate partner in Dallas, gives up his managing partner duties. Clements had a high-profile role last year as Locke Liddell's primary spokesperson after President George W. Bush's nomination of Harriet E. Miers to the U.S. Supreme Court.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

2 minute read

March 03, 2003 | New York Law Journal

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

June 08, 2000 | Law.com

The five plaintiffs' lawyers who negotiated a $17.3 billion settlement between Texas and the tobacco industry returned $6.9 million in expense money, a move Texas Attorney General John Cornyn says raises "troubling questions." "Their misrepresentation of expenses just raises more questions and strongly reinforces the need to determine what happened in the tobacco case," Cornyn says.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

October 31, 2005 | Law.com

W. Mark Lanier, the Houston lawyer who won a $253.5 million verdict in the nation's first Vioxx pharmaceutical suit, wants another shot at a big win. In theory, attempts by Lanier and his small, breakaway group of plaintiffs lawyers to try future Vioxx suits in state, rather than federal, court will pressure Merck & Co. to come to the settlement bargaining table. But a judge overseeing the Vioxx litigation told a courtroom full of lawyers last week that the plans of Lanier's group are "counterproductive."

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

June 14, 2004 | Texas Lawyer

A walking tour of San Antonio, site of the State Bar's annual meeting.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

December 13, 2004 | Legaltech News

Corporate in-house lawyers in Texas and elsewhere are taking advantage of electronic billing's efficiencies. E-billing can be a win-win by making it easier for lawyers to receive and review invoices from outside counsel, and by speeding up payments to outside firms. Many legal departments choose to do a trial run to test a system out before fully adopting it. Complaints? Not many.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

April 10, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

Proclaiming innocence with his first few words on the witness stand, former Enron Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling began the important task of trying to convince jurors in his criminal trial that he should be acquitted of fraud and conspiracy charges he faces in connection with the collapse of the Houston energy company.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

August 01, 2007 | National Law Journal

Dallas-based Winstead will not raise associate salaries in the wake of Texas market moves kicked off by a new salary scale effective today at Vinson & Elkins. Winstead will continue to pay its first-year lawyers a $135,000 base salary, but instead of a $5,000 bonus, associates will be eligible for a merit-based bonus of up to $25,000, says Denis Braham, chairman and CEO of the 303-lawyer firm. "Within our culture, it's fundamental that it's merit-based," Braham says.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

September 21, 2009 | Texas Lawyer

The border town of Ciudad Juarez is the most violent city in Mexico, but because the violence largely has not crossed the border into Texas, it is El Paso immigration and real estate lawyers — not the criminal-defense bar — that are getting a boost to their practices.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read