Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

April 20, 2007 | Law.com

Howard K. Stern, the longtime attorney and companion to former Playboy model and television personality Anna Nicole Smith, who died Feb. 8 in Florida, has filed a federal defamation suit against Houston lawyer John O'Quinn. Stern alleges in the complaint that O'Quinn, an attorney for Smith's mother Virgie Arthur, repeatedly made false and defamatory public statements alleging that Stern caused the death of Smith and her son, Daniel, for Stern's own financial gain.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

March 15, 2011 | New York Law Journal

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

2 minute read

June 12, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

Some large Texas firms have policies in place for the times when lawyers are called to active duty, but others don't -- presumably because it has not been an issue. Like Haynes and Boone, many of the firms with policies will supplement lawyers' military pay, so they don't suffer financially while on active duty.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

May 18, 2009 | Texas Lawyer

With his life and legal career a smoldering wreckage, on May 11 retired U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent was sentenced to 33 months in prison for one count of obstruction of justice, and the two women he abused finally got a chance to speak directly to the jurist who made their lives hell.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys and John Council

12 minute read

September 28, 2009 | Texas Lawyer

Taken as a whole, the firms with the largest Texas offices shed some lawyers between July 1, 2008, and July 1, 2009, but the percentages of minority and female lawyers at those firms did not slip. Emmanuel Obi (pictured), an associate with Weil, Gotshal & Manges, is on a committee looking at ways to increase diversity at Dallas firms.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

February 27, 2006 | National Law Journal

Tuesday's arguments at the U.S. Supreme Court on a federal jurisdiction matter are apt to attract a somewhat different audience for such an issue. That's because Playmate Anna Nicole Smith is due to attend, in connection with a judgment awarding her millions from her husband's estate. Legal obervers are split on whether the circus atmosphere that often surrounds Smith will be a concern for the justices as they consider whether federal courts have jurisdiction in state probate matters.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

March 21, 2007 | The Recorder

Shareholders' plans to sue Enron were thwarted when the Fifth Circuit overturned an earlier ruling granting class certification, but the case is likely to be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

August 18, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

A few weeks ago, the three name shareholders in Dallas firm Godwin Pappas & Ronquillo sat down to chart the future of their firm. But instead of agreeing on a plan to grow the trial and appellate firm, the three decided the Dallas and Houston offices should separate. One group will boost the Kane Russell office in Houston to almost 20 lawyers, says Kane Russell director Michael Logan.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

August 08, 2006 | National Law Journal

The city of San Diego has sued Vinson & Elkins, alleging the firm failed to fully investigate problems with the city's troubled pension system and provide a "warts and all" report into a $1.4 billion to $2 billion pension funding shortfall. In its complaint seeking at least $10 million in damages, the city alleges V&E overcharged San Diego for the firm's work from 2003 through 2005 and failed to provide a report that would be accepted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

April 04, 2011 | Texas Lawyer

Eight individuals and a Louisiana company filed a Federal Tort Claims Act suit March 24 against the federal government, alleging they lost their investments in Stanford International Bank Ltd. because of the negligence of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission employees. Plaintiffs allege that an SEC Office of Inspector General report issued in March 2010 found that the SEC's Fort Worth office had known since 1997 that Stanford likely was "operating a Ponzi scheme," but it wasn't until February 2009 that the SEC sued Stanford.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read