Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

December 08, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

The day after San Antonio lawyer H. Miguel Tudon successfully defended a client from criminal charges in juvenile court, he was shocked to learn the judge who presided over the trial suspended him from the appointment list for juvenile cases for allegedly acting unprofessionally in her courtroom.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

April 03, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

Patents owned by Texas companies Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Freescale Semiconductor Inc. will be on the auction block April 6, along with about 450 other patents owned by various corporations and individuals, who will use the unusual live event to raise cash from their patents. Organizers of the event, to be held at a San Francisco hotel, say it will be the nation's first-ever live, multicompany patent auction.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

May 03, 2004 | Law.com

A Texas jury unanimously returned a record $1 billion verdict in a fen-phen wrongful-death suit last week, but a Houston plaintiffs lawyer now faces the harder task of convincing the courts that the jury finding busts a statutory cap on punitive damages. Attorney John O'Quinn says the $900 million in punitives will stand because the jury found the Wyeth drug company knowingly or intentionally destroyed, altered or concealed public documents.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

July 24, 2007 | Law.com

Because a disproportionate number of the landmen working in the energy industry are near retirement age, big energy companies recently began to recruit at law schools. Kassidy Knutson Opitz, a 2005 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, who took a job as a landman at land broker Griffith Land Services, says it's a good job for quality of life -- the hours are pretty good despite the travel -- and because it's a stepping stone to a position as a title attorney or other real estate-related jobs.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

February 12, 2007 | Law.com

Jenkens & Gilchrist is losing three Dallas-based immigration partners to San Francisco-based corporate-immigration firm Berry, Appleman & Leiden, which is opening offices in Dallas and Houston. Steven Ladik, who is leaving Jenkens to become managing partner of Berry Appleman's Dallas office, says the immigration group had been evaluating its practice model for a long time. Operating a corporate immigration practice in a large general-practice firm is like putting a square peg in a round hole, Ladik says.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

December 27, 2001 | Law.com

A lot of midsize Texas firms bit the dust in 2001, with a number of venerable names disappearing from the landscape either through merger or a breakup. The remarkable change could simply be the result of the natural ebb and flow of the Texas legal market, but because of this wave of consolidation, many clients will find they have fewer choices when they want to hire a firm, and law school graduates fewer opportunities.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

September 25, 2007 | Law.com

A few years ago, Steven Selsberg, a partner in Mayer Brown in Houston, thought he would make a smoking-hot career out of tobacco litigation, but today Selsberg is the go-to litigation lawyer in the United States for the business empire of Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican billionaire who may be the richest man in the world. When Selsberg isn't doing work for Slim or his companies, he handles litigation for other clients from Mexico he obtained through Slim or through other Mexican connections.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

13 minute read

June 05, 2001 | Law.com

Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay, which is known as a bankruptcy specialty firm, will close its doors by July 15 as lawyers from the firm's three Texas offices move to other firms. Plans for the June 30 closing of the Houston office were announced in April, but George Tarpley, the firm president, says the shareholders in the Dallas and Austin offices decided to go their separate ways.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

January 20, 2004 | Law.com

Federal Judge David Hittner isn't making it easy for Lea W. Fastow, wife of one-time Enron CFO Andrew Fastow, to end her legal nightmare. Lea Fastow, a former Enron assistant treasurer, pleaded guilty Wednesday to one count of filing a false tax return. She wanted to enter a plea earlier, but Hittner said he wanted to wait until he saw a pre-sentencing report. Last week, Hittner balked again, refusing a request to dismiss five other pending charges.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

September 25, 2007 | Law.com

A few years ago, Steven Selsberg, a partner in Mayer Brown in Houston, thought he would make a smoking-hot career out of tobacco litigation, but today Selsberg is the go-to litigation lawyer in the United States for the business empire of Carlos Slim Helu, the Mexican billionaire who may be the richest man in the world. When Selsberg isn't doing work for Slim or his companies, he handles litigation for other clients from Mexico he obtained through Slim or through other Mexican connections.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

13 minute read