Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

August 14, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that noncitizens stopped at the U.S. border have the same constitutional rights as citizens to be free from false imprisonment and the use of excessive force by law enforcement officers.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

January 06, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

Houston plaintiffs lawyer W. Mark Lanier has been on an eBay binge lately, buying industrial manuals, magazine advertisements, ashtrays, floor tiles, roof shingles, a sealed pack of Kent cigarettes from the 1950s, fire-protection cloth and even spray-on artificial snow for making a humdrum Christmas tree more festive. All the items he's won on the online auction Web site either contain asbestos or information about it. His purchases become evidence for his docket of asbestos cases.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

May 09, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

On April 29, Eric G. Andell, a well-known former juvenile and appeals court judge in Houston, pleaded guilty before a U.S. magistrate judge in Washington to one misdemeanor count of conflict of interest. He had worked occasionally as a visiting judge in Houston, often while on sick leave from his Washington job.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

June 02, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

W. Mark Lanier (pictured), the Houston plaintiffs lawyer who won a $234.4 million jury verdict in Angleton in the nation's first Vioxx trial, isn't mincing words: A May 29 Texas appeals court opinion reversing a judgment in that suit is "judicial activism for corporate America." The 14th Court of Appeals reversed the lower court in Carol Ernst v. Merck & Co. Inc.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

September 22, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

Max Sukienik has been living to surf for most of his life. His days of living near the beach in Hawaii are long gone, but the 56-year-old legal aid lawyer in Galveston surfs as often as the waves off the beach allow.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

January 19, 2006 | Law.com

With some enviously high exceptions, bonuses paid at the end of 2005 to associates with large Texas firms were similar to bonuses paid at the end of 2004. Sure, Houston's Susman Godfrey paid out year-end bonuses ranging from $86,000 to $150,000 -- averaging 75 percent of each associate's base pay -- but most associates statewide received considerably less. George Lamb, chairman of Baker Botts' associate compensation committee, says its two-tier bonus is based on merit and on productivity.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

August 05, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

The Harris County District Attorney's Office announced that it has closed its investigation into allegations that employees of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County destroyed public documents and failed to comply with open records requests. 61st District Judge Al Bennett (pictured) signed a judgment finding that "all matters in controversy have been resolved and settled."

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

November 01, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

T. Gerald Treece (pictured), a professor at South Texas College of Law, says nothing could have prepared him for the challenge of the past year serving as executor of the estate of his longtime friend — prominent Houston plaintiffs lawyer John M. O'Quinn.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

8 minute read

February 28, 2011 | Texas Lawyer

Houston firm Roach & Newton has sued former clients Walter Teachworth and TFT Galveston Portfolio Ltd., alleging they failed to pay the firm for post-verdict and appeals work following a $51 million adverse jury verdict. Randy Roach, a partner in Roach & Newton, alleges Teachworth and his company, TFT, have paid his firm nothing. He says the unpaid fees total about $425,000, but because the firm didn't have a written fee contract with Teachworth and TFT to handle the post-verdict and appellate work, they aren't suing for breach of contract.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

February 09, 2005 | Law.com

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read