Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

December 09, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

Ninety years after the Titanic sank in the icy North Atlantic, lawyers are still in court fighting over the right to salvage from the shipwreck that's resting two-and-a-half miles beneath the surface of the sea. The dispute really isn't over valuables like gold and diamonds that could be recovered from the wreck, maritime lawyer Philip N. Davey said Dec. 3 at a Titanic and the Law seminar sponsored by the University of Houston Law Center.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

November 03, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

When Kimberly Frye decided to go in-house with a client, Key Energy Services Inc., in 2002, she thought one of her biggest challenges would be the adjustment of living in Midland after years of calling Houston home. As it turns out, the most difficult challenge was the job itself, as Frye ended up spending about two-and-a-half years on a financial restatement and getting the company's stock relisted on the New York Stock Exchange, all because the company delayed reporting its 2003 year-end financials.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

11 minute read

February 15, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

It`s been nearly six years since 75th District Judge J.C. Zbranek put Odis Briggs Sr. in jail after finding Briggs in contempt of court for failing to produce some documents the judge is convinced Briggs has.

By BRENDA SAPINO JEFFREYS

11 minute read

March 16, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

An investigation into possible accounting irregularities at Enron Corp. conducted by Houston's Vinson & Elkins in the fall of 2001 was bogus in the estimation of the Enron employee whose complaints to former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay prompted the probe.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

September 30, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

While the compensation packages received by many GC's are mind-boggling, many of them can't go to the bank with much of it, thanks to declining stock markets. Still, the pay is exceedingly good. Even without the value of the stock options, the average general counsel on the best-paid list made more than the average partner at one of the 25 highest-grossing firms in Texas. James Ellis, SBC's general counsel, says that his company's size and scope of his responsibilities factor into his annual compensation.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

13 minute read

December 13, 2005 | Law.com

A federal judge Monday morning declared a mistrial in the nation's first federal Vioxx trial after a Texas jury was unable to decide on the verdict. "If a retrial is scheduled we will be right back with the same facts," Kenneth C. Frazier, Merck's general counsel, said in a statement. Plaintiffs lawyer Jere Beasley said he's also ready to retry the suit. "I don't like moral victories," Beasley said. "We would much preferred to have had a verdict."

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

March 08, 2006 | The Legal Intelligencer

Former Enron Corp. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow testified yesterday in the criminal trial of Jeffrey Skilling and Ken Lay that he considered himself a hero for helping Enron manipulate its earnings with improper deals with some off-balance-sheet entities he set up and managed.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

April 23, 2007 | Law.com

After a neighbor complained that his son's pet donkey was a loud nuisance, Dallas lawyer C. Gregory Shamoun brought the donkey, known as Buddy, into a courtroom to attempt to prove otherwise to a jury. Questions about Buddy's behavior arose in a suit Shamoun filed, accusing neighbor John Cantrell of assault. Cantrell alleged in a counterclaim that Shamoun intentionally interfered with his enjoyment of his property by allowing a burro and a calf to roam freely in Shamoun's backyard.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

October 16, 2000 | Law.com

George W. Bush once worked in Baker Bott's mailroom, and the Houston firm has represented the Bush family for years. It's not surprising the firm and its lawyers are among the largest firm contributors to the Bush campaign. And some of the most loyal. The Texas Governor's campaign has attracted more than two times as much money from the lone start state's lawyers as the campaign of Vice President Al Gore.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

August 25, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

After a three-justice panel of Houston's 14th Court of Appeals reversed a judgment in the nation's first Vioxx trial, plaintiffs' lawyer W. Mark Lanier vowed to appeal it on behalf of his client. He called the opinion "judicial activism for corporate America." Now, more than two months after the May 29 opinion reversing the judgment in Carol Ernst v. Merck & Co. Inc., Ernst has filed a motion seeking a rehearing en banc.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read