Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

March 13, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

Michael Ramsey, Kenneth Lay's criminal-defense attorney, hammered hard on witness Andrew Fastow's credibility and honesty during his March 13 cross-examination of Fastow, the former chief financial officer of Houston's Enron Corp. who has pleaded guilty to two criminal charges in connection with the investigation into the tragic collapse of the former high-flying energy company.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

December 22, 2008 | Texas Lawyer

After a bitter 13-year legal battle, Maxxam Inc. has finally put down its arms and agreed to accept a $10 million settlement to end a bitter dispute with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which at one time was ordered to pay $72.3 million in sanctions to Maxxam. "I'm kind of tired of paying lawyers. It kind of got to a price where we just said OK," Maxxam's chairman said.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

August 09, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

Donald Winston has been waiting a long time for justice, but that doesn`t make it any easier for the surgeon to endure 17 years of litigation in a dispute with a hospital in Houston that suspended his privileges in 1983. It couldn`t be more frustrating. I didn`t expect this at all, says Winston, now 57 and a litigation consultant in Houston. Winston`s first long wait ended in October 1996, when the 1st Court of Appeals in Houston finally handed down an opinion in Donald Winston M.D., et al. v. American

By BRENDA SAPINO JEFFREYS

6 minute read

February 09, 2010 | Law.com

Between Jan. 1, 2009, and Jan. 1, 2010, lawyer headcounts at 25 of the 26 largest firms in Texas declined by 5.7 percent overall, and several of the BigTex firms posted Texas lawyer count declines in excess of 10 percent. Law firm consultant William C. Cobb of Houston says he's not surprised, noting that reduced hiring, delayed start dates, mandatory retirement rules and layoffs all contributed to the reductions. Firm leaders seemed much more optimistic about lateral hiring at Texas firms in the coming year.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

November 17, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

At age 78, legendary trial lawyer Joe Jamail of Houston tells the story of his life and career in Lawyer: My Trials and Jubilations, published in October by Eakin Press in Austin and written with Mickey Herskowitz.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

4 minute read

February 01, 2006 | Law.com

Opening statements in the criminal trial of former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling began with a federal prosecutor telling jurors, "This case is not about accounting, it is about lies and choices." On the other side, defense attorney Daniel Petrocelli said that Skilling "didn't steal one nickel" from Enron employees or shareholders and that the company was in good financial condition when Skilling left in August 2001.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read

December 07, 2005 | Texas Lawyer

Fisher & Phillips, an Atlanta-based management-side labor and employment firm with four lawyers in its new Dallas office, is eying Houston, Austin and San Antonio for additional expansion.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

2 minute read

March 26, 2007 | The Legal Intelligencer

Gregory S. Coleman, head of Weil Gotshal & Manges' national appellate litigation practice and Texas' first solicitor general, has left Weil Gotshal's Austin, Texas, office to join litigation boutique Yetter & Warden as a partner.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys ALM

4 minute read

September 17, 2007 | Law.com

An arbitration panel has ordered John M. O'Quinn's law firm to pay a little more to a class of 3,450 former breast implant clients who allege O'Quinn's firm overcharged them for expenses. In July, a three-member arbitration panel ordered the O'Quinn Law Firm in Houston to pay $35.7 million in damages to the class for breach of contract, but last week, a three-member arbitration panel ordered the firm to pay close to $41.5 million, with almost $11 million of that allocated for expenses and attorney fees.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

2 minute read

January 11, 2010 | Law.com

Houston lawyer Harry C. Arthur touched a nerve in one homeless man when Arthur filed a suit seeking to shut down a church-sponsored operation that provides meals and services for homeless people, on the grounds that the center is a "private nuisance." Louis Charles Hamilton II filed a pro se suit seeking a minimum of $2.4 million in damages, alleging that Arthur "unflinchingly, courageously" and with an "audaciously bold potty mouth" accused people who are fed at the center of being "derelicts," among other things.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read