Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

February 22, 2002 | Texas Lawyer

If any small firm deserves a Purple Heart for surviving the battle damage the insurance defense practice took during the late 1990s, it`s Dallas` Johnson & Sylvan. theWhile other firms began weaning themselves off the traditional practice several years ago, tiring of restrictive guidelines placed on them by insurance companies and auditors who scoured their billables, the 10-lawyer firm stuck with it, never complaining.

By JOHN COUNCIL and BRENDA SAPINO JEFFREYS

8 minute read

August 16, 2004 | Law.com

Thanks to some colorful language, an order by a federal judge in Austin is making the e-mail circuit in the Texas legal community. U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks wrote in the order that certain lawyers' behavior makes him feel as though he's supervising kindergarten. The judge also dropped a hint about the benefit of attending anger management classes. And that's just the beginning.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

July 19, 2006 | Texas Lawyer

Michael T. Shelby, a litigation partner in Fulbright & Jaworski in Houston and a former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, died Tuesday. According to a public release report from the Harris County Sheriff's Department, Shelby died at his Houston home on July 18 of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

August 09, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

The Federal Bureau of Prisons isn't saying why it transferred former U.S. District Judge Samuel B. Kent (pictured) to the custody of the Florida Department of Corrections to serve his 33-month prison sentence, a location change Kent's criminal-defense attorney and others say is highly unusual.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

April 18, 2005 | Law.com

The really big Enron show starts in January when the criminal trial of former executives Ken Lay, Jeff Skilling and Richard Causey kicks off. But today, five ex-employees of the one-time highly touted Enron Broadband Services subsidiary face what one defense attorney calls "the most important Enron trial to date." Another defense attorney, Jack Zimmerman, says, "This is really the first Enron case, but it's not the corporate executive-level Enron case, so there is a great deal of pressure on both sides."

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

November 22, 2010 | Texas Lawyer

McGuireWoods is the latest national firm to seek opportunity in the Lone Star State, with the firm set to combine operations with Houston litigation boutique Nickens Keeton Lawless Farrell & Flack. On Jan. 1, 2011, pending final approval from partners in both firms, Nickens Keeton will become the Houston office of Richmond, Va.-based McGuireWoods, the firms announced on Nov. 17.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

3 minute read

March 25, 2003 | Law.com

The war in Iraq could mean more work for the United Nations Compensation Commission, which has been winding down its evaluation of claims from businesses, governments and individuals who allege they suffered damages as a result of the first Gulf War. U.S. lawyers who worked for the UNCC say the new war could jeopardize the speedy resolution of old claims or produce a whole new batch of claims.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

June 02, 2003 | Texas Lawyer

Just more than a month after U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon of Houston lifted a discovery stay in the massive Enron Corp. class-action litigation, Harmon and the New York federal judge presiding over Enron's bankruptcy ordered many of the parties to mediation.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

January 12, 2001 | Law.com

It took marathon negotiating sessions, lasting into the wee hours, for lawyers to avert what would have been the nation's first post-recall trial in a tire-tread-separation suit involving Bridgestone/Firestone tires and a Ford Explorer. The suit, lodged by a woman who became a quadriplegic as a result of her car accident, settled one day before the trial was set to begin in a Texas state court.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

10 minute read

May 21, 2003 | Law.com

Texas Tech University School of Law Professor Daisy Hurst Floyd, who claims she was passed over as a candidate for interim dean because she is a woman, filed suit against the university earlier this month alleging a pattern of discrimination at the university, failure to follow procedures and intolerance of dissent. Floyd says she wants the university to examine its conduct with regard to patterns of discrimination.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

6 minute read