Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

September 11, 2006 |

A U.S. Army veteran who alleges he developed silicosis from exposure to silica dust while working in a quarry for the Army has filed a breach of fiduciary duty and fraud civil suit in state court in Houston against lawyers who formerly represented him in an unsuccessful silicosis products liability case.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

July 12, 2004 |

Muslim investors are not allowed to earn interest on their money or pay interest. So working on deals involving Muslims isn't the easiest practice area. Nevertheless, Bracewell & Patterson finance and real estate partner Alfred G. "Al" Kyle is developing a niche practice of representing banks in deals financed in part with money from Muslim investors.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

7 minute read

April 09, 2007 |

Beginning in 2004, partners at Jenkens & Gilchrist who left the firm also left behind their capital contributions due to the firm's "contingent liabilities." Those attorneys may never see a penny of it, or they may recoup some of it, depending on what's left over after the firm covers its financial obligations since its closing last month. Roger Hayse, a former executive at Jenkens who returned to take the job of president as it liquidates, says "job one" is making sure all of the firm's creditors are paid.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

9 minute read

December 01, 2003 |

Nearly two years after Enron Corp. filed a Chapter 11 in the wake of a massive drop in its stock price, a bankruptcy examiner's fourth and final report concludes that outside lawyers at Vinson & Elkins and Andrews & Kurth may have been negligent or may have aided and abetted Enron officers in breaching their fiduciary duties to the battered company.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys and Miriam Rozen

10 minute read

May 02, 2011 |

Everything's coming up green for associates and counsel at Vinson & Elkins and Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Both BigTex firms, following a market move by many large New York City firms, will pay spring bonuses in May to associates and counsel who received 2010 year-end bonuses. Joe Dilg, V&E's managing partner, says V&E is committed to keeping associate and counsel compensation within the market range.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

5 minute read

November 13, 2000 |

With Texas' highest courts already under Republican control, the GOP picked up four more seats on the mid-level appellate courts. Now the question is whether judicial decisions will be impacted by the fact Republicans will hold nearly two of every three seats on the state's mid-level appellate courts. "In certain politically charged cases, it will have an effect," says law professor James Paulsen.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Mary Alice Robbins, and John Council

11 minute read

April 05, 2004 |

Five lawyers put in extra extra effort to become some of the Texas in-house world's rising stars.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

20 minute read

June 28, 2004 |

Gross revenue at the Texas 25, the 25 highest-grossing firms in Texas, was up 4.9 percent in 2003 compared to 2002, but the bigger story for 2003 is a substantial increase in profits per partner at the firms. Partners in the Texas 25 made $776,000 each, on average, in 2003, a hefty increase of 16.9 percent from the $664,000 made by the average partner in 2002.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys

45 minute read

January 30, 2006 |

As the long-awaited trial of former Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay and CEO Jeffrey Skilling gets underway, thousands of ex-employees want to know who to blame for their misfortune, while business executives look to the case to determine how a company as large and innovative as Enron could sink in a wave of near-worthless stock. It may not be the single most important trial to ever occur in Houston, but its significance goes far beyond the fate of Lay and Skilling, who face fraud and conspiracy charges.

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys and Miriam Rozen

19 minute read

December 22, 2003 |

Michael Ramsey, Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Pierce, Joe Jamail, Donald Godwin and Mike Gruber, State Bar of Texas chief disciplinary counsel Dawn Miller, Jeff Blackburn and Mitchell Katine

By Brenda Sapino Jeffreys, Mary Alice Robbins, Miriam Rozen, John Council

39 minute read