Baker Botts gets another $5.2M in litgation over $142M fee award in $6B bankruptcy case

After years of litigation, Baker Botts was awarded another $5.2 million in legal fees on Tuesday for defending its earlier $142 million fee award for representing a copper mining operation in a bankruptcy case. The law firm’s representation of Asarco LLC was part of a long-running legal battle that began…

Mar 28, 2013 6:13 PM CDT

After leaping to DLA Piper from Hogan Lovells, 4 of 5 partners in energy group return to former firm

A little over a year after they left Hogan Lovells for DLA Piper, four of the five energy partners who made the high-profile move have headed back to their former law firm. Among the exiting group is Kevin Lipson, the co-chief of the energy practice both at DLA Piper and,…

Mar 26, 2013 9:59 PM CDT

New Reed Smith office in Houston now has 17 attorneys and is looking to hire more

Last month Reed Smith announced that the law firm had established an office in the hot Houston market and was looking to hire lawyers for what is eventually expected to be a 50-attorney roster there. And now, a little over a month later, Reed Smith on Tuesday announced that its…

Feb 26, 2013 6:44 PM CST

K&L Gates launches Houston office with Fulbright securities practice chief

K&L Gates is the latest BigLaw firm to plant its flag in the hot Houston market. Longtime Fulbright & Jaworski partner Charles L. Strauss, who headed that firm’s securities practice group, will now help K&L Gates launch its fourth Texas office there, the firm announced in a Monday press release.…

Feb 11, 2013 3:00 PM CST

It’s a golden age for Texas’ oil and gas transactional lawyers

Feb 1, 2013 10:59 AM CST

Orrick raids Bingham, 3-partner energy team includes practice group co-chair

A three-partner team led by the co-chair of Bingham McCutchen’s energy and project finance practice group has exited the law firm’s New York office for Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Tara Higgins will co-chair the U.S. energy practice group at her new law firm, Reuters reports. She said she made the…

Jan 29, 2013 6:39 PM CST

Reed Smith has opened Houston office, expects 50 lawyers there

Another major law firm is opening an office in Houston. Reed Smith now has a physical presence in the Texas city and is looking to hire attorneys to practice in its new office there, the firm’s chief marketing officer told the Pittsburgh Business Times on Tuesday. “We have opened, and…

Jan 15, 2013 11:23 PM CST

Schiff Hardin Doubles Energy Practice with Acquisition of 10-Lawyer DC Boutique

Schiff Hardin has announced that it has acquired a 10-lawyer energy boutique based in Washington, D.C., nearly doubling the size of the firm’s practice group. Bruder Gentile & Marcoux comes to Schiff Hardin with 10 attorneys; the 385-lawyer Chicago-headquartered firm already had 11 in its energy practice group, Reuters reports.…

Jan 7, 2013 11:31 PM CST

King Coal’s Violent Reign: Century-Old Labor Strife Still Raises Constitutional Questions

Dec 1, 2012 11:10 AM CST

Amidst Tight Market for Legal Work, Houston Attorneys and Law Firms Have Struck Oil

As the legal economy overall continues to sputter and lawyers in many practice areas are aggressively looking for work, there’s no need for a number of attorneys and law firms in Houston, Texas, to step on the gas. Thanks to their energy law expertise and clients in a region known…

Nov 19, 2012 3:46 PM CST

Probe: Narrow BP Focus on Worker Safety Missed Big-Picture Issues Resulting in Massive Gulf Spill

Focused on worker safety, BP failed to anticipate adequately big-picture risks that led to the 2010 explosion and fire in its Gulf of Mexico oil rig that killed 11 people and resulted in a massive petroleum spill, members of a federal investigatory panel said Tuesday. Preliminary findings by the U.S.…

Jul 24, 2012 10:57 PM CDT

A Federal Appeals Court’s Nuclear Opinion Takes Lawyers to Task for Acronyms

A federal appeals court is fed up with little-known energy acronyms like “SNF” and “NWPA.” In a ruling (PDF) last week , the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit showed its irritation in its first footnote, according to The BLT: The Blog of Legal Times. The…

Jun 6, 2012 12:56 PM CDT

Second Massey Manager Is Charged in Fatal Mine Accident; Conspiracy Allegation Is Unusual

A second manager at Massey Energy Co. has been charged in connection with the 2010 explosion that killed 29 miners, and there could be more prosecutions ahead. Former mine superintendent Gary May, 43, was charged with conspiracy to impede safety efforts in a single-count information (PDF), an indication that he…

Feb 23, 2012 1:22 PM CST

Supreme Court Rejects Montana’s ‘Short Interruptions’ Approach in Riverbed Dispute

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled against the state of Montana after diving into a riverbed rights dispute. Justice Anthony M. Kennedy wrote the opinion (PDF) for a unanimous court favoring a company that operates hydroelectric dams on three rivers in the state: the Missouri, the Madison and Clark Fork.…

Feb 22, 2012 4:19 PM CST

After 50 Years, Wyo. Oil and Gas Law Firm Is Disbanding

After more than 50 years in business, a Casper, Wyo., law firm specializing in oil and gas and corporate matters can’t compete with the larger regional firms that are luring its attorneys elsewhere. Brown Drew & Massey, which had as many as 20 attorneys on its roster at one point,…

Dec 16, 2011 9:25 PM CST