Texas

Retired Judge Jerry Buchmeyer Dies

Retired U.S. District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer has died. The Dallas judge was best known for his handling of a 1985 lawsuit that helped desegregate housing, the Associated Press reports. He served as a judge for nearly 30 years and was chief judge for the Northern District of Texas from 1995…

Sep 23, 2009 11:32 AM CDT

Pranknet Practical Jokes Not as Funny After Criminal Charges are Filed

Following the recent arrest of two members of an online group that promotes practical jokes, fewer onlookers apparently may be finding the Pranknet antics funny. Although the international group allegedly orchestrates its pranks over the telephone, members still can cause serious damage by talking strangers into acts of vandalism and…

Sep 17, 2009 11:19 PM CDT

Revised Autopsy Spurs Baby Sitter’s Appeal in Shaken Baby Case

A Texas baby sitter who has served nearly seven years in prison after her conviction for shaking a baby to death has filed an appeal citing a medical examiner’s revision of the original autopsy. The medical examiner in Harris County, Texas, “has quietly rewritten” the results of the 1998 autopsy,…

Sep 17, 2009 11:56 AM CDT

Slower Economy Leads to Lower Offer Rates at BigLaw Firms in Texas

What a difference a year makes. It wasn’t unusual for a BigLaw firm in Texas to make offers to almost all the law students in its summer program as recently as 2008. But this year the offer rate to summer associates dropped significantly at a number of well-known firms, in…

Sep 16, 2009 6:30 PM CDT

Judge’s Affair With Prosecutor Raised Too Late; Appeals Court Denies New Trial

Despite a now-admitted affair between the prosecutor and the judge in his capital murder trial, Charles Dean Hood’s conviction won’t be overturned. Because he waited too long to challenge his murder conviction, Hood should not be retried, a divided Texas Court of Criminal Appeals panel has ruled. However, the issue…

Sep 16, 2009 5:49 PM CDT

Bonfire Could Return to Texas A&M, Following $2.1M Settlement

A 1999 accident at Texas A&M University that killed 11 students and one graduate and injured dozens of others ended a 100-year-old campus football tradition known as Bonfire. But the fire, which grew to bigger and bigger heights before a 60-foot-high stack of logs under construction collapsed a decade ago,…

Sep 9, 2009 11:55 PM CDT

Texas Judge Accused of Seeking ‘More Than a 1-Night Stand’ Is Suspended

A Texas judge who has been accused of offering to help a defendant in his courtroom find another attorney in exchange for a relationship that was “more than a one-night stand” has been suspended from the bench, with pay. Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law Judge Donald Jackson, 59, was suspended this…

Sep 8, 2009 7:55 PM CDT

Insulted in Restroom, Texas Judge Jails Court Attendee, 69, for Contempt

Angry about a Texas judge’s ruling in a custody matter involving his granddaughter, Don Bandelman followed the jurist into a public restroom at the Caldwell County courthouse. Then the 69-year-old called District Judge Jack Robison a fool, reports the Austin American-Statesman. Bandelman says the judge told him to leave, and…

Sep 8, 2009 4:41 PM CDT

Tex Parte Does the Math, Says Baker Botts Is Down 25 Associates

When Baker Botts announced layoffs last week, the firm declined to say how many attorneys were being let go. But the Tex Parte blog of Texas Lawyer has done some number-crunching and come up with a figure. Based on comparisons of the firm’s website on Aug. 26 and Sept. 1,…

Sep 3, 2009 11:26 PM CDT

Fish & Richardson to Close 28-Attorney Office in Austin, Texas

Following news last week that a 450-attorney law firm known for its intellectual property work will be eliminating its corporate practice group comes additional news that Fish & Richardson will also be closing its office in Austin, Texas, by the end of the year. “This was a difficult decision to…

Aug 31, 2009 5:53 PM CDT

DA Drops Arson Charges Against Wife of Texas Supreme Court Justice

Prosecutors have dropped arson charges against the wife of Texas Supreme Court Justice David Medina. Francisca Medina had been charged in a 2007 fire that destroyed the couple’s home, but prosecutors say experts can’t rule out the possibility that electrical problems caused the blaze, according to the Associated Press and…

Aug 31, 2009 11:28 AM CDT

Investors Sue Proskauer & Partner Over Alleged Conspiracy With Stanford

Investors who lost money in R. Allen Stanford’s alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme run under the guise of a banking operation based in Antigua have reportedly filed a class action against Proskauer Rose and partner Thomas Sjoblom. Filed yesterday in federal court in Dallas, it alleges that the firm participated…

Aug 28, 2009 9:36 PM CDT

Indictment Alleges Judge Sought ‘More Than a 1-Night Stand’ From Defendant

A Texas judge who made headlines yesterday after being indicted on a misdemeanor charge of official oppression is accused of soliciting a defendant in a driving-while-intoxicated case for sexual favors. The indictment accuses Criminal Court-at-Law Judge Donald Jackson, 59, of telling the 27-year-old woman that he would help her find…

Aug 28, 2009 5:37 PM CDT

US Claims Misleading Statements by ‘Attorney A’; Is Proskauer Lawyer at Risk?

Updated: A plea agreement reached Thursday between the former chief financial officer of Stanford Financial Group and the federal government claims an unidentified outside lawyer for the bank misled investigators about billionaire financier R. Allen Stanford’s knowledge of his bank operations and the legitimacy of the enterprise. The agreement alleges…

Aug 27, 2009 7:55 PM CDT

17-Year Texas Judge Accused of Misdemeanor Official Oppression

Developing: A 17-year Texas judge who formerly worked as an assistant Harris County attorney has been indicted on a charge of misdemeanor official oppression. Details of the charges against Judge Don Jackson of Harris County Criminal Court-at-Law are sketchy, reports the Houston Chronicle, and do not explain the nature of…

Aug 27, 2009 5:55 PM CDT