Texas

Two Texas Firms Hike Associate Pay

Two more Texas law firms have announced they will pay new associates $160,000. The latest firms to jump on the pay bandwagon are Haynes and Boone, and Baker Botts, Texas Lawyer reports. The firms also announced pay hikes for more senior associates, with billable-hour requirements for bonuses. Haynes and Boone…

Aug 8, 2007 11:33 AM CDT

Do Public Schools Promote Christianity?

Teaching but not preaching is the goal. But Christian religious instruction reportedly is the reality in many public schools that teach courses that purportedly seek to inform students about the Bible from a literary and historical perspective. The issue is of growing importance, as an increasing number of public schools…

Aug 6, 2007 3:23 PM CDT

Canada to Review Polygamy Ban?

In a case that could have an effect on United States law enforcement, a prominent Canadian criminal attorney serving as a special prosecutor has recommended that his country reconsider its ban on polygamy. Appointed in a British Columbia case involving a U.S.-based splinter Mormon group that has reportedly openly practiced…

Aug 1, 2007 11:47 PM CDT

Mortgage Foreclosures Rise 58 Percent

Mortgage foreclosures nationwide were up by 58 percent during the first half of 2007, compared to the first half of 2006. That translates to a total of 573,397 homes at some point in the foreclosure process between January and June 2007, from a notice of default to repossession, reports the…

Jul 31, 2007 3:30 PM CDT

More Suits Target Gangs

Cities are fighting gangs with lawsuits, raising the ire of critics who say minority youths are being singled out. The latest cities to file suit include Fort Worth and San Francisco, the Associated Press reports. The complaints often seek injunctions that bar specific youths or targeted gangs from congregating, displaying…

Jul 30, 2007 2:46 PM CDT

New Claim: Justice Hecht Fee Discount

A new ethics complaint has been made about Texas Supreme Court Justice Nathan Hecht. He allegedly was given a discount on the legal fees he paid in a successful defense of an earlier ethics complaint, and a Travis County prosecutor is investigating this new complaint, reports the KWTX television station.…

Jul 25, 2007 8:55 PM CDT

Charity on Trial for Alleged Ties to Hamas

Opening statements are set to begin this week in the long-awaited and controversial trial of what once was the nation’s largest Islamic charity. Since it was shut down six years ago, the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development stands accused of supplying resources the terrorist group Hamas. Charity officials,…

Jul 23, 2007 3:51 PM CDT

Texas Trend: $160 K Starting Pay

It didn’t take long for a third Texas law firm to raise pay for beginning associates to $160,000. Locke Liddell & Sapp announced the pay hike will take effect on Aug. 1, Texas Lawyer reports. Managing partner Jerry Clements said the move is intended to help the firm “remain a…

Jul 23, 2007 2:53 PM CDT

Texas Lawyer Ordered to Repay $35.7 M

A big-name Houston plaintiffs lawyer has been ordered by an arbitration panel to repay $35.7 million in improper legal fees he charged to some 3,000 plaintiffs he represented in breast implant litigation. Including interest and attorney fees to be paid to the plaintiff lawyer who brought the claim, the total…

Jul 19, 2007 10:09 PM CDT

V&E Matches N.Y. Associate Pay

Vinson & Elkins is the first Texas law firm to announce it will increase pay for new associates to $160,000 a year, matching big firms on the coasts. Associates get raises every year after that, but the amount of the pay hike will be lower after the third year if…

Jul 19, 2007 12:32 PM CDT

Texas Firms Pay $447 K to Defend Judge

Law firms and attorneys in Texas donated $447,000 to help an embattled state supreme court justice defend his integrity, according to recently revealed expense reports. With the help of these contributions, Justice Nathan Hecht prevailed in his appeal of an ethics citation for allegedly misusing his judicial office to help…

Jul 18, 2007 7:47 PM CDT

DA Wants Judge Investigated

A district attorney in Conroe, Texas, says he will seek a special prosecutor to investigate a judge who jailed a lawyer for missing a hearing. Montgomery County, Texas, District Attorney Michael McDougal told Texas Lawyer he would file a motion on Friday for a special prosecutor to investigate Judge Frederick…

Jul 17, 2007 1:44 PM CDT

John Hill, Former TX Chief Justice, Dies

John Luke Hill Jr., a Houston trial lawyer who went on to become Texas attorney general, secretary of state and chief justice of the state supreme court, died today of a heart condition. He was 83. A 1947 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, Hill seemingly fulfilled…

Jul 10, 2007 12:07 AM CDT

Musical Chairs in El Paso as Firm Folds

One of the largest law firms in El Paso is dissolving, as roughly a third of its lawyers merge with an Austin, Texas, law firm and other attorneys go elsewhere. Delgado, Acosta, Braden and Jones is breaking up, as partners Alejandro Acosta Jr., Hector Delgado and John Jones, along with…

Jul 6, 2007 6:48 PM CDT

Pastor Had Right to Reveal Affair

A pastor had a First Amendment right to disclose a parishioner’s affair to church members, the Texas Supreme Court has ruled. The court dismissed a lawsuit filed by Peggy Lee Penley, who argued the pastor had a duty to keep the affair a secret since he learned it in a…

Jul 2, 2007 5:28 PM CDT