Professional Services Sector

May Cause Discomfort

May Cause Discomfort

Found...and Now We’re Lost

Re: In the Line of Fire

Bar Tabs

The D.A. and county attorney dip into office funds to up the influence in judicial polls

Rockets Mania

As the Rockets fought for the title, Houstonians fought -- and failed -- to keep their sanity

Letters

As the Rockets fought for the title, Houstonians fought -- and failed -- to keep their sanity

What's It Gonna Take To Get A No-Kill Expert To Look At The City's Animal Shelter?

More bad news for advocates who want the city's animal shelter to go no-kill: a proposed contract between the city and national no-kill consultant Nathan Winograd appears to be stuck in limbo....sorta like a puppy in a pound, come to think of it.Bett Sundemeyer of No Kill Houston tells Hair Balls th ... More >>

Pro Bono Publico

A Vinson & Elkins lawyer wins a big one for a death row inmate

The Insider

A Vinson & Elkins lawyer wins a big one for a death row inmate

The Worst Judge in Harris County?

That's what the bar poll said about Betty Brock Bell. Betty Brock Bell says the poll was rigged.

Having outlived the good ol' boy era, when it had a hand in every deal, houston legal giant

Vinson & Elkins is entangled in a legacy of litigation from its past.

Into the Mystic (Book)

Vinson & Elkins is entangled in a legacy of litigation from its past.

Good Work If You Can Get It

A New Orleans law firm paid $250,000 to a Houston topless dancer. Now it wants the money back.

This week signals a change in leadership at the Houston Press.

A New Orleans law firm paid $250,000 to a Houston topless dancer. Now it wants the money back.

The Insider

A New Orleans law firm paid $250,000 to a Houston topless dancer. Now it wants the money back.

Biological Disaster

Zonagen Inc. took its name from Bonnie Dunbar's groundbreaking research into contraceptive vaccines. Then, when she wasn't looking, the company took her research.

Crushing the Opposition

Baylor and Fulbright & Jaworski -- with the help of a lame duck judge -- see to it that Bonnie Dunbar won't get a chance to tell all in court

V&E Gets a Dressing-down

Big law firms begin to go casual, filing the suits away

Bayousphere

Big law firms begin to go casual, filing the suits away

Mail Call

Under His Skin

Best New Magazine

Under His Skin

Lots of Problems

Twelve Oaks' expansion ignites a turf war with neighbors

Comic Confidence

Michael Colyar will make you laugh

MUD-Slinging Breakaway

A kingmaker leads an exodus from legal giant V&E

Catching a Big One

Moody hooks a $75 million verdict against a fish farm and a law firm

Political Flights of Fancy

Dem Hispanic stars collide while a resigning judge targets the county attorney

The Law and the Lord

A two-year legal battle leaves the church coffers a whole lot smaller

In Through the Out Door

A new law hastens a Brown official's departure

Smooth Operator

Jack Linvillle transformed a little architecture firm into a leading public contractor -- with help from some well-heeled political pals

Insider

Not Ready for Prime Time. Continental may have taught the mayor how to fly right

Marriage Contract

The Scotts' personal public-private partnership really paid off in city projects

It's Joe B.'s World

In the Kingdom of Bob, lawyer Joe B. Allen is the prime minister of vested interests

The Private Life and Public Death of Frank Koury

Frank Koury wanted to keep his gay life at home and his legal life at Fulbright & Jaworski separated. But when he died, everything was revealed.

Fix Your Face

Blink-182 drummer Travis Barker is more hip-hop than most rappers.

Report: Justice Dept. Approves Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger (UPDATED)

[UPDATED to include AEG President and CEO Timothy J. Leiwecke's statement about the merger.] ​ Via CNBC, businessinsider.com reported Monday morning that the U.S. Justice Department has approved the merger of Live Nation and Ticketmaster into a multi-platform entertainment corporation that can do ... More >>

Things Get A Little Testy At Commissioners Court

"Am not!!" "Are too!!" ​Harris County Commissioners Court met this week, and the subject of which law firms get hired to handle bond business came up.County Judge Ed Emmett tried to ask about spreading the business around or getting a discount. Things didn't go all that well.EMMETT: Okay, I just ... More >>

Texas Has Fewer Inmates; What The Hell Are We Doing Wrong?

​The U.S. Department of Justice recently released a report about state prison populations, and Texas was one of six states with large decreases in the number of people incarcerated.  These numbers continue, the report says, "the trend of slower growth observed in the prison population since 2 ... More >>

"Modern Art Graffiti"

Or "How to sit on contemporary art"

BARC Supervisor, On Tape, Squelches Employee Complaint And Says Mayor Has His Back

BARC, making sad puppies everywhere​When Chatauqua Allen, a supervisor at the Bureau of Animal Regulation and Care, was shut out of certain meetings, she got the nagging notion that it may have to do with her race.The feeling was compounded when Allen, who is black, w ... More >>

Grinding Justice

Operation Streamline costs millions, tramples the Constitution, treats migrants like cattle and doesn't work.

Anthony Ray Ferrell, The Good Samaritan Killer: Third Escapee From His Halfway House In 20 Months

Photo courtesy HPD Victim Sam Irick and his alleged killer Anthony Ray Ferrell​The man charged with killing a Good Samaritan during a purse-snatching is the third person to escape the same state-contracted halfway house in the last 20 months.Anthony Ray Ferrell had fled a "halfway house in ... More >>

The 2010 British Television Advertising Awards

Photo courtesy HPD Victim Sam Irick and his alleged killer Anthony Ray Ferrell​The man charged with killing a Good Samaritan during a purse-snatching is the third person to escape the same state-contracted halfway house in the last 20 months.Anthony Ray Ferrell had fled a "halfway house in ... More >>

New Dynamo Stadium May Not Change Concert Climate Much

Marco TorresLady Gaga at Toyota Center, July 25​Conceivably, today's announcement that the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority has agreed to act as landlord for the proposed Houston Dynamo stadium in downtown's East End could present a serious challenge to the Houston area's reigning concer ... More >>

Prison Pays

Despite a history of abuse and bad conditions, private prison corporation GEO keeps getting contracts from the state.

GEO: Private-Prison Company Somehow Keeps Getting Contracts In Texas

Illustration by Keri RosebraughA look into private prisons​When Arthur William Brown left his Houston halfway house December 15, he did the usual: he signed the check-out form that residents of the facility have to sign whenever they leave the premises for the day. Only on that day, Brown ... More >>

Wells Fargo Hit for Funding Allegedly Badly Run Private Texas Prison

Wells Fargo hit by protests.​Wells Fargo just can't win: All the bank wants to do is make good on its underwriting of a private prison company with a history of inmate deaths, sexual abuse and record-tampering, and now a group called Texas United for Families wants the bank to pull out. Speci ... More >>

Hey, Wanna Buy a (Notorious) Prison?

Bad memories included​If you've ever wanted to own a prison, now's your chance: The city of Littlefield is auctioning off the Bill Clayton Detention Center, abandoned by the GEO Group, a private prison operator with a troubled history in Texas. The Florida-based GEO pulled out after the son o ... More >>

Comment of the Day: We Are Racist Rats

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>

MFAH Film Premieres: 2011 British Arrows

​We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning, from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula involv ... More >>