“Power corrupts, but absolute power corrupts absolutely.”  This well-known quote from Lord John Acton in the late 1800’s is perhaps most often applied to dictators who managed to secure unbridled political control in their country.  The corrupting influence of power, however, can also be seen in private companies.  Some highly successful executives in...

Buy low and sell high.  Sounds simple – and attractive.  The buy low/sell high mantra is particularly enticing when applied to purchasing a minority stake in a private company, which has enormous growth prospects and the promise of huge potential returns.  The pursuit of these high returns, however, comes with steep risk factors...

Hiring the wrong people can quickly push a company off course, especially a growing private company.  This seems obvious, yet statistics show that companies do a remarkably poor job of hiring.  Gallup reports that, companies hire employees 82% of the time who have the wrong qualifications or who are not a good...

Private company business owners often feel pressured to hold the line on costs, and the pressure only increases as market conditions become more challenging.  At the same time, the billing rates for lawyers continue to escalate, sample forms of contracts can be found on the web for free, colleagues have contracts they are...

TOO MUCH FUN By Daryle Singletary Too much fun, what’s that mean? It’s like too much money, there’s no such thing It’s like a girl too pretty with too much class Being too lucky, a car too fast No matter what they say, I’ve done But I ain’t never had too much fun The lyrics of country songs...

It is no longer news to report that Texas has become a hostile forum for corporate (and other) plaintiffs who recover large jury awards.  For more than a decade, the press has featured numerous stories on Texas appellate courts (including the Supreme Court) overturning large jury verdicts after jury trials.  One of the...

Has it become riskier for private company business owners in Texas to conduct business when they enter into preliminary agreements with third parties?  Two high profile Texas jury verdicts in the past two years have made this a more frequent question.  In both cases (1) a Fort Worth lawsuit tried earlier this year...

The age-old expression “get it in writing” reflects the wisdom that it is risky to rely on a handshake as the only evidence of a deal.  Getting it in writing is also important when private company owners document transfers to investors.  This is particularly true if majority owners want to prevent later fraud...

A Texas jury just issued a large verdict in a case against the Houston-based law firm of Andrews Kurth LLP in a case that involved a business dispute between two brothers.  While it is too soon to reach any final conclusions, the magnitude of the jury’s award—more than $167 million—provides us with an...

The importance of culture is by no means limited to for profit companies – culture is also critical at not for profit firms, universities and trade groups.  One of my favorite blog posts on culture was written several years ago by a friend, Jeff Whittle, shortly after he returned from watching his college...