For just $110, the Dallas Mavericks can buy out the Dallas Stars’ stake in the arena they share, part of a bitter dispute between the NBA and NHL teams that’s been playing out in the Texas Business Court, Ryan Autullo reports.

Judge Bill Whitehill sided with the Mavericks’ claim that the Stars breached the parties’ agreement when they moved their headquarters to Frisco in 2003.

Chip Babcock, the Jackson Walker partner representing the NBA team, said the Mavericks sued after the Stars refused to cooperate on necessary renovations for the aging American Airlines Center and declined to pay their share of employee bonuses.

Whitehill rejected an argument from the Stars that the claim is barred by limitations because the Mavericks waited more than 20 years to raise an issue.

But the game’s not over yet. The case proceeds to a trial set for May 11 on the Mavericks’ tortious interference claim. They allege the Stars’ refusal to acknowledge the partnership redemption prevented the basketball team’s right to approve necessary arena expenditures.

Traditional adversaries in the “DExit” debate have found common ground, warning that leaving Delaware is a mistake. But this convergence doesn’t mean Delaware is perfect for everyone. It just shows the incorporation debate has been asking the wrong question all along, Carliss Chatman argues in the latest Good Counsel column.

No corporate statute — whether Delaware, Texas, or Nevada — can guarantee wins for shareholders or management. Boards all juggle legal obligations, market pressures, and operational realities. The business judgment rule protects good-faith decisions within a range of reasonable outcomes, and the reincorporation decision itself is subject to fiduciary duties.

The biggest legal risks rarely come from internal corporate disputes governed by charter state law. They come from federal regulation, contracts, and litigation tied to where companies actually operate.

Texas data illustrates the disconnect: More than 50 Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Texas, yet only a small fraction incorporate there, with most still using Delaware. That gap highlights how little the charter state alone explains about governance risk.

For smaller firms, conventional wisdom says: Incorporate where you operate unless there’s good reason otherwise. Chatman suggests that logic may be more broadly instructive than the traditional Delaware-as-default playbook.

Photo courtesy of Mayer Brown

The Trump administration’s push to secure the country’s critical mineral supply chain has meant a flurry of work for the small group of lawyers who specialize in financing these projects, like Mayer Brown’s Meaghan Connors.

The Houston-based lawyer recently represented Mesabi Metallics in two major financing deals worth $670 million, to complete a plant that can produce direct-reduction-grade iron ore pellets — a growing segment of US steel production. She also led Mitsubishi’s $600 million stake in in Hudbay’s Copper World project. Here, Connors shares her thoughts on government investment in mining, permitting changes, and doing deal work from Texas.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

What financing trends related to mining are you watching this year?

There’s now this government investment in so many US projects that is very new. And the US government, in a number of these projects, is actually taking an equity stakeholder role.

It’ll be really interesting to see how the government investment maybe accelerates mining projects that traditionally would have taken a lot longer. The US is known for having a very slow permitting process. This administration has also looked at how to expedite permitting for mining projects. And so, hand in hand with the government investment and this new, more streamlined, some might say, permitting process, it’ll be interesting to see how much faster projects can get online in the US.

Are there other game-changing policies that you’re watching this year?

The US government put out a new National Environmental Policy Act handbook, which is more of a set of guidelines versus a mandatory framework. US mining lawyers are trying to figure out how we keep our practice moving forward and learn all the new things coming out of the Trump administration, but also take more of a thoughtful approach with each project to make sure that we’re being mindful of how the new regulations fit into each of the projects.

What’s most challenging about doing this work in Texas right now?

The thing about being in Texas, it never really stopped me before from doing this work. I will say, because I do travel a lot, there are a number of conferences that I traditionally go to that aren’t in Texas. But generally, I haven’t seen much of an issue with being in Texas and still doing all these deals across the US.

Where is the best barbecue in Texas?

In Houston, I really like The Pit Room. I like Pinkerton’s. I love barbecue. I like Pappa’s. My husband, during Covid, learned how to barbecue. He’s a smoker and he does all different types of meat now and has really perfected it, so we’re lucky.

Know a Texas legal star we should feature? Email skamal@bloombergindustry.com.

Learn More: Mitsubishi to Invest $600 Million in Hudbay Copper Project