Dallas Morning News: Voting Rights Trial Set to Begin Today
February 17, 2009 – The Dallas Morning News reports that a trial was set to open in federal court in which plaintiff Manuel Benavidez sued the City of Irving, alleging that its at-large voting method for City Council elections effectively denies representation to Hispanics.
Bill Brewer, who represented Benavidez, called the city’s defense claims “silly” and pointed out that they were ignoring data, including expert reports identifying ways to draw majority-Hispanic single-member districts.
“Notice Irving doesn’t defend its case by pretending that the system is fair or it’s time for a change hasn’t come,” Brewer said.
The article noted that Irving’s mayor and eight council members were white, even though white residents only comprised about 35.6 percent of the city’s population, while Hispanic made up about 40.6 percent of the population.
AP: Texas Attorney Fights Illegal Immigration Rules
February 8, 2009 – The Associated Press reports on attorney William “Bill” Brewer’s successful work representing landlords in Farmers Branch, Texas, fighting the city’s efforts to prevent illegal immigrants from renting apartments and houses.
In November 2006, the Farmers Branch City Council passed a city ordinance requiring landlords to check the immigration status of renters.
“What they’re doing in Farmers Branch is highly illegal, inappropriate and unconstitutional,” said Brewer.
The article described Brewer’s dedication to civil rights work and advocacy on behalf of the Latino population.
“Generating an antagonism between Anglos and Hispanics is not the way to go,” Brewer said. “This is a state, if it’s not already, will soon be, a state where the majority of the people in our community ... are of Hispanic origin.”
Brewer also described the advocacy of Bickel & Brewer Storefront (now Brewer Storefront), offering pro-bono services.
“The goal here was to do something a little different and it was – and is – to bring the resources that are available to our corporate clients to community impact cases.”
Speaking further on the growth of the Hispanic population in Texas, Brewer said that “The most important time in the history of Texas is right now in how we handle this shifting demographic. And it is an opportunity, it’s not bad, it’s all good.”
Read more here.
The Wall Street Journal Reports on Firm's "Old-School Power Attire"
February 5, 2009 — The Wall Street Journal's Style Section reports on the firm's affinity for formality in the article "Inside a Bastion of Old-School Power Attire." The report states that, at Bickel & Brewer, "even the mailroom clerks wear suits and ties."
"I think people expect high-powered lawyers to look like high-powered lawyers," said Managing Partner William A. Brewer III. "Anything else is sending the wrong signal."
Read the full article here.
Austin American-Statesman Reports on Settlement in Hydro-Quebec Battery Dispute
October 11, 2008 — In an article titled “Battery Deal Gives UT Royalty Payments,” The Austin American-Statesman reports that The University of Texas and Bickel & Brewer client Hydro-Quebec have "settled a 7-year-old lawsuit that clears the way for the development and sale of battery-powered products that would use technology created at the Austin campus."
The report states that, according to the terms of the settlement, the UT System and Hydro-Quebec will be paid $30 million by Japanese communications giant NTT Corp.
The report states that "NTT Corp. will license the battery technology patents to Hydro-Quebec and the university system, giving H-Q free rein to try to sell the technology in a range of electronic devices. The settlement also allows the utility to sublicense the technology to other companies."
Dallas Morning News: Studies – Hispanic Candidates Blocked
July 11, 2008 – The Dallas Morning News reports that new studies released as part of a federal voting rights lawsuit brought against the City of Irving found that the city’s at-large voting system allowed white voters to block the election of Hispanic-favored candidates.
“It is clear that whites vote as a bloc, and given they vote as a bloc, it effectively negates any chance a Hispanic has at being elected,” said attorney Bill Brewer, who represented plaintiff Manuel Benavidez in the lawsuit.
The Brewer firm commissioned the studies on Irving City Council elections in 2002, 2005 and 2008. The article noted that they were conducted by an expert on election systems and minority voters and the founder of a database management firm specializing in Census data.
The lawsuit requested that a U.S. district court declare that Irving’s at-large method violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and asked the city to develop a new system of electing council members.
Vanity Fair: Oil in the Family
June 2008 – A profile story in Vanity Fair, “Oil in the Family,” profiles the story of the Hunt dynasty and legal actions dividing the family. The publication writes, “In 1935 oil tycoon H.L. Hunt, known as the richest man in America, created what would become a multi-billion-dollar trust for his descendants. Three generations later, a lawsuit by his free-spending grandson is shaking the foundations of that mighty family fortune.”
“At stake, according to family documents, is an oil-and-gas fortune worth between $2.5 and $4 billion,” according to the article.”
Bill Brewer, who represents Al Hill III, and his client “both maintain that the exchange of charges and countercharges between the warring camps has obscured the core issue: the family’s plan to sell Hunt Petroleum and to break no just one but two trusts that own the company, and then to seize the proceeds, much sooner than the family ever would have been able to had the trusts remained intact,” writes author Alan Peppard.
Read the article here (subscription required).
AP: Judge Rules Texas Town’s Illegal Immigrant Apartment Rental Ban Unconstitutional
May 28, 2008 – The Associated Press reports that U.S. District Judge Sam Lindsay found that a rental ordinance passed by city leaders in Farmers Branch, Texas, was unconstitutional and only the federal government can regulate immigration.
The ordinance would have barred apartment rental to illegal immigrants and required landlords to verify legal status.
Attorney William “Bill” Brewer, who represented apartment complex operators who opposed the rule, celebrated the victory. Lindsay found that the city did not defer to the federal government on the matter and violated the supremacy clause of the U.S. Constitution.
“It’s a good day, not just for my clients,” Brewer said. “It’s a good day for people who are thinking clearly about what is the proper role of municipal governments in the immigration debate.”
Read more here.
Hospitality Law Reports on Firm Client's $10.3M Trial Award
April 2008 — Hospitality Law reports that the "Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. was slapped with a $10 million verdict after a District Court jury found the hotel violated its fiduciary duties to an Indonesian property owner" — firm client Karang Mas Sejahtera (KMS).
The article, "Jury Awards Bali Hotel Operator $10.3 Million Verdict," states that the jury in the Greenbelt, Maryland, case found that the Ritz violated its operating agreement with KMS by opening a competing luxury property within three miles of KMS's property, the Ritz-Carlton Bali Resort & Spa.
According to the report, Bill Brewer, counsel to KMS and a partner at Bickel & Brewer, told Hospitality Law that the case "clarifies the rights, responsibilities and obligations of all parties involved in a hotel management agreement and affirmed that his client's position that the Ritz-Carlton breached its fiduciary duty from a financial, operational and competitive point of view."
"It doesn't matter what you call a relationship — if someone is managing your business, your assets, for your benefit and being paid handsomely to do that, they owe you a fiduciary duty," Brewer said. "The Ritz-Carlton attempted to claim that they and their subsidiary didn't have a fiduciary responsibility to the owner [of the Bali property], and the jury absolutely decided otherwise. I think it reminded everybody that between a principal and an agent, honesty and fact are the touchstone of the relationship."