Texas Lawbook Hosts CLE Webcast on First Anniversary of T. Boone Pickens’ Death

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Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens book coverOn September 11, the one-year anniversary of the death of legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens, Texas Lawbook will host a CLE webcast to look back on his life, business career, and major legal battles, including his final courtroom drama in Pecos, Texas. That trial ended in a $146 million verdict.

The webcast, from 12-1:15 p.m., will feature:

Chrysta Castañeda, name partner of The Castañeda Firm and co-author of The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens. Chrysta is the Democratic nominee for the Texas Railroad Commission, the state’s oil and gas regulator, running on an environmental platform. Read more

The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens: Chapter 8, “The Chainsaw”

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My Dad and me, after I won the Beechcraft Scholarship, c. 1980

(The following is an excerpt from The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens by Stoney Creek Publishing. Copyright 2020 Chrysta Castañeda and Loren Steffy.)

I didn’t set out to be a lawyer. Growing up in the suburbs of Wichita, Kansas, I liked math and science. I came by my interests honestly. My dad was an aeronautical engineer who worked for decades at Beech Aircraft, which was later bought by Raytheon and is now known as Hawker Beechcraft. My sisters, Cathy and Cheryl, and my little brother, David, also studied engineering, and most of us married engineers. Law wasn’t in my DNA. Read more

How Would T. Boone Pickens Have Bounced Back from the COVID-19 Pandemic?

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T. Boone Pickens and Chrysta CastañedaThis content was originally published by The Oklahoman.

T. Boone Pickens didn’t live to see the COVID-19 pandemic, but he knew something about weathering difficult times. As we deal with the economic consequences of lockdowns, I’ve thought often about what he might have said about what’s happening with the global economy.

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Dallas Bar Association Hosts Lunchtime ‘Last Trial’ Chat and CLE Credit

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Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens book coverJoin Chrysta Castañeda and the Dallas Bar Association’s Trial Skills Section on June 8 at noon for a discussion of her book, “The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens.”

Chrysta and her co-author Loren Steffy will share highlights from their book and the five-week, high-stakes courtroom drama that was final trial for the late and notable T. Boone Pickens. Read more

Female Disruptors: How Chrysta Castañeda Has Shaken Up the Legal and Energy Industries

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Chrysta Castañeda writing at a desk

Chrysta Castañeda

This content was originally published by Authority Magazine.

“The other best words of advice I got were from my mom. She said, ‘Always do your best.’ Admittedly, it’s pretty standard mom advice, but I truly took it to heart, and it’s been one of my defining characteristics, and the source of whatever success I’ve had. I confess, though, that it’s also a burden sometimes. Every once in awhile, it would be nice to be able to phone something in. But it’s just not in my DNA.”

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T. Boone Pickens and the “Red Bull”: A Once-in-a-Lifetime Case — and Client

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The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens book coverThis content was originally published in Oilman Magazine.

In November 2016, a jury in Pecos, Texas, delivered a $146 million verdict on behalf of my client, Mesa Petroleum Partners, run by the legendary Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens.

It should have been the end of a hard-fought legal battle that had already taken too long and taken too much out of my then 88-year-old client. The jury unanimously found that the defendants in the case had breached their agreement to give Mesa rights to 15 percent of certain properties and wells in the Red Bull area of West Texas’ Reeves and Pecos counties.

But litigation almost never ends quickly, and this case was no exception. Read more

The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens: Q&A with Authors Chrysta Castañeda and Loren Steffy

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Chrysta and Loren

Loren Steffy and Chrysta Castañeda

This content was originally published by The Texas Lawbook.

By Mark Curriden

There were few more colorful characters in the corporate world than T. Boone Pickens.

Chrysta Castañeda and Loren Steffy got to know him well – Castañeda as his lawyer representing him in a major trial in West Texas and Steffy as a long-time journalist who interviewed the oilman several times over three decades.

Steffy and Castañeda teamed up to publish a book about Pickens called The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens. The authors are hosting a virtual book launch party on Thursday, May 14, at 5 p.m. For more details about the book and the webcast/virtual book launch party, please visit http://lasttrialoftboonepickens.com/.

Below is a Q&A with the authors about Pickens, the trial and writing a book. Read more

The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens – The Best Three Minutes I’ve Ever Worked For Free

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T. Boone Pickens and Chrysta CastañedaThis content was originally re-published by The Texas Lawbook.

(The following is an excerpt from The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens by Stoney Creek Publishing. Copyright 2020 Chrysta Castañeda and Loren Steffy.)

I took a deep breath as the elevator doors rolled open to reveal the lobby of the Best Western Swiss Chalet. I’d long since gotten over the irony of the name. The Swiss Chalet was located in the most un-Switzerland-like spot on earth. Pecos, Texas, sits on the eastern edge of the Chihuahuan Desert, tucked under the arm of New Mexico, and its barren vistas, tumbleweeds, and blazing heat reinforce almost every Hollywood stereotype of Texas. Read more

T. Boone Pickens’ Trial Lawyer Releases Dramatic Account of His Final Court Battle

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‘The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens’ recounts the story of Pickens’ $146 million verdict at age of 88Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens book cover

Chrysta Castañeda, the lead trial lawyer for T. Boone Pickens in his winning trial about an oil deal gone wrong, has written her first-person account of the final legal battle in his long and storied career.

The Last Trial of T. Boone Pickens (Texas A&M University Press, Feb. 2020) is a high-stakes courtroom drama told through the eyes of Castañeda. It’s the story of an American business legend still fighting in the twilight of his life, and the woman determined to help him make one final stand for justice. Read more