
Andrea Fair Inducted into International Society of Barristers
Founded in 1966, the International Society of Barristers is a prestigious honor society with fewer than 750 members worldwide. ISOB is dedicated to excellence in courtroom advocacy, the preservation of the adversary system, defending the right to trial by jury and encouraging young lawyers to pursue trial work.
'I am honored and humbled to be inducted into the International Society of Barristers,' said Ms. Fair. 'This organization represents the very best of what it means to be a trial lawyer, and I am grateful to all who helped make this possible.'
Membership is by invitation only and follows a rigorous screening process. Nominees must be evaluated and approved by existing Fellows based on their professional reputation, trial skills and commitment to the highest standards of ethics and civility.
Ms. Fair is known for her high-stakes intellectual property trial practice. In the last year alone, she helped secure more than $1 billion in patent infringement verdicts, including the year's top-ranked verdict according to The Texas Lawbook, and a $122 million win against Amazon. Recently, she helped her national team obtain a $278.8 million jury verdict against Samsung Electronics for infringing two patents related to wireless communications technology.
Ms. Fair has earned accolades from The Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers and has repeatedly appeared on Texas Lawbook's list of top verdicts. Last year, she was listed as a finalist for Intellectual Property Attorney of the Year by Law.com and Texas Lawyer's Texas Legal Awards.
Based in Longview, Texas, Miller Fair Henry is a trial law firm with a proven track record in high-stakes intellectual property disputes, commercial litigation and personal legal services. The firm's attorneys are frequently called on by lawyers nationwide to assist with complex litigation before Texas juries. Learn more at millerfairhenry.com/.
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CNBC
an hour ago
- CNBC
Best Stocks: 2025 will be known as the year when boring utilities joined the growth team
(This is The Best Stocks in the Market , brought to you by Josh Brown and Sean Russo of Ritholtz Wealth Management.) Josh — It's quite possible that 2025 will be remembered as the year where defensive utilities became growth stocks. As Sean explains below, this sector is the second best performing group of stocks in the entire S & P 500 this year. This is remarkable when you consider that this is not a "risk-off" year in which investors reach for stocks that should hold up well in a downturn. It's a risk-on year so far and defensive stocks like consumer staples and healthcare are lagging. Utilities are bucking the trend and accompanying the Nasdaq and S & P 500 to new highs. Why? Two letters: A.I. Last year, Citi analysts estimated that, by 2030, data centers could be responsible for as much as 11% of the demand for electricity in America, up from 4.5% today. Utilities are responding to the massive capex being invested in cloud computing, data center infrastructure and the AI buildout with large investments of their own to modernize and raise capacity. These investments are allowing the utility companies to go back to their regulators and apply for electricity rate increases from their customers. When they win a formal rate case, estimates for profits and dividend payouts go higher, driving their share price up. DTE Electric, the regulated utility owned by one of the names on our list, DTE Energy (DTE) won its rate case this January when the Michigan Public Service Commission approved a $217 million rate increase - meaning a jump of $4.61 per customer, per month going forward. WEC Energy Group (WEC) , another name on our Best Stocks list, won a rate case last year which led to 6.9% and 8.5% rate increases for 2025 for the two Wisconsin electric and gas utilities the company controls. As utilities make this pitch to the commissions that oversee their capex spend and pricing, they are increasingly citing "increased electric demand from data center and tech sector development." This argument, along with the ongoing need to spend on forest maintenance and management against wildfire risks, is winning left and right. The combination of demand from AI usage and infrastructure along with the willingness of municipalities to invest in grid modernization and environmental protection has created a massive bull market in the utility sector. We'll show you four names with solid chart set-ups below, in addition to our regular Monday data drop. Sector Leaderboard As of 7/28/2025, there are 154 names on The Best Stocks in the Market list. Top Sector Ranking: Top Industries: Top 5 Best Stocks by Relative Strength: Sector Spotlight: Sean — Despite signs of a meme-stock revival, utilities—a traditionally defensive sector—are the second-best performing group in the S & P 500 YTD. Ninety percent of the utility sector is above their 50-day and 200-day moving average. Compare that to the overall S & P 500 which has 73% of constituents above their 50-day and only 64% above their 200-day moving average. This is not a market where traditional defensive sectors are leading. While utilities are second best, health care, energy, and staples are three of the four bottom performing sectors in 2025. In the meme-crazed year of 2021, from January through July, utilities were the worst performing sector year-to-date up 6%, while 9 other sectors were up double digits. Similar to how Spotify and Netflix are looking more defensive, utilities are getting wrapped up in a more growth-oriented story. A major driver is the rise in electricity usage tied to artificial intelligence. Data centers supporting AI workloads are consuming an increasing share of the U.S. power grid and are expected to rise from about 4.5% today to 11% by 2030. Look at what the market is telling us. There is some rotation under the surface and a handful of the names on our list are setting up nicely as the AI theme plays out. Ameren Corp (AEE) Ameren is a regulated utility company that generates and distributes electricity and natural gas to customers in Missouri and Illinois, paying a 2.84% dividend. The company operates a diverse mix of energy sources and is focused on grid modernization and transitioning to cleaner energy. CenterPoint Energy Inc (CNP) CenterPoint Energy , which pays a 2.29% dividend, delivers electricity and natural gas to customers primarily in Texas, Indiana, and surrounding states. It focuses on utility operations and infrastructure, having divested most of its non-utility businesses in recent years. DTE Energy Co (DTE) DTE Energy is a diversified energy company serving customers with electric and gas utility services, paying a 3.13% dividend yield. It also has non-utility operations in power and industrial projects, and is investing in renewable energy and carbon reduction projects. DTE's presence in Detroit is notable in the age of the electric vehicle. WEC Energy Group Inc (WEC) WEC Energy Group, which has the highest dividend yield of the four we mentioned at 3.26% provides electricity and natural gas to customers in the mid west. WEC is primarily focused on energy-related infrastructure investments and clean energy projects. Together, these utilities — AEE, CNP, DTE, and WEC — may seem like traditional defensive plays, but they're increasingly at the center of one of the most powerful growth trends in the market. As data center demand surges, the companies powering the grid are becoming essential enablers of the AI revolution. These stocks are bending to a more growth-oriented narrative, where consistent power delivery is becoming just as valuable as the innovation itself. Risk Management Josh — My favorite chart among the utility names on our list right now is DTE. After the company reported earnings in May, Wells Fargo raised its price target from $145 to $154, citing the company's reaffirmed guidance through the year 2027 and management's "sustained confidence in achieving targets at the higher end of projections" for the next few years. If you're buying this stock, it should be for an investment, not a trade, given how important the dividend yield will be for the total return you can potentially receive. Trading in and out of a dividend stock means missing out on that component of the return. Analysts currently expect DTE to raise its current 3%-ish dividend yield by 6% to 8% per year, each year, through the end of this decade. With a current payout ratio between 50% and 60%, DTE has plenty of room to increase this portion of its income it returns to you every year. So long as management maintains its forward guidance, I would use dips in the stock as opportunities to accumulate as opposed to selling or trimming exposure. For the risk-averse, consider the 50- week moving average as your line in the sand. You can see that this has been important support for the uptrend back to early 2024. DISCLOSURES: (None) All opinions expressed by the CNBC Pro contributors are solely their opinions and do not reflect the opinions of CNBC, NBC UNIVERSAL, their parent company or affiliates, and may have been previously disseminated by them on television, radio, internet or another medium. THE ABOVE CONTENT IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY . THIS CONTENT IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND DOES NOT CONSITUTE FINANCIAL, INVESTMENT, TAX OR LEGAL ADVICE OR A RECOMMENDATION TO BUY ANY SECURITY OR OTHER FINANCIAL ASSET. THE CONTENT IS GENERAL IN NATURE AND DOES NOT REFLECT ANY INDIVIDUAL'S UNIQUE PERSONAL CIRCUMSTANCES. THE ABOVE CONTENT MIGHT NOT BE SUITABLE FOR YOUR PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES. BEFORE MAKING ANY FINANCIAL DECISIONS, YOU SHOULD STRONGLY CONSIDER SEEKING ADVICE FROM YOUR OWN FINANCIAL OR INVESTMENT ADVISOR. INVESTING INVOLVES RISK. EXAMPLES OF ANALYSIS CONTAINED IN THIS ARTICLE ARE ONLY EXAMPLES. THE VIEWS AND OPINIONS EXPRESSED ARE THOSE OF THE CONTRIBUTORS AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OFFICIAL POLICY OR POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC. JOSH BROWN IS THE CEO OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT AND MAY MAINTAIN A SECURITY POSITION IN THE SECURITIES DISCUSSED. ASSUMPTIONS MADE WITHIN THE ANALYSIS ARE NOT REFLECTIVE OF THE POSITION OF RITHOLTZ WEALTH MANAGEMENT, LLC" TO THE END OF OR OUR DISCLOSURE. Click here for the full disclaimer.

Business Insider
2 days ago
- Business Insider
Meta chief AI scientist Yann LeCun clarifies his role after the company hires another chief AI scientist
The more the merrier at Meta. The AI talent wars took another turn on Friday when Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that Shengjia Zhao, co-creator of ChatGPT and the former lead scientist at OpenAI, is now the chief scientist at Meta's Superintelligence Labs. "In this role, Shengjia will set the research agenda and scientific direction for our new lab working directly with me and Alex," a statement shared to Zuckerberg's Threads account said. "Shengjia co-founded the new lab and has been our lead scientist from day one." The statement said Meta chose to formalize Zhao's leadership position because recruiting is "going well" and the team "is coming together." While the announcement elicited congratulatory remarks from some AI enthusiasts online, and more discussion about Meta's ongoing poaching spree, others asked: What about Yann LeCun? LeCun became a prominent figure in the AI industry after joining Meta, then Facebook, in 2013. He serves as the chief AI scientist for Meta's Fundamental AI Research, formerly known as Facebook AI Research. On LinkedIn, LeCun acknowledged the questions and clarified his role at Meta. "My role as Chief Scientist for FAIR has always been focused on long-term AI research and building the next AI paradigms," LeCun wrote on Friday. "My role and FAIR's mission are unchanged." Zuckerberg and Alexandr Wang, the Scale AI founder who joined Meta in June as its chief AI officer, confirmed that LeCun's role is unchanged on their respective social media accounts. What's the difference between Meta's FAIR and its Superintelligence Labs? Although both FAIR and the Superintelligence Labs deal with AI, they're slightly different. Meta created FAIR over a decade ago to research and advance AI technology, which resulted in the 2023 release of its open-source large language model, Llama. LeCun is now largely focused on developing a new kind of model, known as a world model, that could one day replace large language models. The Superintelligence Labs, meanwhile, is the umbrella department housing Meta's FAIR, foundations, and products teams, Zuckerberg said in an internal memo in June. Zuckerberg said the Superintelligence Labs would focus on developing "personal superintelligence for everyone." Bloomberg reported that LeCun would report to Wang. Wang praised Zhao in an X post on Friday. "Shengjia is a brilliant scientist who most recently pioneered a new scaling paradigm in his research," Wang said in an X post on Friday. "He will lead our scientific direction for our team." LeCun said he's looking forward to working with Zhao "to accelerate the integration of new research into our most advanced models."


Business Wire
3 days ago
- Business Wire
AM Best Revises Issuer Credit Rating Outlooks to Stable for California Casualty Group Members
OLDWICK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AM Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative for the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B (Fair) and the Long-Term ICRs of 'bb+' (Fair) of The California Casualty Indemnity Exchange (San Mateo, CA) and its wholly owned subsidiaries: California Casualty General Insurance Company of Oregon (Portland, OR), California Casualty & Fire Insurance Company (San Mateo, CA) and California Casualty Insurance Company (Portland, OR). All of these companies comprise the California Casualty Group (California Casualty). The outlook of the FSR is stable. The Credit Ratings (ratings) reflect California Casualty's balance sheet strength, which AM Best assesses as adequate, as well as its marginal operating performance, limited business profile and marginal enterprise risk management (ERM). The revision of the Long-Term ICRs outlooks to stable from negative and the affirmation of the ratings reflects the group's improved operating performance, which has exceeded management's expectations. AM Best expects California Casualty to maintain adequate balance sheet strength, supported by a very strong level of risk-adjusted capitalization, as measured by Best's Capital Adequacy Ratio (BCAR). The improvement in BCAR reflects a strengthened surplus position, reduced catastrophe exposure and improved underwriting margins. The improvement in California Casualty's surplus was driven by better rate adequacy, expense reduction initiatives and improved loss experience. The strategic business initiatives of California Casualty, including realignment of its business mix toward stronger-performing affinity groups and exit from underperforming regions, have contributed to the organization's improved earnings stability and a more sustainable loss ratio. While these actions and enhancements to the ERM are expected to support operating performance and organic surplus growth, California Casualty remains exposed to elevated execution risk. Positive rating actions could occur if the transformation of the group's ERM practices lead to sustained improvements in overall balance sheet strength and profitability. This press release relates to Credit Ratings that have been published on AM Best's website. For all rating information relating to the release and pertinent disclosures, including details of the office responsible for issuing each of the individual ratings referenced in this release, please see AM Best's Recent Rating Activity web page. For additional information regarding the use and limitations of Credit Rating opinions, please view Guide to Best's Credit Ratings. For information on the proper use of Best's Credit Ratings, Best's Performance Assessments, Best's Preliminary Credit Assessments and AM Best press releases, please view Guide to Proper Use of Best's Ratings & Assessments. AM Best is a global credit rating agency, news publisher and data analytics provider specializing in the insurance industry. Headquartered in the United States, the company does business in over 100 countries with regional offices in London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Hong Kong, Singapore and Mexico City. For more information, visit Copyright © 2025 by A.M. Best Rating Services, Inc. and/or its affiliates. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.