Remember the Texas Rangers marathon bankruptcy last year?
High-dollar attorneys are still bickering over the spoils of the $593 million sale of the team.Dallas attorneys for the bankruptcy plan administrator are questioning the millions that Major League Baseball and its lawyers are demanding they be paid for various costs and expenses.Attorneys from Munsch Hardt, representing the plan, claim that many of the costs incurred to keep the team afloat with an MLB line of credit are "unconscionable" because of the degree of control that the league wielded over the Rangers, their filing said.Then there are such things as $98,000 that MLB's New York attorneys racked up for photocopying. The team's own law firms spent $61,000, a filing noted. The New Yorkers also charged $92,000 for online research. The plan's lawyers want these expenses lowered by $49,000 and $30,000, respectively.And why did baseball Commissioner Bud Selig need three attorneys to hold his hand during a deposition? And, curiously, why the same number for Bob Dupuy, then MLB's president and chief operating officer, who is himself an attorney?In all, Munsch Hardt figures that about $3.8 million can be cut from more than $6.3 million request by Selig & Co.Sandy Esserman, a Dallas attorney representing MLB, said he would respond when a hearing date is set.The eventual hearing may be held in Judge Stacey G.C. Jernigan's court in Dallas since Judge D. Michael Lynn of Fort Worth, who heard the bankruptcy case, has recused himself without explanation.His recusal may stem from a June 2010 incident when an MLB attorney, Stephen Shimshak, used an expletive on a teleconference line to threaten: "We'll take over the g--damn franchise." A transcript of a subsequent in-chamber conference, later released to The New York Times, showed that Lynn admonished Shimshak over the threat to undermine the court during the protracted bankruptcy case.Touring down underExecutives with the Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce and the Fort Worth Convention &Visitors Bureau, as well as representatives from three Fort Worth companies, are among a large North Texas delegation of civic and business leaders on a trade mission in Australia this week.The mission seeks to promote Dallas/Fort Worth Airport and the new Qantas Airways flights that started in May.Of the trip so far, "all the reports are positive," said Bill Thornton, the chamber's president and CEO.On the trip are David Berzina, executive vice president of economic development, and Melonye Whitson, senior director, existing and international development, with the chamber, and Estela Martinez-Stuart, director of tourism for the visitors bureau.The Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Convention &Visitors Bureau, the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, the North Texas Commission and DFW Airport are also represented.Meetings and events are scheduled with the Trade and Investment Queensland, Australian Aerospace, Brisbane Marketing, Brisbane International Airport, the U.S. Consulate in Sydney, the Australian Tourism and Transport Forum, Tourism New South Wales, Sydney International Airport and Qantas Airways.Thornton said efforts are focusing on how Australia can take advantage of trade and tourism in the DFW area with the new direct air service, the amenities of North Texas and the potential for becoming trade partners.Dozens of Fort Worth companies already do business in the Australian market, he said."There's a lot of similarity between Texas and Australia, including a frontier mentality," Thornton said. "We're trying to build on those similarities."Mabrie Jackson, president and CEO of the North Texas Commission, said "it is vital" to show the Australians that North Texas is "a great place to do business."Qantas is part of American Airlines' Oneworld alliance. It will fly the nearly 151/2-hour flight four times a week from Sydney to DFW. It will stop in Brisbane on return flights.Workers wantedMouser Electronics, a Mansfield-based distributor of semiconductors and electronic components, will hold a job fair for what it calls an immediate need to hire full-time warehouse workers for its state-of-the-art distribution facility.The fair is set for 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Saturday at its headquarters at 1000 N. Main St. There will be face-to-face interviews and assessments. Candidates should go to the human resources entrance at the front of the building.Mouser is a subsidiary of TTI Inc., a Fort Worth-based electronics distributor that is part of Berkshire Hathaway.Interested candidates must apply in advance by visiting www.mouser.com/careers and clicking on "Stock Control Associate."Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727sabaker@star-telegram.comScott Nishimura, 817-390-7808snishimura@star-telegram.comBarry Shlachter, 817-390-7718barry@star-telegram.comHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
