Class Notes

Robert Levy has announced his retirement after 17 years with Exxon Mobil Corporation, most recently as executive counsel responsible for issues and advocacy. In July he will join the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division as senior counsel at Main Justice in Washington, D.C.

Tom Wright, founding partner of Wright Close Barger & Guzman in in Houston, has been recognized by Chambers USA 2026 Guide for appellate litigation. The firm also received an elevated ranking in the publication.

Mary McKerall was honored with the Tiffany Star Award by the Houston Association of Women Attorneys at the organization’s 50th Anniversary celebration, in recognition of her role as a founding member. She serves as senior assistant city attorney for the City of Houston and previously served as a Harris County assistant attorney for 29 years.

Thomas Vance McMahan passed away on June 6, 2026. Recognized as one of Texas’ leading oil and gas and commercial real estate attorneys, McMahan spent more than four decades at Vinson & Elkins in Houston. He was on multiple professional and civic boards in the Houston area and also served on the University of Texas Chancellor’s Council Executive Committee.

Brian Haley has been appointed to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by Governor Greg Abbott.  Haley is the co-founder and partner of CB Capital in Austin.

Jack Hicks has joined the advisory board at the Elon University School of Law.

Hilda Galvan has joined the board of trustees of the  Southwestern Medical Foundation. She currently serves as president of the Center for Women in Law and vice chair of the University of Texas Law Foundation, and serves on the boards of the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas, Broadway Dallas, Cristo Rey Dallas College Prep, and the SMU Lyle School of Engineering Executive Board.

Walter “Casey” Berger has joined Latham & Watkins in the firm’s Houston office as a partner in its securities and M&A litigation practice.

Luke Ledbetter has been appointed to the Finance Commission of Texas by Gov. Greg Abbott.  He is the CEO of the Kestrel Group, and previously served as executive vice president and chief underwriting officer at State National Companies.

Olive Smith joined Baker Sterchi Cowden & Rice as an associate in the firm’s Portland office. Before this, she was an assistant to the Texas attorney general.

William “Bill” Kemp passed away on June 2, 2026. A U.S. Navy lieutenant commander and Korean War veteran, William practiced law for over 60 years. He co-founded and chaired the Austin Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service and drafted and championed the legislation that established state licensure for home health agencies in Texas.

Ernesto Alvarez, a trial lawyer at Zehl & Associates in Houston, has been named to the 2026 Lawdragon 500 X The Next Generation list.

Brent Howard passed away on May 25, 2026. Brent dedicated 45 years to the practice of law and was selected for membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates, where he served as president of the East Texas Chapter.

Irina B. Plumlee, a shareholder with Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. in Dallas, has been named to D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas 2026” list for immigration law.

David Coligado, a shareholder and chief executive officer with Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. in Dallas, has been named to D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas 2026” list for real estate law and D CEO’s 2026 “Dallas 500 List”.

Frederick W. “Rick” Addison, III, a shareholder with Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. in Dallas, has been named to D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas 2026” list for environmental law.

Angela A. Hunt, a shareholder with Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. in Dallas, has been named to D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas 2026” list for land use/zoning law.

Elena Thompson,  an associate with Miller Nash in Seattle, has been appointed as co-chair of the Legal Foundation of Washington’s 2026 Associates Campaign for Equal Justice (CEJ). For the past three years, Elena has helped spearhead Miller Nash’s internal CEJ fundraising efforts.

Scott A. Keller, former Texas solicitor general, will join Chevron as general counsel before ascending to chief legal officer when the current position holder steps down in mid-2027. Keller, a leading appellate and constitutional lawyer, is cofounder of Lehotsky Keller Cohn LLP.

Nicole Edgeworth, pen name Natalia Loya, recently published her debut novel, “The Laboratory Assistant,” with Apprentice House Press. In addition to being an author, she is an assistant attorney general in the Texas Attorney General’s Office.

Allison K. Perry has joined Bracewell LLP’s tax department as a partner in their Houston office. A double Longhorn, she returns to Bracewell after serving as the U.S. lead employment tax counsel for Shell, where she advised on a wide range of employment tax, employee benefits and executive compensation matters.

Marissa Marquez has been selected as the 2026 recipient of the Senior Counsel of the Year for a Nonprofit or Governmental Agency presented by the Association of Corporate Counsel Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook. She currently is the labor and employment counsel at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Richard Don Coan passed away on May 15, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran who served  during the Cold War and later in the Active Reserves, Coan practiced law for 50 years in Stephenville, Texas, and also was president of the Tarleton State University Foundation Board.

Brian D. Miller has been confirmed by the United States Senate as the U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. He was originally appointed to the position by the United States attorney general, then by the District Court pending the confirmation. Miller has held multiple government posts, including his most recent as special inspector general for pandemic recovery.

Carson Young has joined the Houston office of Latham & Watkins LLP as a partner in the Complex Commercial Litigation Practice. He previously served as a partner at Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

James Perry “J.P.” Bryan Jr. has been selected by Governor Greg Abbott to serve on the Texas Bicentennial Commission. The founder and CEO of Torch Energy Advisors, Inc., he currently serves as executive director of the Texas State Historical Association and chairman of Lone Star Coastal Alliance.

Peter Idziak has been promoted to principal at Polunsky Beitel Green in the Dallas office as the transactional residential mortgage lending law firm marks its 50th anniversary. Idziak has been with PBG for nearly seven years, building a practice focused on regulatory compliance and consumer financial law, providing guidance on complex matters to lenders across the country.

Dani Sanchez, senior assistant general counsel over litigation and employment at Academy Sports + Outdoors, has been named the 2026 Outstanding Mentor of the Year by the Houston Young Lawyers Association.

Katherine Spry has been selected as a fellow for the Immigrant Justice Corps’ 2026 class. She will serve for two years as a staff attorney at The Bronx Defenders, representing low-income immigrants in complex immigration cases, including removal defense.

Amber Russell’s Austin-based firm, LOAR PLLC, has received the 2026 Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association Firm of the Year Award. Russell began her career at Baker Botts before founding LOAR in 2006 with a vision to reinvent the personal injury firm model, building a practice focused not just on case outcomes, but on long-term impact.

Julius Glickman passed away Feb. 24, 2026. Glickman built a distinguished legal career in Houston as the former managing partner of Glickman, Carter & Bachynsky, LLP, becoming one of Texas’s most respected trial lawyers, teachers, and mentors. He served on the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas, taught at the University of Houston Law Center, and lectured widely on litigation, ethics, and employment law. In 2012, he received the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award, followed by the Alumni Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019. The Julius Glickman Fellowship in Public Interest Law, administered by the William Wayne Justice Center for Public Interest Law, is named in his honor and awarded annually to an outstanding Texas Law graduate or judicial clerk pursuing public interest work on behalf of underrepresented individuals or groups.

The Hon. Rufus Adcock passed away Jan. 15, 2026. After beginning his career as a prosecutor in the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office in 1960, he served as judge of the 297th Criminal District Court, chief prosecutor for the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office, and then in 1986, was appointed to the newly created County Criminal Court No. 6, where he served until his retirement in December 1998.

R. Doak Bishop has joined the panel at FedArp. He previously founded the International Arbitration Practice Group at King & Spalding in 2000, spending 25 years helping build it before retiring from the firm at the end of 2025. Bishop is a published author who previously served as chairman of the Institute of Transnational Arbitration.

Brooke E. Lierman has been selected as the keynote speaker for Howard Community College’s 55th commencement exercises on May 22, 2026. She serves as the 34th Comptroller of Maryland and the first woman independently elected to one of the state’s constitutional offices.

Richard Orsinger has earned the 2026 Patrick A. Nester Outstanding Achievement in CLE Award for his career-spanning dedication to the promotion and advancement of continuing legal education. He currently serves as the a co-founder and name partner in the family law firm Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson.

John Bonnet III has joined Norton Rose Fulbright’s Dallas office as a partner, with a team that expands the firm’s capabilities in private equity, healthcare, and energy transactions. He previously served as a partner in Mergers & Acquisitions, Finance, and Corporate Governance for Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP.

Jerry Negrete has been promoted to named partner at Chapman Negrete PLLC in Austin. Negrete is board-certified in construction law and serves on the American Arbitration Association Panel of Construction Arbitrators. She provides comprehensive legal support to construction clients through transactional work, outside general counsel representation, and litigating and arbitrating construction disputes.

Hiawatha Northington II has been named co-chair of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP’s Diversity Committee, effective May 1, 2026. Northington, managing partner of the firm’s Jackson, Mississippi, office, also is co-chair of the African American Affinity Group and will act as co-chair alongside Houston Partner Laura De Santos.

Gary Farmer was featured on Texas Exes’ “Hello Longhorn,” a podcast and video series. As president of Heritage Title Company of Austin and past chair of Opportunity Austin, Farmer reflected on his time at the university and how it shaped his career. Earlier this year he received the Texas Exes 2025 Distinguished Alumnus Award.

Charles Foster, chairman of Foster LLP who served as chair of the Asia Society Texas Center Board of Directors for 24 years, was honored with the 2026 Stephen L. Kleinberg Award by the Kinder Institute for Urban Research at Rice University for his decades of leadership and advocacy for a more inclusive, globally connected Houston. A double Longhorn, he was also honored with the ASTC’s inaugural 2026 Roy Huffington Lifetime Achievement Award.

Richard Hood has joined Ryman Clark, a new trial firm in Round Rock founded by two fellow Texas Law alumni. Hood, who is of counsel at the firm, specializes in construction defect, tenant health and safety, and mold-related issues. The U.S. Army veteran previously ran his personal practice, Richard R. Hood.

Josh Davis has joined Ryman Clark, a new trial firm in Round Rock founded by two fellow Texas Law alumni. Davis, who is of counsel at the firm, served as a JAG Officer in the U.S. Army before starting his own private practice.

Martin Gatens has joined Ryman Clark, a new trial firm in Round Rock founded by two fellow Texas Law alumni. Martin previously worked at Beck Redden, handling complex real estate and property harm litigation cases.

Alex McClintic has joined Ryman Clark, a new trial firm in Round Rock founded by two fellow Texas Law alumni. McClintic, who is of counsel at the firm, works with a large range of legal disputes spanning consumer protection and real estate.

Jason Clarke Marshall passed away on March 31, 2026. Marshall served as a shareholder of Winstead, Sechrest, and Minick before he started the Marshall Firm, specializing in real estate and property tax matters.

Kyle Ryman, along with fellow Texas Law alumnus Alexander Clark, has formed the trial firm Ryman Clark in Round Rock, where both will be co-managing partners. Before running his own firm, Ryman Litigation, the U.S. Army veteran practiced at McKool Smith and clerked for Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht of the Supreme Court of Texas.

Alexander Clark, along with fellow Texas Law alumnus Kyle Ryman, has formed the trial firm Ryman Clark in Round Rock, where both will serve as co-managing partners. The U.S. Air Force veteran brings experience in insurance recovery, trials, and crisis management, having spent five years at Haynes Boone, during which he also served as a teaching assistant for insurance law courses at two law schools. Clark previously clerked for the Honorable Lee Yeakel of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Jim Noles, professor of environmental law at Auburn University, was awarded the Student Government Association’s 2026 Outstanding Faculty Award for the College of Forestry, Wildlife and Environment.

Art Bayern is retiring from the San Antonio Spurs’ stats crew after a 50-year run. Bayern, who specializes in estate planning and probate work for the firm of Langley & Banack, was honored on the court before the Spurs’ regular-season finale game on April 12.