Former First Court of Appeals Justice Peter Kelly has formed Kelly Watkins McPheeters, a statewide appellate law firm offering a range of services in state and federal court. Kely is board-certified in Civil Appellate Law and a member of the American Law Institute and Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee.
Cal Hendrick won the Odessa mayoral race, in the Nov. 5 election. Hendrick, an insurance attorney, ran on a platform of returning the City Council’s attention to everyday issues. He has served as general counsel at Mcanally Wilkins Inc. in Odessa.
Barrett Reasoner, a partner at Gibbs & Bruns and fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, will be honored with the prestigious Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award by the Anti-Defamation League’s Southwest Region.
Brian N. Hail, a director in the Dallas office of Kane Russell Coleman Logan, has been named a 2024 Texas Super Lawyer in business litigation.
Jennifer Brown has been named chief legal officer and senior vice president of Mercy, where she will contribute to the company’s growth and collaboration efforts as one of the largest U.S. health systems. Brown has served in various roles including chief administrative officer, general counsel, and chief legal officer at several healthcare companies.
Julia Jeffrey Rathgeber has been appointed as the vice chancellor for Governmental Relations of the University of Texas System. Rathgeber previously served as the vice president of Governmental & Regulatory Relations & Business Development for Berkshire Hathaway Energy and has more than 30 years of experience in the public sector.
Hon. Peter Michael Kelly has been appointed to serve as a member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee for the Supreme Court of Texas. Justice Kelly has been serving on the Texas First District Court of Appeals since 2018.
Brian N. Hail has been recognized in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for Commercial Litigation. Hail is a Director in the Dallas office of Kane Russell Coleman Logan P.C. and has nearly three decades of courtroom experience handling complex commercial litigation.
Joseph M. Cox has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the firm’s Trial Practice Group in its Dallas office. Prior to joining Duane Morris, Cox was a partner at Bracewell LLP. Previously he served as a judge in the 160th Judicial District Court of Texas.
Stephen Crain has been elected to serve a three-year term on Bracewell’s Management Committee. Crain, who has chaired Bracewell’s litigation section since 2014, will be serving a fourth term on the committee. Based in Houston, he has led the growth of Bracewell’s national and international trial practice.
Kevin R.C. Gutzman has published a new book, “The Jeffersonians,” about the presidential administrations of Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and James Monroe. The book has received notable recognition by The New Yorker and was included on USA Today‘s list of Five Books to Remember in 2022.
Kurt Schwarz passed away on Sept. 22, 2022. Before starting his own practice, Schwarz served as a law clerk to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and was a partner at Jackson, Walker LLP.
The Honorable Peter Kelly was elected to The American Law Institute in June of 2021. He has served the Texas First Court of Appeals since 2018.
Sylvia Kerrigan has been elected vice-chair of Southwestern University’s Board of Trustees and will assume her new duties on July 1, 2022. Kerrigan has served on the board since 2015 and chairs the academic affairs committee. She is the executive director of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Kerrigan also currently serves on the board of directors for Team Industrial Services, where she chairs the corporate governance and nominating committee and sits on the audit committee.
Steve Eargle has been elected as Chairman of the Board for The National Bank of Texas, based in Fort Worth. Elected to the Board of Directors in 2017, he currently serves on the Executive, Strategic Planning, Property and Director’s Loan Committees. Eargle is a Co-founder and Partner of Fort Worth Royalty Company.
John Helms has been selected to Super Lawyers, as part of its top tier of attorneys in the White Collar and General Litigation practice areas. Helms is a Dallas criminal defense attorney who specializes in both trials and appeals. He is a former federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Texas.
Virginia Gross passed away on Dec. 9, 2020, in Shawnee, KS, at the age of 56. She spent much of her career at Polsinelli in Kansas City as an attorney and partner. Specializing in tax-exempt organizations law and nonprofit governance, Gross was a frequent speaker on nonprofit law topics around the country and has written many publications on tax-exempt law topics. Gross was listed in Best Lawyers in America® for Nonprofit Organizations/Charities Law for 2008-2021 and was named the 2017 Non-Profit/Charities “Lawyer of the Year” for Kansas City. She also provided extensive pro bono legal services to many.
Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright announced Michael A. Swartzendruber as Partner-in-Charge of its Dallas office. Swartzendruber, who joined Norton Rose Fulbright in 1996, currently leads its litigation practice in Dallas. His litigation practice involves complex, high-stakes business disputes with a significant emphasis on securities, antitrust, and class action matters, including the successful representation of a number of the nation’s largest theater companies.
Marcus R. Tucker made the “Best Lawyer” list of the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.
Scott Krist, of the Krist Law Firm, P.C., has been included in the 2020 edition of Best Lawyers, one of the oldest and well respected peer-review publications in the legal profession. He was recognized in the Personal Injury Litigation – Plaintiff section and has been included every year since 2008.
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP is proud to announce that Vorys Attorney Mike Schira, who is a University of Texas School of Law alumnus, has been included in the 2020 Best Lawyers in America list.
Former Texas First Court of Appeals Justice Jane Bland has joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner. Bland brings to the firm more than 20 years of experience as a state appellate justice and civil trial judge. She will be based in V&E’s Houston office. As a member of the firm’s Appellate practice, Bland will focus on civil appeals and litigation.
The Law Office of Patrick J McLain, an national practice of federal criminal law and an international practice of military law, is moving to Founders Square (900 Jackson Street, Suite 635, Dallas, Texas 75202). He welcomes on UT Law grads who have business next door at the US District Court in downtown Dallas to come by for a visit.
Chambers 2018 High Net Worth (HNW) Guide has named Robin Miskell a leader in her field. Ms. Miskell is a certified estate and trust law specialist by the State Bar of Arizona. She practices primarily in the areas of estate planning, probate and trust administration, taxation and exempt organizations.
Avalyn Langemeier was honored in Who’s Who Legal 2018 as a leading corporate immigration attorney. Avalyn is Partner at Foster LLP and assists employers, including companies, universities, and hospitals, as well as physicians, nurses, researchers and professors, executives, teachers and other professionals in obtaining work visas and permanent residence.
Armbrust & Brown, PLLC—a distinguished homegrown law firm in Austin—today announced that Michael Whellan, a former president and shareholder of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody, will officially join the firm on Jan. 15, 2018. Joining along with Whellan will be Travis Phillips, a former shareholder of Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody.
For more than 25 years, Whellan has represented clients in land-use and business matters at the courthouse and before city and county government.
GableGotwals is pleased to announce David E. Keglovits (1990) was selected as a 2017 Oklahoma Super Lawyer in the practice areas of Business Litigation, Utilities and Construction Litigation. David has been elected to Super Lawyers since 2006.
Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP is proud to announce that Michael Schira, a partner in the Vorys Columbus office and a 1990 graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, has been included on the 2018 Best Lawyers in America list. Schira was selected as a Best Lawyer in Real Estate Law.
Phillip Sharp has joined Baker Donelson’s Business Litigation Group in Houston as a shareholder.
Corporate attorney Paul Tobias, widely regarded for his work with technology and growth companies, has joined Vinson & Elkins LLP as a partner in the firm’s Austin office. Tobias represents technology companies in all phases of their growth, from startup and venture financing, to acquisitions and public offerings and public company governance. He previously practiced at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, where he was the founding partner of the firm’s Austin office.
Phelps Dunbar LLP is pleased to announce that Marcus R. Tucker has joined its Houston, Texas office as a partner practicing in the areas of admiralty, litigation and insurance. Tucker’s practice includes the defense and investigation of claims resulting from oilfield and maritime casualties, construction defects, personal injury and transportation related accidents. His practice also involves the litigation of commercial disputes through trial and arbitration. Mr. Tucker litigates and provides advice on contractual indemnity and insurance coverage issues on behalf of both corporate clients and insurance companies. He joins the firm from Royston Rayzor where he was partner.
Ewell, Brown & Blanke LLP is pleased to announce that Joseph R. Knight has joined the firm as a partner and the firm has changed its name to Ewell, Brown, Blanke & Knight LLP.
Three University of Texas College of Law graduates were recently named as 2016 Best Lawyers in America’s “Lawyer of the Year.”
Steven L. Barghols, David L. Bryant and David E. Keglovits of GableGotwals received the honor from Best Lawyers. Barghols of Oklahoma City was honored for his work in Arbitration, Bryant of Tulsa was honored for his work in Bet-the-Company Litigation and Keglovits of Tulsa was honored for his work in Corporate Governance Law.