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.
Rrachelle Renee’ Douglas Breckenridge passed away in October of 2025. She had a distinguished legal career as a prosecutor and later worked as a municipal attorney for the City of Olathe.
Ronald Rodriguez has begun to teach an innovative course on personal injury trial practice here at Texas Law. Rodriguez’s book, “Texas Personal Injury Trial Law Handbook,” acts as a trial-practice guide in Texas.
Ernie Kohnke retired from practicing law on April 1, 2025. He previously was general counsel for the Americas at Vitol, and served on the Market Risk Advisory Committee to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as the board of directors of the Commodity Markets Council.
Lyrissa Lidsky has won the 2025 Harry W. Stonecipher Award for Distinguished Research on Media Law and Policy Law presented by the policy division of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. A member of the Bech-Loughlin First Amendment Center’s board of advisors, Lidsky was honored for an article she co-authored, “First Amendment Disequilibrium,” which is published in the Virginia Law Review.
Richard Williams has been appointed by U.S. Attorney Ryan Ellison as chief of the criminal division in the Las Cruces Branch Office for the District of New Mexico. He previously served in supervising roles such as deputy branch chief and section supervisor after joining the office in 2001.
The Hon. Lisa Lewis has ascended to the bench as a justice of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. Previously a judge for Kings County Civil Court and an attorney for District Council 37, Lewis has more than 25 years of experience in civil, criminal, and family law.
Joe Profaizer has joined Linklaters in Washington, D.C., as a partner and global co-head of Linklaters’ International Arbitration Practice. He continues to serve as an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center.
Garry Merritt has been named to Austin Business Journal’s Texas 100, which is an annual list of impactful Texans. Merritt is CEO of Great Springs Project, which plans to create a greenway of protected lands between Austin and San Antonio over the Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
Caroline Dozier has been appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the 228th Judicial District Court in Harris County for a term set to expire on Dec. 31, 2026. Dozier, who is bureau chief of the Misdemeanor Trial Bureau for the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, has served as an assistant district attorney for over 30 years.
Hilda Galvan has retired from Jones Day after 28 years of service to seek new opportunities. She had served as the partner-in-charge of the Dallas office and was a partner in its Intellectual Property practice.
Shannon Edmonds was named the executive director of the Texas District and County Attorneys Association (TDCAA) in Austin, effective Jan. 1, 2025. Edmonds has served as the director of governmental relations for the TDCAA, the largest statewide association of prosecutors in the nation.
Macey Reasoner Stokes, a partner at Baker Botts’ Houston office, will be honored with the prestigious Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award by the Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Southwest Region.
Joe Profaizer has joined Linklaters LLP’s Washington, D.C., office as partner and international arbitration global co-head. Profaizer previously served as global co-chair of Paul Hastings LLP’s international arbitration practice and is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.
Cameron McBride has joined Davis Hartman Wright LLP as a partner in the firm’s civil litigation, internal investigations, and white-collar criminal defense and government investigations practice groups. McBride is based in Charlottesville, Virginia.
James Billingsley has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the firm’s Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring Practice Group in its Dallas office. Prior to joining Duane Morris, Billingsley was a senior partner at Polsinelli PC.
Macey Reasoner Stokes has been appointed to serve as a member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee for the Supreme Court of Texas. Stokes is partner at Baker Botts where she serves as practice group chair of the firm’s appellate practice.
Sandra C. Ritz has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Attorneys in Austin by Forbes Advisor. Ritz opened her own law office in 2001 and has tried cases in both federal and state courts.
Hilda Galvan has been named in the Top 50 Diverse Board Candidate List, a recognition by Equilar and the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence that seeks to advance opportunities for underrepresented groups. Galvan is a partner in charge at the Dallas office of Jones Day, specializing in intellectual property, with a background in technology and artificial intelligence.
Lori A. Gobillot has been elected to the board of directors of ONEOK, Inc. Gobillot has held officer roles in both business and legal functions, and has served on the board of directors of Republic Airways Holdings, Inc. since 2017.
Christopher Hawkins has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his work in Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law. Hawkins is an attorney at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel and is a current member of the firm’s Executive Committee.
Jeffrey B. Simon has written a book titled Last Rights: The Fight to Save the 7th Amendment that will be published in September 2023. A founding partner of Simon Greenstone Panatier, PC, Simon has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer in Texas Monthly Magazine each year for over fifteen years for his work in trial law and consumer protection.
Katie Carmona has joined Jackson Walker as a senior counsel in the firm’s Trial & Appellate Litigation practice in Austin. Carmona previously served as a career law clerk to U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel and has more than 25 years of experience handling complex trial and appellate cases.
Chris Hawkins has been selected as a 2023 Super Lawyer in the area of Bankruptcy: Business. Hawkins is currently a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel and works in the Insolvency and Criminal Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation practice groups.
On Feb. 15, 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Adrienne C. Nelson, an associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, to serve as a federal district court judge. Nelson is the first Black woman jurist in Oregon to become a federal judge.
Christopher Hawkins, a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel, has been selected for inclusion in the 29th Edition of Best Lawyers in America®. He received special recognition as Best Lawyers® 2023 Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law “Lawyer of the Year” in San Diego.
Hilda Galvan has been selected as a 2023 Dallas Business Hall of Fame inductee by Junior Achievement (JA) of Dallas. Galvan currently serves as the partner-in-charge at Jones Day, specializing in intellectual property litigation. She is a trustee of The University of Texas Law School Foundation.
Doanh “Zone” Nguyen has been named new permanent city attorney for the City of Laredo. Nguyen has more than 27 years of experience as a litigator and employment attorney.
Lyrissa Lidsky has been named Raymond & Miriam Ehrlich Chair in U.S. Constitutional Law at the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where she previously taught for 22 years. Most recently, Lidksy previously served as the first woman Dean of the University of Missouri School of Law.
Chris Hawkins has been selected as a 2022 Super Lawyer in the area of Bankruptcy: Business. A shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel in San Diego and member of the firm’s Executive Committee, he practices in the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation groups.
Jeffrey Benz is serving as an ad hoc division arbitrator under the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. As a member of this group, he participates in hearings and contributes to decisions on issues during the Olympic Games.
Adrienne Nelson was recognized by the American Bar Association with its 2022 Spirit of Excellence Award for her commitment to racial and ethnic diversity in the legal profession. Nelson is Oregon’s first Black Supreme Court Justice, who was appointed in January of 2018. Currently, she is only one of eight Black women in the country who are sitting justices.
Chris Graff has joined global law firm K&L Gates LLP as a partner in the intellectual property (IP) procurement and portfolio management practice. Graff joins the firm’s Austin office from IP firm Pirkey Barber PLLC. He has worked with many iconic brands, and has represented clients in more than 100 cases before a wide variety of courts and tribunals, including federal and state courts and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s Trademark Trial and Appeal Board.
Michael M. Parker has been selected by the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals to be the next bankruptcy judge in the Western District of Texas, San Antonio Division. Parker is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and has been with the firm since the end of his two-year bankruptcy clerkship in the Western District of Texas with Hon. Ronald B. King in 1995. He is scheduled to take the bench on Nov. 2, 2021.
Christopher Hawkins has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 28th Edition of Best Lawyers in America®in the fields of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law. He is a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel.
Jeff Nalley, will be a co-president of the NFL representation division at ICM Partners. The move comes after ICM Partners acquired Select Sports Group, an indie agency that represents NFL coaches, players and executives, which was co-owned by Nalley.
Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel is pleased to announce that Shareholder Chris Hawkins has been selected as a 2021 Super Lawyer. Hawkins has been selected to the Super Lawyers list in the area of Bankruptcy. He is a current member of the firm’s Executive Committee and practices in the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation practice groups.
Joy M. Thomas, passed away in Oct. 22, 2020. Although she never married or had children, she spent her life as a civil servant both in her career practicing Disability and Family Law and as an advisor for her sorority. Girls Inc. of Tarrant County established the Joy Thomas Memorial Scholarship Fund to honor a bright and compassionate leader in the Fort Worth community.
In recognition of his leadership role in the state’s ongoing opioid multidistrict litigation (MDL), Simon Greenstone Panatier, P.C., founding partner Jeffrey Simon has been named a 2020 Texas Trailblazer by Texas Lawyer magazine. Simon serves as chairman of the Texas Opioid MDL Plaintiffs Steering Committee, which seeks to hold drug manufacturers and supply chain corporations responsible for their roles in creating and prolonging the opioid epidemic in Texas.
Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel is pleased to announce that shareholder Chris Hawkins ’93 has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 27th Edition of Best Lawyers in America® fields of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law. Hawkins is the former managing partner and member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He practices in the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation practice groups.
King & Spalding has added Jonathan Newton, a corporate and securities partner, to its Corporate, Finance and Investments (CFI) Practice Group in Houston.
Monica Wiseman Latin was named Managing Partner of Carrington Coleman law firm in Dallas on May 1st.
Shareholder Chris Hawkins has been selected to the Super Lawyers list in the area of Bankruptcy. He is the former managing partner and member of the firm’s Executive Committee. He practices in the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation practice groups. Hawkins represents a variety of corporate debtors, bankruptcy trustees, receivers, banks, commercial landlords, trade creditors, asset purchasers, etc.
Shareholder James “Jim” Hill has been selected to the Super Lawyers list for the last 14 years in the areas of Bankruptcy, Business Litigation, and Creditor Debtor Rights. A founding member of the firm, a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy practice group, Hill practices primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and commercial law. His bankruptcy and receivership practice includes representation of creditors, bankruptcy trustees.
Dallas-based business law firm Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal has named trial lawyer Monica W. Latin as Managing Partner, effective May 1. She was named Managing Partner-elect in May 2019, is a member of the firm’s executive committee, and has served for many years as chair of the firm’s Business Litigation Practice Group. As the first woman in Carrington Coleman’s top leadership role, she credits the firm’s namesake, founding partner Jim Coleman, for the opportunity.
The law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP is pleased to announce that Dallas attorney and State Senator Nathan M. Johnson has joined the firm as Counsel in the Trial Practice Group in Dallas. Mr. Johnson is a commercial and bankruptcy litigator and currently represents District 16 in the Texas State Senate.
James H. Billingsley has been recognized as one of the 2020 Best Lawyers in America in the Litigation and Bankruptcy categories. This distinction is based entirely on a peer-review survey in which attorneys cast votes on the legal abilities of other lawyers within the same geographical area and legal practice area.
Stacy D. Simon has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as a Senior Attorney in Dallas. Ms. Simon represents business clients in complex commercial disputes in arbitration and in state and federal courts. Her expertise includes antitrust claims, contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims, trade secret and non-competition issues, securities and transactional fraud, FOIA requests, partnership and shareholder disputes, as well as libel defense.
Christopher Hawkins was selected by his peers for inclusion in the 25th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America® in the fields of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization law. Hawkins is a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel and represents a variety of corporate debtors, bankruptcy trustees, receivers, banks, trade creditors, asset purchasers and other parties in interest in all aspects of commercial insolvency.
Raymond A. Villareal’s first novel entitled “A People’s History of the Vampire Uprising” will be published on June 5, 2018 by Little, Brown and Company. Film rights were sold to 20th Century Fox in a pre-empt deal in 2017. There is plenty of case law in the novel so Raymond made good use of his law degree!