Class Notes

Kristen Silverberg has been named the new president and CEO of Business Roundtable, based in Washington, D.C., after serving as its president and COO. Silverberg began her career in public service as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, held several senior policy roles in the White House under President George W. Bush, served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union from 2008-09, and spent six years at the Institute of International Finance.

Buena Vista Lyons has joined Jackson Lewis in Dallas as an employment litigation principal. She previously worked for FordHarrison as managing partner.

John Zachary has been appointed as an immigration judge at the Oakdale Immigration Court in Louisiana. He previously served as an assistant chief counsel with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Daniel Ortman passed away on May 5, 2026. Ortman held many significant legal and engineering-related roles where he worked for companies such as Saudi Aramco, Samsung, and Hyundai. At the end of his career he served as an adjunct professor at Texas Law.

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

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.

Kim Altsuler has been named to the executive committee of Peckar & Abramson PC. She serves as the Houston partner-in-charge, chairs the firm’s Residential and Multifamily Construction Practice, and co-chairs the Culture, Career Development, and Inclusion Committee.

Christina Lynn Falkiewicz passed away on August 23, 2025. Falkiewicz helped families in the San Antonio area through her personal probate, estate planning and guardianship matters practice before joining UTSA as a guest lecturer.

Walter A. Buchanan, a shareholder with Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C.  in Dallas, was featured in the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® directory. He was highlighted for his legal excellence in the Banking and Finance Law category.

Grant D. Godfrey has joined national litigation law firm mctlaw as an appellate attorney based in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. His legal practice will focus on complex appeals in federal and state courts across the United States.

Christopher D. Bell has joined the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority board of directors for a six-year term. Bell is the deputy general counsel for the Conservation Fund, a nationwide nonprofit organization. He was previously a partner at the law firm Ballard Spahr LLP.

Daniella Landers took office as the 2025-26 president of the Houston Bar Association at the HBA’s annual dinner on May 15. Landers previously served on the HBA board of directors as first vice president, secretary, and for two terms as director.

Wendy Harvel has joined Spencer Fane as of counsel attorney in the Environmental and Energy Law practice groups. Previously, Harvel served as a master administrative law judge and head of the Public Utility Team for the Texas State Office of Administrative Hearings, where she acted as a neutral party presiding over disputes between Texas agencies, other governmental entities, and private citizens.

Lance Caughfield has been named director of advocacy programs and assistant clinical professor of legal advocacy at the SMU Dedman School of Law.  Previously, Caughfield focused on civil appeals at the law firm of Baker | Moran.

Edwin Flores has been appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the Texas School Safety Center Board, which supports counties in developing defense systems. Flores is a managing partner at Chalker Flores, LLP, and also serves on the boards of Medical City Hospital Dallas and the Mary Crowley Cancer Research Center.

Kimberly Pack Wilson has been elected to the State Bar of Texas Family Law Section Council. A partner at Fraser, Wilson & Bryan, P.C. in Stephenville, Texas, Wilson previously served as state bar director for District 14 from 2020-2023.

Kristen Pauling Doyle has been unanimously voted to be hired as CEO by the oversight committee for the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT). She previously served as CPRIT’s general counsel and DEO since 2009.

Tara Porterfield has been named senior counsel at Littler in its Austin office. She focuses her practice exclusively on employment law litigation and counseling. Porterfield has more than 20 years of employment litigation experience, including her most recent position at Vinson & Elkins.

Tammy Cooper has started a new position as deputy general manager of Regulatory, Communications, Compliance and Legal Services at Austin Energy. Cooper was former senior vice president, overseeing that same division at Austin Energy.

Karen C. Burgess has been recognized as one of Texas’ top trial lawyers in the 2023 Texas Super Lawyers Top 10 list. She also has been selected by her peers for inclusion in the 30th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America for her work in commercial litigation at Burgess Associates.

Walter A. Buchanan has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his work in Banking and Finance Law. Buchanan is a shareholder at Munsch Hardt, where he represents lenders and borrowers in complex domestic and international financing transactions, as well as in other banking and corporate matters.

Jason Villalba is rejoining Frost Brown Todd to lead its new Texas public affairs subsidiary, CivicPoint. A former member of the Texas House of Representatives, Villalba is a financially trained business advisor and corporate strategist.

Michelle Cheng has been named a Best Personal Injury Lawyer in Austin by Forbes Advisor. Cheng is an attorney at Whitehurst, Harkness, Brees, Cheng, Alsaffar, Higginbotham, and Jacob, PLLC and has been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer since 2009.

In her nearly 30-year career, Cheng has set multiple records in recovery for injured clients and has had active roles as a leader of the Austin area.

Edwin Flores has been reappointed to the Texas School Safety Center Board. Flores is the managing partner at Chalker Flores, LLP and is a member of the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees.

Nathan Adams has been nominated to the First District Court of Appeals Judicial Nominating Commission by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Adams is currently a partner at Holland & Knight LLP.

Steven Jumes has been appointed to the 485th Judicial District Court in Tarrant County by Governor Abbott. Jumes is currently an attorney at his own firm, and was formerly an assistant United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas.

Daniella Landers has joined the Houston office of Womble Bond Dickinson as an environmental, health and safety partner. Landers handles a broad range of environmental issues, from environmental closures to groundwater remediation. She also is a frequent speaker and writer on environmental, energy, and litigation issues.

Prescott W. Smith has been elected to new member at Dykema, a national law firm. Smith works as an attorney in Dykema’s Products Liability practice group.

Jonathan B. Bush has been promoted to Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary at ModivCare. Bush has over two decades of in-house and law firm experience. Previously, he was Vice President, Corporate Development and Deputy General Counsel at BioScrip, Inc.

Kristan K. Wheeler has been appointed to Colorado’s Jefferson County Court in the 1st Judicial District, effective July 1, 2021. Wheeler is currently a district and county court magistrate in the 17th Judicial District, a position she has held since 2019. Her docket consists of both criminal and civil matters.

Karen C. Burgess, of Burgess Law in Austin, was elected dean of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers at the academy’s annual meeting. Burgess was inducted into IATL in 2015 and has served on various ITAL committees, the board of directors, and held the office of secretary-treasurer. She served as co-chair of the 2019 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting. Texas Law honored Burgess as Mentor of the Year at its 2018 Alumni Awards Dinner.

Jason Villalba has started a 501(c)(3) foundation, Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation‬ (TXHPF.org) along with a new podcast, “Our Story,” which is dedicated to the voices of Texas Hispanics. Its mission is to explore the personal and intimate stories of Texas Latinos to dispel misconceptions about Texas Hispanics. Villalba is an attorney with the firm Foley and Lardner LLP in his native Dallas, Texas, and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 114 in Dallas County.

Michael Blake is happy to announce the 17th anniversary of his Intellectual Property Law Practice in Milford, Connecticut. Blake is licensed before the United States Patent and Trademark Office, the Connecticut Bar, the State Bar of California (inactive), the United States District Court (USDC) District of Connecticut, and the USDC Central District of California (inactive). Before opening his own firm, Blake was an attorney at the patent law firm Cantor Colburn in Connecticut. Prior to that he was an attorney with Sierra Patent Group in Nevada.

Munsch Hardt is pleased to welcome back Walter A. Buchanan to its Dallas office from Winstead PC. Buchanan’s return expands the Firm’s corporate finance capabilities as he continues to represent leaders and borrowers in domestic and international financing transactions, as well as other banking and corporate matters.

Coats Rose, P.C., a transactional and litigation law firm focused on development, is pleased to announce the addition of attorney Melanie Cogburn, along with four other attorneys in its Houston, Austin, Dallas and New Orleans offices. Melanie joins the Austin office as an of counsel in the real estate practice.

Misty Farris was selected by peers for positions on the American Association for Justice’s Committee on the Judiciary and its Women Trial Lawyers Caucus Publications Committee. Farris focuses on pharmaceutical and medical device litigation and environmental litigation at Dallas-based Fears Nachawati Law Firm.

White collar defense attorney Erica Benites Giese has joined the San Antonio office of Jackson Walker as senior counsel. Erica is a former Chief of the Financial Litigation Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas. She has also served as Chief of the San Antonio and Del Rio divisions.

GableGotwals is pleased to announce Lisa T. Silvestri (1996) was named as a 2017 Oklahoma Super Lawyer in the practice areas of Business Litigation and Energy & Natural Resources. Lisa was selected to Oklahoma Super Lawyers Rising Stars in 2008 and Super Lawyers in 2013.

Ana Ward was appointed as Senior Vice President & General Counsel of Ovid Therapeutics Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focusing on rare neurological disorders. In addition to her J.D., Ms. Ward holds a bachelor of arts in French, a masters of science in molecular biology and a M.B.A — all from the University of Texas at Austin. She also holds a master of science in bioscience regulatory affairs from Johns Hopkins University.

Scott W. Dibbs, Shareholder at Hill Ward Henderson, was recently named Best Attorney by NAIOP Tampa Bay Commercial Real Estate Development Association. Mr. Dibbs leads Hill Ward Henderson’s Commercial Leasing Group and is a member of the firm’s Real Estate Group and Corporate and Tax Group. Mr. Dibbs currently serves as Chair of the Leasing Group of the ABA’s Real Property, Trust and Estate Law Section, and he previously served as Chair of the Office Leasing Committee within the Leasing Group.

Diane Brayton has been appointed general counsel of The New York Times Company, effective January 1, 2017. Ms. Brayton joined the Times Company in 2004 and most recently served as deputy general counsel since May 2016 and corporate secretary since 2011. “Diane’s keen understanding of the legal environment in which The New York Times operates and her broad range of legal and corporate governance expertise make her ideally suited to lead our legal department. She is known across the company not just for her reasoned approach to addressing legal matters but also for her passion for our business and her deeply collaborative spirit. I’m looking forward to continuing what is an already strong partnership,” said President and CEO Mark Thompson.

Michael Best & Friedrich LLP is proud to announce that Edward R. Lawson, Jr., has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2017 in 56 different areas of legal practice nationwide. Mr. Lawson is an intellectual property and patent lawyer in the firm’s Milwaukee, WI, office.

Beck Redden Partner, Russell S. Post, was elected to be a member of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers (AAAL). Membership in AAAL is by invitation only and is reserved for experienced appellate advocates who have demonstrated the highest skill level and integrity – membership is limited to 500 members in the United States.

Gov. Greg Abbott has appointed First Assistant District Attorney Phil Grant to the 9th state District Court, his office announced Oct. 17. Grant is the first assistant district attorney for the District Attorney’s Office and is the supervisor for the public integrity unit and major crimes and police integrity response teams.

Rosetta Genomics Ltd. (NASDAQ: ROSG), a leading developer and provider of microRNA-based and other molecular diagnostics, announces the appointment of Ana C. Ward, Esq. as Executive Vice President, Legal and Corporate Development.

The law firm of Thompson & Knight LLPis pleased to congratulate Tony Campiti for his inclusion in D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas 2016,” which is featured in the magazine’s May issue.

Texas Law alum, ’96 Katherine Ginzburg Treistman has been named a Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, one of the premier legal associations in Texas. Fellows of the Foundation are selected for their outstanding professional achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout the state of Texas. Election is a mark of distinction and recognition of Katherine’s contributions to the legal profession.

FordHarrison LLP on Monday said that the former managing partner of its Dallas office, who left last year for Ogletree Deakins Nash Smoak & Stewart PC, has come full circle, making her way back to the management-side labor and employment firm. Buena Vista Lyons, who moved to Ogletree last September, rejoined the firm’s Dallas office as a partner on Monday.