Mandy McCary of McCary & McCary in Marble Falls, Texas, was elected into the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation, which recognizes excellence in the law profession. McCary is a successful general practitioner focusing on elder law, a leader in the local bar association, and contributor of many pro bono hours.
Jason Ryan has been reappointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the Texas Diabetes Council where he will work to address issues regarding quality of education services and treatment for people with diabetes in Texas. He also serves as the executive vice president for CenterPoint Energy.
Thomas Nguyen competed in Netflix’s “Squid Game: The Challenge,” a reality competition series based on the South Korean drama series. Nguyen works in commercial real estate at Global Commercial Real Estate Services and co-founded the South African Peli Peli restaurants.
Melissa Lorber has joined the Specialized Advocacy practice group at Butler Snow in Austin. Lorber, who represents businesses in litigation at both the trial and appellate levels in state and federal courts, previously practiced at Enoch Kever.
Ben Mesches is now general counsel at Haynes Boone, where he guides appellate and litigation teams in high-stakes cases in state and federal courts nationwide.
Daniel Sternthal, shareholder at Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr in Houston, has been elected as the newest member of the firm’s board of directors. Sternthal is a recognized authority on regulatory, business and policy issues related to health care, serving as strategic counsel to a diverse range of health care entities.
Wade A. Barrow was raised to the rank of advocate by the American Board of Trial Advocates. His firm, Barrow Law, is based in Fort Worth and focuses on personal injury and wrongful death cases.
Julie Partain has been named a Distinguished Alumni of 2024 by Henderson ISD. As a partner at Bracewell LLP in Dallas, Partain focuses her practice on public debt offerings and serves as bond counsel for numerous school districts and cities.
Michelle Schulz founded the Dallas-based Schulz Trade Law, where she is managing partner. Schulz, a leader in international trade law with over 20 years of experience, advises Fortune 500 companies on import and export compliance and serves on the U.S. Industry Trade Advisory Committee for Aerospace.
Daniel Wade Sharp passed away Sept. 15, 2024. Sharp, who most recently served as senior corporate intellectual property counsel at Rimini Street, founded Sharp Family Vineyards with his wife.
Maidie Ryan is the president and general counsel of Camp Aspen, an elevated loungewear brand founded by her brother and UT alumnus Patrick Ryan.
James Kitces has been appointed managing partner of Robins Kaplan’s Boston office. He will be instrumental in driving the firm’s strategic goals, bringing proven leadership qualities, strong vision, and the respect of his colleagues to his new position.
Dana Davis Paul has been selected for inclusion in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers in America directory for her work in real estate law. Paul is the owner of Paul Law Firm, PLLC in Northwest Arkansas and has been practicing commercial real estate and finance law for more than two decades.
Andrew Sherwood has been selected to serve as assistant leader of Dykema’s Real Estate Practice Group. Sherwood, who focuses his practice on debt finance and real estate, has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America for Real Estate Law each year since 2019.
Jimmy Kirby has been named deputy director of the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Kirby previously served as associate director of FinCEN’s Research and Analysis Division as well as FinCEN’s chief counsel.
Rich Phillips has been appointed to serve as a member of the Supreme Court Advisory Committee for the Supreme Court of Texas. Phillips is a partner at Holland & Knight specializing in appellate cases in energy disputes.
Sherry Talton has joined Ogletree Deakins as shareholder in the firm’s Seattle office. Talton represents local and national employers in court and previously served as principal of Jackson Lewis’ Disability, Leave and Health Management practice group.
Courtney York has joined Greenberg Traurig as a corporate practice shareholder. York specializes in multimillion to billion dollar corporate and commercial technology cases.
Daniel Z. Sternthal is featured for his excellence in Health Care Law in the 2024 edition of the Best Lawyers in America directory. A shareholder at Munsch Hardt, he serves as strategic counsel to a diverse range of health care entities as they evaluate regulatory, administrative and transactional opportunities and navigate through challenges.
Kassandra G. McLaughlin has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for her work in Real Estate Law. McLaughlin is a partner at Bell Nunnally and has been practicing broad-based commercial real estate for more than two decades.
Karen L. Hart has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for her work in Commercial Litigation. Hart is a partner at Bell Nunnally, where she focuses her practice on commercial and real estate litigation.
Daniel Sternthal has been included in the 2023 edition of the Chambers USA directory for his work in healthcare law. Sternthal is a shareholder at Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. in Houston and serves as strategic counsel to a diverse range of health care entities.
Kamron Massumi has joined the law firm of Baker Donelson as of counsel in the Firm’s Real Estate Group in Atlanta. He focuses his practice on the leasing, development, acquisition, disposition, and management of retail and mixed-use real estate developments across the U.S.
Nickolas Spiliotis has joined Jones Walker LLP as a partner, where he specializes in counseling employers across multiple industries on a variety of workplace issues. Spiliotis was formerly a partner at K&L Gates LLP for six years.
Jonathan K. Frels has been elected a fellow for the American College of Bond Counsel. Frels, a partner in Bracewell’s Houston office, serves as bond counsel, underwriter’s counsel and disclosure counsel in public finance transactions for school districts, cities, counties, state agencies, navigation districts, port authorities, economic development corporations, water districts and water authorities.
David Henderson has been appointed to the ACLU Texas Board of Directors. Henderson is a civil rights attorney at Ellwanger Henderson LLLP and managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office.
Christopher V. Popov of Vinson & Elkins took office as the 2022-2023 president of the Houston Bar Association in May. Popov serves as co-head of the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and as the Litigation talent lead at Vinson & Elkins, where he has spent his entire legal career.
Daniel Sternthal has been recognized a s a top healthcare attorney by Chambers USA, an independent research company delivering rankings and insight into the world’s leading lawyers. Sternthal is a shareholder for Musch Hardt PC, where he serves as strategic counsel to a diverse range of health care entities as they evaluate and navigate through regulatory, administrative and transactional opportunities.
Leann Guzman has been chosen as the next city attorney for Fort Worth; she will be appointed by the City Council on May 10. Guzman has been a prosecuting attorney on the City Attorney’s Office for 18 years.
Kirby D. Hopkins ’01 has been accepted as a member of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC). The IADC is a highly selective, invitation-only network of distinguished law firm partners, senior counsel in law departments, and insurance executives. He is a managing member at Hopkins Centrich.
Mike Golden has been named Director of Advocacy and Lecturer at Texas Law. Golden has been with Texas Law since 2004, teaching Trial Advocacy Survey, Advocacy Outside the Courtroom, ADR, and Negotiation.
Paul Singer has joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP as a partner in the firm’s State Attorneys General practice group. Most recently, he served as the Texas Associate Deputy Attorney General for Civil Litigation.
Jonathan K. Frels, a partner with Bracewell LLP, was named “Lawyer of the Year” for Public Finance Law in Houston in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Individual lawyers with the highest overall peer-feedback for a specific practice area and geographic region are named “Lawyer of the Year.” Only one lawyer is recognized for each specialty and region.
Nathalie Stewart has been named as one of Houston Business Journal’s 2021 Transportation and Logistics honorees in its 2021 Women Who Mean Business awards. Stewart is a senior attorney and lead negotiator at Murphy Oil Corporation.
Lisa S. Tsai, a founding partner of Reid Collins & Tsai LLP, has become Managing Partner and joined the Executive Committee of the national trial boutique. Tsai is recognized for her leadership and contributions to the elevation of women and Asian-Pacific American (APA) attorneys regionally and nationally. She is past chair of the State Bar of Texas Asian Pacific Interest Section.
Erica Grigg has been named as the Director of the Texas Lawyers’ Assistance Program (TLAP). TLAP provides confidential help, referrals, and peer assistance programs to lawyers, judges, and law students experiencing mental health or substance use disorders. She is a member of the American Counselors Association, the American Mental Health Counselors Association, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, and the Capitol Area Trial Lawyers Association.
Chris Montez of Plano, Texas passed away on August 30, 2021 at the age of 46. After law school, he served as a judicial law clerk to the Hon. Bill Vance of the 10th District Court of Appeals in Waco, Texas. Montez then worked at the Law Firm of Darrell Keith, PC and later became a partner at the Dallas firm of Thomas, Feldman & Wilshusen, LLP (TFW). After 14 years at TFW, he started his own practice, The Law Firm of Christopher D. Montez, PLLC. Montez was a member of the ABA Forum on Construction Law and served as General Counsel to the Regional Hispanic Contractors Association (RHCA).
James D. Hornfischer died June 2, 2021 at age 55 after a lengthy illness. He was an Austin writer, naval historian, book editor, and literary agent. The author of several books focusing on the U.S. Navy, Hornfischer recently had been honored with the Navy Distinguished Public Service Award for four books: The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy’s Finest Hour; Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR’s Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors; Neptune’s Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal; and The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945. After earning his MBA and JD at UT Austin, he founded Hornfischer Literary Management.
Dana Davis Paul, of Paul Law Firm in Rogers, AR, has been selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers as a top attorney in the Mid-South, specializing in real estate law.
BraunHagey & Borden Co-founder and Managing Partner J. Noah Hagey has been named by the National Law Journal as one of 2020’s most revered “Winning Litigators.” Hagey earned back-to-back trial awards, including a $54 million federal antitrust jury verdict for Orion Telescopes, and severed as lead trial counsel in a $16 million hedge fund fraud judgement. He also obtained multiple victories in false advertising class action and trade secrets litigation.
Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. hired three Houston Shareholders from the law firm of Baker Donelson, including Texas Law alumnus Daniel Z. Sternthal. This team of well-respected attorneys helps Munsch Hardt significantly broaden the capabilities of its health care practice, as well as further strengthens the Firm’s commercial litigation experience. Chambers USA-Texas (2020) ranked and Board Certified in Health Law, Daniel Sternthal is a recognized authority in advising on regulatory, business, and policy issues related to health care.
Kirby D. Hopkins, managing member of Drucker Hopkins, has founded a new law firm, Hopkins, Centrich, Winkelman & Drucker, with fellow Longhorns Joe Centrich (UT ’02, Texas Law ’06) and Lee Winkelman (UT ’99). Located in The Woodlands, the firm serves as business counsel in the Greater Houston Area and litigates across Texas.
Daniel Sternthal, a shareholder in the Houston office of Baker Donelson, has been ranked as a leading practitioner in the 2020 edition of Chambers USA in the area of Health Care.
Bracewell LLP Partner Jonathan K. Frels, UT Law Class of 2001, was recently appointed chair of the CHRISTUS Foundation for HealthCare Board of Directors. This vital 501(c)3 non-profit has been providing healthcare and social services to underserved communities of all faiths, ages and cultures in the Greater Houston/Galveston areas since 1966. It also serves as a safety net to the underinsured and uninsured through community clinics, school-based clinics, mobile clinics and homeless outreach.
Robert A. Wilkins has joined Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC as a partner in the firm’s Houston office. Wilkins represents both plaintiffs and defendants in state and federal courts as well as before arbitral tribunals. He has a particular focus on commercial litigation involving the oil and gas industry, including business divorce cases, fiduciary duty issues, breach of contract claims, securities disputes and related matters.
Phyllis Young ’01, an accomplished transactional lawyer who advises public and private companies, commercial banks and investment funds in financing transactions and has extensive energy industry experience, has joined McGuireWoods’ debt finance practice as a partner in the firm’s Dallas and Houston offices. Young advises lenders and borrowers in debt financings and counsels clients on mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and other corporate matters. She has served as outside general counsel to clients in the oil refining and drilling sectors and the steel distribution industry. She joins McGuireWoods from Akin Gump.
Daniel Sternthal, a shareholder in Baker Donelson’s Houston office, has been ranked in Band 4 in the area of healthcare in Texas by the 2019 edition of Chambers USA.
Jeffrey Hearne, Director of Litigation at Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc., was honored with the 2018 Florida Bar Consumer Protection Lawyer of the Year Award for his advocacy and commitment to tenants’ rights, mentoring young attorneys, and working on projects to benefit consumers across Florida. The award was presented June 15 at the Annual Convention of The Florida Bar in Orlando by state Sen. José Javier Rodriguez, a member of the Consumer Protection Law Committee.
Adam Schramek is president of the Austin Bar Association for 2018-19. A commercial litigation partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, Schramek plans to focus his term on increasing participation by Austin lawyers in pro bono cases, such as working to reunite immigrant families separated at the Texas border.
James W. Larimore was honored in the Chambers & Partners 2018 USA Directory in the corporate/commercial area of legal practice. Larimore is an attorney in Crowe & Dunlevy’s Oklahoma City office.