Class Notes

Heather Holmes has joined the Specialized Advocacy practice group at Butler Snow in Austin. Previously, Holmes practiced at Enoch Kever and was a staff attorney at the Supreme Court of Texas.

Marcus Brooks joined Jackson Walker law firm as a partner in the tax practice group. Brooks advises clients on complex tax matters and represents them in disputes before the IRS Appeals Office, and proceedings before the U.S. Tax Court, U.S. District Court, and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Feras Mousilli, a founding partner of Lloyd & Mousilli, has been named among the Top 50 U.S. Trademark Attorneys for 2024 by analytics firm Huski.ai’s AI-driven rankings. Mousilli previously served as senior corporate counsel for both Apple and Dell.

Omar Alaniz, a partner at Reed Smith, is among the 2024 100 LGBTQ+ Executives selected by INvolve, in recognition of his advocacy and support efforts on behalf of LGBTQ+ diversity, equity and inclusion. Alaniz is member of Reed Smith’s Restructuring & Insolvency Group.

Brad Caldwell, a principal at Dallas law firm Caldwell Cassady & Curry, has been named to the 2024 Texas Super Lawyers guide as one of the top intellectual property attorneys in the state. Caldwell focuses on patent infringement and complex commercial litigation.

Leah Gillum, the deputy commissioner of the fraud and enforcement division at the Texas Department of Insurance, has been elected secretary of the administrative and public law section of the state bar.

Daniel E. “Dan” Mangis has a new position as deputy chief of mission at the Office of the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus at the U.S. Embassy in Cyprus. Most recently, Mangus was the deputy public affairs officer and spokesperson at the embassy in Amman, Jordan.

Brad Caldwell has earned selection in the 2024 Chambers USA guide. Caldwell, who is an attorney of the Dallas law firm Caldwell Cassady & Curry, is being recognized as one of the top intellectual property attorneys in the U.S.

Brooke Colaizzi has started a new position as co-leader of Litigation, Trials & Appeals at Sherman & Howard L.L.C in Denver. Colaizzi has extensive experience in employment litigation, labor employment and employee benefits, and workplace counseling.

Jason Boatright has been appointed to the Texas Racing Commission, which oversees pari-mutuel wagering on horse and greyhound racing. Boatright is special counsel at Duane Morris LLP and is a former justice of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals.

Virginia Alverson Mimmack has been ranked in the 2023 Chambers USA Guide for her healthcare practice. Mimmack is a partner at Jackson Walker, advising telemedicine providers, physicians, and hospitals on topics ranging from regulatory compliance to M&A and private offerings.

Gerami Granello has joined the real estate practice of Holland & Knight in Houston. He was previously a partner with Mayer Brown, where for more than 20 years he helped lead the firm’s asset management and leasing group. Gerami provides acquisition, disposition, leasing and asset management representation to real estate funds and advisers in connection with their office, retail and industrial real estate portfolios.

Amanda Bush has joined strategic communications advisory firm TrailRunner International as managing director. Bush also serves as of counsel to law firm Jackson Walker and has spent her career advising clients facing complex legal matters.

Charles “Chip” Roy has started a new position as Chair Republican Member at Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Committee on the Judiciary. Roy is currently serving his third term in Congress representing Texas’s 21st Congressional District.

Sakina Rasheed Foster has received the Texas State Bar’s annual Trailblazer of the Year Award. Foster was nominated for the award by The Podium, a nonprofit for Asian American women lawyers,  for her work as managing partner and mentor at Haynes and Boone.

Brad Caldwell has earned a selection on the 2024 Lawdragon Leading Litigators in America listing based on his work in intellectual property trials. Caldwell is principal at Caldwell Cassady & Curry, where he focuses on patent infringement and complex commercial litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants in trial.

Author James Andrew Hearn’s short story “Home Is the Hunter” will be included in The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, which will be published in October by Mariner Books.

Jessica Dean has earned repeat recognition by Texas Super Lawyers, noting the top 5 percent of attorneys in the state. Dean is honored for personal injury products liability litigation on behalf of plaintiffs. A member of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Dean is a partner at Dean Omar Branham Shirley and a key part of the firm’s trial team.

Rebecca Olla has joined the Bishop Law Firm in Raleigh, N.C., as an attorney, representing the firm’s personal injury and workers’ compensation clients. Olla previously worked for the Texas State Office of the Attorney General and the U.S. District Court of Southern New York.

Mitch Little has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his work in for Arbitration and Litigation–Real Estate. Little is a partner at Scheef & Stone, LLP in Frisco, Texas, where he counsels individuals and business organizations in state and federal courts.

Brad Caldwell has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his work in Intellectual Property and Patent trials. Caldwell is principal at Caldwell Cassady & Curry, where he focuses on patent infringement and complex commercial litigation for both plaintiffs and defendants in trial.

Justin Mapes has joined Blank Rome LLP as a partner in the Real Estate Practice group based in the firm’s new Dallas office.

Dina Koch has joined the Dean Law Firm as of counsel and will focus on growing the firm’s community-based Wills, Trusts, and Estate Practice. Koch’s career has spanned the legal, government, nonprofit fundraising, and political accounting and compliance fields.

Andrew Zeve has joined White & Case’s global commercial practice and energy group as a partner. Zeve was previously at Bracewell LLP for more than 19 years as co-chair of Bracewell’s energy litigation group.

George P. Bush has joined Michael Best & Friedrich LLP as a partner and Michael Best Strategies LLC as a principal. The former Texas Land Commissioner, Bush will lead efforts to bolster Michael Best’s corporate, litigation and consulting practices.

Jeff Matthews has been elected as the new chairman and CEO of Winstead PC. Matthews, who was previously the chair of the Business & Transactions Department, specializes in real estate litigation.

Jadd Masso, a member of Clark Hill law firm in the Dallas office, received the Best Mentors Award from Texas Lawyer, presented at the Texas Legal Excellence Awards Dinner on Sept. 14, 2022.

Attorney Mitch Little has been recognized on the 2022 Texas Super Lawyers list by Thomson Reuters for his expertise in securities litigation. He is a partner at Scheef & Stone.

Jessica Dean has been selected to the Texas Super Lawyers guide for the second consecutive year. Dean is a partner at Dallas law firm Dean Omar Branham Shirley LLP and is recognized for her work in personal injury products liability.

Omar Alaniz has been named the president of the John C. Ford American Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to the specialty of the bankruptcy field. Alaniz currently serves as a restructuring partner at Reed Smith LLP.

Attorney Brad Caldwell of the Dallas firm of Caldwell Cassady & Curry has been named the 2023 Dallas/Fort Worth Lawyer of the Year for Intellectual Property Litigation in the latest edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Author James Andrew Hearn is a guest contributor for Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine’s blog, Trace Evidence. His short story, “When the Dams Break,” will be published in AHMM’s Sept./Oct. issue. James is a Mystery Writers of America 2022 Edgar Allan Poe Award nominee for Best Short Story.

Diana Perez Gomez, a shareholder in Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Houston labor and litigation practice, has been named one of “Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2020-21” by Houston Woman Magazine.

Diana Perez Gomez has been named one of “Houston’s 50 Most Influential Women of 2020-21” by Houston Woman Magazine. Honorees were selected based on the reputation for their expertise in a particular field or arena and being influential in their local and professional communities.

James Hearn has been nominated for the 2022 Edgar Award for Best Short Story by the Mystery Writers of America. Hearn, who has published multiple works, co-wrote Blindsided with Michael Bracken; the story appeared in the Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine.

Justin Mapes has joined the Real Estate and Real Estate Finance practice group of Locke Lord’s Dallas office as a Partner. Mapes has extensive experience in real estate law and corporate finance.

Amy Hereford now serves as LiftFund’s general counsel and director of government and community affairs.

Sharmila Kassam has joined NASDAQ as Chief Operating Officer of their newly formed Nasdaq Asset Owner Solutions. Kassam joins with experience in institutional investing and a unique asset owner perspective. Most recently, she served as executive director of the AIF Institute, and as the Deputy Chief Investment Officer for the Employees Retirement System of Texas.

Brad Caldwell from Dallas’ Caldwell Cassady & Curry once again has been named among The Best Lawyers in America based on his work in intellectual property trials and patent lawsuits.

Spencer Bartlett, of Jefferson City, Mo., was appointed to the Administrative Hearing Commission. Bartlett joined the Missouri Department of Revenue as Deputy General Counsel in 2017 and was promoted to General Counsel in 2019. Prior to joining the Department of Revenue, he served as an assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Gibbs Henderson has joined the Dallas-based firm Fears Nachawati Law Firm, adding significant expertise to the firm’s litigation, mass torts, mesothelioma and public client practice groups. Henderson joins a Fears Nachawati trial team actively involved in mass torts and multi-district litigation.

Hilary Preston was elected as Vice Chair at Vinson & Elkins LLP.  She will work alongside three partners, which will constitute a new Executive Committee of the firm. Preston serves as Chair of the Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation practice. Her practice focuses on IP and commercial disputes, with particular emphasis on the intersection between sports, media, and technology, representing major sports leagues, including the NFL, the NBA, MLS, and the NHL. 

Brad Caldwell has been named one of the country’s top trial lawyers in the Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar series from the national legal publication Law360. Caldwell is the only attorney in Texas to earn two selections in the exclusive listing after previously being recognized in 2019. He is one of only 11 lawyers nationwide to be named in the 2021 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar series.

Jason E. Boatright has joined Duane Morris LLP as special counsel in the firm’s Trial Practice Group in its Dallas office. Boatright has held senior legal positions in state government in both Dallas and Austin. He is a former justice of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, the appellate court that reviews trial court decisions in Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall counties.

Diana Perez Gomez, shareholder in the Labor & Employment practice in the Houston office of the national law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka, has been selected to the Texas Super Lawyers 2020 TopWomen list.

Brad Caldwell, JD ’03 has earned selection in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America. Mr. Caldwell, a principal in Dallas’ Caldwell Cassady & Curry, is named in the annual guide to the nation’s top attorneys based on his work in intellectual property litigation and patent litigation.

Omar J. Alaniz, highly distinguished restructuring and bankruptcy lawyer, has joined Reed Smith as a partner in its Financial Industry Group in Dallas, after previously serving as a partner at Baker Botts.

I recently left the partnership at Morris, Manning & Martin LLP to start my own law practice, The Lockett Law Firm, a boutique firm based in Atlanta, Georgia specializing in business litigation.

Diana Pérez Gomez, a Shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka in Houston, has been selected to serve as a 2019-2020 Texas Bar Foundation Nominating Chair for District 4. Nominating Chairs for each of the 17 State Bar of Texas districts identify elite nominees to join the Foundation as Fellows. Nominating Chairs of the Foundation are selected for their outstanding professional achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the Texas Bar Foundation.

Ephraim “Fry” Wernick, former Assistant Chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) Unit and a veteran federal prosecutor, has joined Vinson & Elkins as a partner in the firm’s Government Investigations and White Collar Criminal Defense practice. Wernick is based in V&E’s Washington, D.C. office.