Class Notes

Manuel Escobar was recognized with the Chair’s Award by the state bar’s Hispanic lawyers section for his continued dedication and service. Escobar is a partner at McGinnis Lochridge in Austin.

Kourtney Mueller Merrill has joined Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton as a partner in Washington, D.C. Merrill, who has extensive experience in the biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device and broader technology sectors, will work with the firm’s intellectual property practice group and life sciences industry team. She was previously a partner at Perkins Coie.

Jesse Zambrano has created a Legal Eagles pipeline program through the Zambrano Law Firm. The program provides an immersive learning experience to high school and college students aspiring to make their mark in the legal domain, including a mentorship platform, educational resources, networking opportunities, and hands-on legal case experience.

Ben Love has joined Baker Botts as a litigation partner in the firm’s Houston office. Love, who is recognized as a global leader in international arbitration and public international law, will focus on the firm’s international disputes practice.

Jordan S. Hatcher co-founded a new tech company called The Grid, which recently announced its funding. Hatcher also serves as its COO.

Drew Baldinger has joined King & Spalding’s Houston office as a partner in its Corporate Practice group and Energy Industry team. Baldinger specializes in energy transactions and has experience representing clients in M&A and joint venture transactions.

Sarah Keyton has been appointed to the position of interim commissioner by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Previously she Keyton served as associate vice chancellor for state relations at the Texas Tech University System.

Elizabeth Brandon, a partner at Reed Smith, LLP,  has earned a place on the 2024 INvolve Empower Executive Role Model List for her advocacy work in diversifying the legal and business communities.

Manuel Escobar has been recognized as the 2024 recipient of the Joseph C. Parker Jr. Diversity Award from the Austin Bar Association. Escobar is a partner at McGinnis Lochridge.

Elisabeth Kincaid has been named director of the Institute for Faith and Learning at Baylor University. She also will serve as associate professor of ethics, faith and culture in Baylor’s George W. Truett Theological Seminary and as an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Management in the Hankamer School of Business.

Jessica Bayne has joined the Estate Planning & Administration practice group at Seltzer Caplan McMahon Vitek as of counsel. An accomplished attorney, Ms. Bayne’s  estate planning and tax law practice focuses on assisting individuals and families in preparing for the future, offering expert counsel on estate planning, charitable giving and wealth preservation for future generations.

Judge Richard B. Farrer has been elected to the American Law Institute. Farrer currently serves as a federal magistrate judge for the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Saeed Mody has started a new position as deputy associate attorney general at the Office of the Associate Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice.

Tracy Owen passed away Oct. 1, 2023. Owen, who specialized in employee relations legal services, was the senior vice president of industrial relations at Paramount Pictures.

Justin T. Sigman passed away on Oct. 26, 2022. He spent the majority of his career overseas, where he managed the construction of schools, hospitals, and bridges in war zones such as Afghanistan and Iraq. Sigman was additionally instrumental in writing the constitution for the Southern Sudan.

Zeena Angadicheril has joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as a Real Estate of counsel in the Austin office. A double Longhorn, Angadicheril specializes in sports and real estate law.

Brian J. Willey has been promoted to chief financial officer of Matador Resources Company. Willey, who has a background in accounting and law, joined Matador in 2014 and has been primarily building the company’s legal department and midstream business.

Chris Dodson has joined White & Case LLP as a partner. Dodson has a diversity of experiences in business disputes and environmental matters, and is an experienced first-chair litigator.

Shavonne Henderson has been has been selected as a 2022 recipient of the Texas Diversity Council Top Women Lawyer Award. Henderson currently serves as Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity, Belonging, and Inclusion and is a lecturer at Texas Law.

Drew Baldinger has been named a partner at Skadden’s Energy and Infrastructure Projects Group at the firm’s Houston office. Baldinger was previously a partner at DLA Piper, where he represented energy companies, private equity sponsors and strategic investors in  joint venture transactions. He did his undergraduate work at UT in addition to attending Texas Law.

Demetria Frank has been named as Associate Dean for Diversity & Inclusion at The University of Memphis Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law.  Frank will remain a member of the law school faculty, while also overseeing the law school’s diversity and inclusion efforts. She began her legal career as a toxic tort litigation attorney before moving into the public sector as a Community Prosecutor in the Dallas City Attorney’s Office. Her tenure as an Associate Judge for the City of Dallas and the City of Houston has been one of the most influential experiences in her legal career.

Mollie Duckworth has joined firm Latham & Watkins LLP’s Austin office as a partner in the Corporate Department and member of the firm’s Capital Markets, Public Company Representation, and Mergers & Acquisitions Practices. Duckworth advises clients in connection with M&A transactions and represents issuers and underwriters in public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities.

Nick Bunch has joined Haynes and Boone, LLP as a partner in the White Collar and Government Investigations Practices. His practice focused on the investigation, prosecution, and trial of sophisticated fraud cases, including healthcare fraud, securities fraud, bank fraud, public corruption, cybercrime and intellectual property matters, such as the theft of trade secrets.

Partner Katie Maechler has been appointed to serve as co-chair of the Litigation Practice Group at the Minneapolis law firm of Maslon LLP. Maechler specializes in product liability litigation and has successfully represented device manufacturers in federal and state courts throughout the country.

Jason Marlin has joined the Dallas trial firm of Bailey Brauer PLLC as a partner. Marlin is a corporate litigator and experienced trial lawyer who represents companies on complex commercial disputes involving shareholder derivative actions, real estate disputes, financial services litigation, catastrophic personal injury cases, and energy-related lawsuits. 

Stephanie Collett Sparks has joined the firm Vedder Price as a Shareholder in its Litigation practice area in the Dallas office. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, health care, and energy transactional and regulatory matters.  Prior to this position, Sparks spent a 15-year career with Jackson Walker.

The San Antonio Bar Foundation (SABF) is pleased to announce the appointment of George Luis Salinas Jr., from the Law Offices of George Salinas, PLLC, to the SABF Fellows Program newly-elected 2021 class.

The San Antonio Bar Foundation (SABF) is pleased to announce the appointment of the Honorable Richard B. Farrer, a United State Magistrate Judge, to the SABF Fellows Program newly-elected 2021 class.

Derrick Juarez passed away this weekend at age 43, after fighting a long battle of COVID-19. Juarez was a hard-working lawyer in Brownsville, Texas who practiced criminal, family, and juvenile law. Juarez was among only a handful of UTB/TSC students to be accepted and graduate from Texas Law. He attended law school while his wife and children stayed in the Valley, which pushed him to have a greater determination to pursue his goal of having a career in law. Juarez helped influence students who came to Texas Law after him from Brownsville and the Rio Grande Valley.

The national law firm Thompson Coburn is proud to announce the firm’s new office in Dallas, it’s sixth nationwide. Elizabeth Myers is one of four litigators to join the Firm’s new office. Elizabeth Myers represents clients in the health care and oil and gas industries in high-stakes litigation in state and federal courts around the country, including commercial disputes and product defects, consumer fraud and securities class actions.

Dustin O’Quinn has been honored as an Outstanding Voice of Pride by the Puget Sound Business Journal for his committment to LGBT issues in the business community and pro bono work.

Having served a general counsel role to a variety of businesses (including a Class 1 Railway company, a forest-products/real-estate conglomerate in TempleInland, and a family co.) as well as having worked in large law firms, I am excited to return to small private practice with my former H&K colleague and Christian brother John T. Wright. Together, I believe our nimble boutique firm is offering partner-level experience at a predictable price point that is below many big-law associates.

Brett T. Berly, a shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Houston office, was ranked in the 2019 Chambers USA Guide as a top-tier attorney in High Net Worth Law (Up and Coming) in Texas.

Lane Powell Shareholder & Immigration Team Chair Dustin J. O’Quinn has been selected to participate in the Leadership Council for Legal Diversity’s (LCLD) 2019 Fellows Program, a select group of experienced attorneys from diverse backgrounds who have been recognized for their potential as leaders in their organizations. LCLD is a growing organization of 300+ corporate chief legal officers and law firm leaders who are personally committed to creating a truly diverse legal profession.

Bryan Jones, B.S. ’00, J.D., M.B.A. ’05, was selected for the Outstanding Young Texas Ex Award which recognizes Texas Exes age 39 and younger who have made significant achievements in their careers and service to the university. Jones is an entrepreneur and technologist who has started several companies and been issued multiple technology-based patents. He is currently the COO at uStudio. Previously he co-founded Strive and Solve Ventures, GetHealthy, b.well Health, and Collider Media. While at UT, Jones was a 21-time All-American swimmer and captained the 2000 NCAA Championship team.

Continuing the legacy of leadership, Goranson Bain Ausley family law attorney Kelly Caperton Fischer has been honored with inclusion in the Super Lawyers 2018 Texas Rising Stars, rating her among the only 2.5 percent of Texas’ nearly 97,000 attorneys who receive the annual honor. This is her fifth appearance on the Rising Star list.

Polsinelli, an Am Law 100 law firm with a fast-growing presence in Texas, recently named Houston-based shareholder Andrew Weaver vice chair of the Medical Device/Mechanical Engineering Patent Prosecution practice group within the firm’s recently created Intellectual Property department.

Daniel Moffett has been made a Partner of Akin Gump in San Antonio. Mr. Moffett, a member of the firm’s intellectual property practice, works on all aspects of intellectual property procurement and protection, with a focus on complex patent, trade secret and trademark litigation. He has served as lead technical counsel in cases involving claims of patent infringement, antitrust violations and theft of trade secrets, and he has first chair experience representing clients before the Patent Trial and Appeal Board in inter partes review proceedings.

The law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP congratulates Micah Prude for his inclusion in Texas Rising Stars® 2016 by Thomson Reuters. The list will be published in the April 2016 issue of Texas Monthly.

Bracewell LLP is pleased to announce the election of Jason G. Cohen to the partnership. Cohen represents corporate debtors, as well as junior and senior creditors in corporate debt restructurings. His experience includes negotiating out-of-court workouts and litigating in-court Chapter 11 bankruptcy cases with assets ranging from $20 million to more than $1 billion. Cohen has often advised parties on debt and equity financing, as well as asset sales.

Brett T. Berly, shareholder in national law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka, has been elected Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation (TBF). TBF Fellows are selected for their outstanding professional achievements and demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout the state of Texas. Election to this prestigious group is a mark of distinction and recognition of Berly and Cantrell’s contributions to the legal profession.

Kourtney Mueller Merrill, who received a J.D. with honors, Order of the Coif from The University of Texas School of Law in 2005, has been promoted to partner at law firm Perkins Coie. Kourtney is a member of Perkins’s Coie’s is a member of the firm’s Patent Litigation practice in the Denver office. Her work focuses on patent infringement litigation, inter partes review (IPR), and related intellectual property claims.

Andrews Kurth recently announced the election of Cindy Y. Lin to the partnership. She will assume her new position on January 1, 2016.

Andrews Kurth recently announced the election of Isabel Crosby to the partnership. She will assume her new position on January 1, 2016.

Shipbird COO Dana E. Lipp is one of the youngest female COOs of a start-up in the tech industry. Shipbird, a game-changing package delivery service that allows users to employ proprietary technology, is a cleaner, more environmentally friendly option for businesses and individuals to send packages.

On October 6, 2015, two Texas Law grads – Shelli Egger (’05) and Jackie Davis (’06) – were among 12 attorneys from Texas RioGrande Legal Aid to become members of the United States Supreme Court. The Honorable Wallace Jefferson (’88), former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court, moved for their admittance before the Court. Shelli Egger and Jackie Davis are staff attorneys in TRLA’s Austin Office on the Domestic Violence and Family Law team.