George Padis has joined Sbaiti & Company in Dallas as the boutique litigation firm’s newest partner. He comes to the position after serving five years as a deputy civil chief and assistant U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Texas. Previously Padis practiced complex commercial litigation in the Dallas office of Vinson & Elkins.
Robert Brown has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins, effective March 1, 2025. Brown is a member of the firm’s Privacy & Cyber Practice and Corporate Department, where he advises clients on compliance with data privacy and security laws.
Miguel Garza has been named to Austin Business Journal’s Texas 100, which is an annual list of impactful Texans. Garza is co-founder and CEO of Siete Family Foods, a Mexican-American food brand that provides gluten-, grain-, and dairy-free food products.
Zach Rider has been promoted to partner at Vinson & Elkins’ Houston office. Rider advises clients on a range of financing transactions and was named to Best Lawyers in America’s 2025 Ones to Watch list for banking and finance law.
Jeremy Reichman has been promoted to partner at Vinson & Elkins’ Dallas office. Reichman is a commercial litigator with a focus on professional liability matters.
Husch Blackwell Partner Michael Raupp is a finalist for the Young Lawyer of the Year—Litigation award, which will be presented Nov. 13 at The American Lawyer’s Industry Awards in New York City.
Nicole S. LeFave has been selected to to lead Littler’s SOAR Program. The program supports newly hired associates who have joined established affinity groups to find their footing and excel professionally. LeFave is a liaison for the firm’s Women’s Leadership Initiative, an active member of Littler’s Ohana affinity group, a founding member of the League of Lady Lawyers, and a pro bono liaison.
Nick Pesina was honored as a 2024 Outstanding Texas Ex by the Texas Exes Tyler-Smith County Chapter. Pesina’s firm specializes in personal injury law, family law, and business law, serving clients throughout the East Texas area.
Jennifer de Haro has been promoted to Managing Attorney of the Removal and Community Integration Services department (RCIS) at RAICES, the Refugee and Immigrant Center for Education and Legal Services, in San Antonio, Texas. She also serves as a board member of the Multi Cultural Alliance (MCA),
James Leader Jr. has been elected to partnership at Vinson & Elkins’ Houston office. A trial lawyer, Leader focuses his practice on commercial and business litigation and has additionally served on the Board of Directors for Houston Volunteer Lawyers since 2019.
Brandi Howard has joined Brown Rudnick LLP as partner in the firm’s Washington D.C. office. Howard, who focuses her practice on commercial litigation and appellate matters, was selected to the National Bar Association’s “Top 40 Under 40” in 2022.
Charles Fowler has returned to McKool Smith as a principal in Austin, where he will focus his practice on appeals, trials and critical motions in complex commercial and intellectual property litigation. Fowler started his career at McKool Smith, then spent four years with the U.S. Department of Justice as an assistant U.S. attorney in the Central District of California and Western District of Texas.
Alden Harris has been included in the 2024 edition of Best Lawyers in America for his work in Patent litigation. Harris is partner at Heim, Payne & Chorush, LLP, where his litigation work has spanned a variety of fields including electrical and computer engineering, telecommunications, and biochemistry.
Ryan M. Goldstein has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide. Goldstein is a partner at Reid Collins & Tsai and focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation.
Neil Gehlawat has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide. Gehlawat is an attorney at the Taylor & Ring law firm and focuses his practice on serious personal injury, wrongful death, civil rights, and sexual abuse.
Amber K. Dodds has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide. Dodds is a partner at Bracewell LLP and focuses her practice on employment law.
Patrick K. Johnson has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide. Johnson is a partner at Bracewell LLP and focuses his practice on the energy industry.
Scott D. Saldaña has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide. Saldaña is a partner at Reid Collins & Tsai and focuses his practice on plaintiff financial litigation.
Rafe A. Schaefer has been named to the 2023 Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation guide. Schaefer is a partner at Norton Rose Fulbright and focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation matters.
Patrick Yarborough has been appointed to the Plaintiffs’ Steering Committee of the In re Meta Pixel Tax Filing Cases pending in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Yarborough is co-founder of Foster Yarborough PLLC, a business and consumer-class action law firm based in Houston.
Kimberly A. Chojnacki has been elected a shareholder with Baker Donelson in Houston. A double Longhorn, Chojnacki is a complex commercial litigator and transactional attorney representing clients in an array of industries.
Sara Harris has been promoted to partner at Jackson Walker LLP. Harris specializes in healthcare and employment law and has been recognized among the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch for Labor and Employment Law since 2022.
Nicole LeFave, an attorney in the Austin office of Littler, has been elevated to shareholder. LeFave concentrates her practice on the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as wage and hour class and collective action defense. She advises and defends employers on wage and hour, discrimination, retaliation, harassment, and corporate whistleblower matters.
Michael Fishel has been added as a partner in King & Spalding’s Corporate, Finance and Investments practice group in Houston. A restructuring lawyer with particular experience in the energy industry, Fishel advises both debtor and creditor clients through complex Chapter 11 restructurings, out-of-court reorganizations and refinancings, and contested business litigation proceedings.
Christopher Bezeg has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. Bezeg is a member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, where he represents private equity sponsors, investment banks, and public and private companies across a range of capital markets and corporate transactions.
Amber K. Dodds has been honored as a “40 Under 40” leader by the San Antonio Business Journal for 2022. This elite group represents rising business and community leaders succeeding in business and contributing to the San Antonio community. Dodds, a partner at Bracewell, specializes in all areas of employment law.
Taylor Steele is heading the newly opened Dallas office of civil litigation firm Knox Ricksen LLP, a civil litigation firm. Steele has worked as a lateral partner for the firm since January 2021.
Charlie Stern has been hired by Beasley Allen to work in the Toxic Torts Section of the firm’s new Dallas office. He focuses his practice on representing individuals who have been exposed to asbestos and developed life-threatening cancers, including mesothelioma and lung cancer. Before joining Beasley Allen, Stern worked for another plaintiffs’ law firm and served as Assistant District Attorney for the Griffin Judicial Circuit in Spaulding County, Georgia.
Patrick K. Johnson was elected partner of Bracewell LLP in the firm’s Houston office. Johnson represents clients across the energy sector in transactions that include mergers, acquisitions and divestitures of assets and companies, joint venture arrangements and project finance and development. From 2015 to 2017, Johnson served as in-house counsel to ExxonMobil, where he provided legal support for upstream and midstream projects in Europe, North America, South America and Australia.
Amber K. Dodds was elected partner of Bracewell LLP in the firm’s San Antonio office. Dodds advises employers on labor and employment issues, such as leave administration, employee investigations, OSHA compliance, the use of background checks and consumer reports, employee discipline and preventing harassment and retaliation claims. She served as an intern in the US District Court for the Western District of Texas and the Texas First Court of Appeals.
Lindsey A. Mills has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins in New York, effective Jan. 1, 2022. A member of the Capital Markets Practice in the Corporate Department, she advises clients on a range of equity and debt transactions, including IPOs and high yield and investment grade debt offerings. She also advises clients on securities law compliance and general corporate governance matters.
Samuel D. Rettew has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins in Austin, effective Jan. 1, 2022. A member of the Capital Markets Practice in the Corporate Department, he represents private and public companies, private equity firms, and investment banks in a variety of financing and other transactions, including cross-border and leveraged buyout transactions as well as debt and equity offerings.
Daniel Collins is now an assistant county attorney assigned to the El Paso County hospital district unit, which represents University Medical Center of El Paso. Collins previously served in various legislative roles, most recently as El Paso County’s government affairs manager, and previously as a legislative counsel in the Texas Senate, New York Senate, and at the New York City Council.
Elizabeth Fitch has been promoted to shareholder at Hallett & Perrin, P.C. in Dallas. She joined Hallett & Perrin in 2016. A member of the firm’s litigation section, Fitch has experience at every level of dispute resolution, from the initiation of a lawsuit through appeal. While she represents both individuals and companies in a broad range of matters, her emphasis is on commercial and construction litigation, as well as employment law.
McGinnis Lochridge is pleased to welcome Daniel C. Clemons as Of Counsel in the firm’s Corporate and Tax practice group in Austin. He brings a remarkable mix of financial and legal experience to his new role, having previously served as outside counsel, in-house counsel, head of legal operations, and as a revenue analyst. Clemons will focus his practice on outside general counsel representation, mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financing, and other commercial transactions.
Rosebud Nau was promoted to partnership of the law firm Haynes and Boone, LLP effective Jan. 1, 2021. Nau is a member of the Capital Markets/Securities Practice Group in Haynes and Boone’s Dallas office.
Kellie Bobo was promoted to partnership of the law firm Haynes and Boone, LLP effective Jan. 1, 2021. Bobo is a member of both the Investment Funds and M&A Practice Groups in Haynes and Boone’s Austin office.
A health problem led one Mexican-American family to get creative with the food on their table—and take an entire industry by storm. Texas Law alumnus Miguel Garza, JD ’12, co-founder and CEO of Siete Family Foods, is one of the seven Garza family members—all of whom attended UT Austin—behind the brand.
Daniel F. Collins is governmental affairs manager for the County of El Paso, Texas. He returned to El Paso in 2020 after working as a senior legislative counsel at the New York City Council. He previously served as a policy counsel at the Texas Senate.
Harris County Attorney Vince Ryan announces the appointment of Michael Fritz ’12, to serve as an Assistant County Attorney with the Hospital District Practice Group. Fritz holds a B.A. in Economics and Philosophy from The University of Texas at Austin, as well as a Juris Doctorate from The University of Texas School of Law. He joins the office from Diamond McCarthy, LLP where he practiced complex commercial litigation and bankruptcy law in various areas.
Austin Carlson, an associate at Gray Reed & McGraw in Houston, graduated from the 2016-2017 State Bar of Texas Tax Section Leadership Academy. As a licensed attorney and a Certified Public Accountant, Carlson’s practice focuses on corporate transactions, tax planning and controversy, and trust and estate planning.