Mysti Murphy has been named a Best Divorce Lawyer in San Antonio by Forbes for 2023. As a consultant for the City of Dallas Domestic Violence Task Force and a former Dallas County assistant district attorney, Murphy specializes in domestic violence and other family law cases.
Floyd S. Contreras has been named a 2023 Best Divorce Lawyer in San Antonio by Forbes. Contreras practices all types of family law, with experience in business and probate law that allows him to help clients with divorces involving family businesses.
Christopher Luna has joined SPCA of Texas—the most comprehensive and longest-serving animal welfare agency in North Texas—as president and CEO. Luna previously spent 18 years as vice president of legal affairs at T-Mobile. He also was a Dallas city councilman for three terms and served as deputy mayor pro tem.
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.
Keith Y. Cohan has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Cohan is a partner in the Austin office of Reid Collins & Tsai and focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation.
Matthew Falcone has been named a recipient of Texas Lawyer’s 2023 “On the Rise” Award. Falcone is a partner at Vinson & Elkins’ Houston office and focuses his practice on M&A and private equity.
Taylor Mauze has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Mauze is a litigator and trial attorney at Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP and specializes in complex business disputes and patents.
Atman Shukla has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Shukla is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and focuses on M&A and investment transactions in the energy, infrastructure, and aviation industries.
Maryssa Simpson has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Simpson is a trial lawyer at the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm and focuses her practice on personal injury, sexual assault, and sexual harassment cases.
Courtney Hammond has been named a recipient of Texas Lawyer’s 2023 “On the Rise” Award. Hammond is a member of Vinson & Elkins’ real estate practice and focuses on commercial real estate projects.
Michael Kelso has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Kelso is a trial lawyer at Susman Godfrey LLP and focuses his practice on antitrust, securities fraud, and the energy sector.
Rocco Magni has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Magni is a trial lawyer at Susman Godfrey LLP and specializes in commercial litigation and patents.
Kim Hicks has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Hicks is a founding partner at the Austin office of Kirkland & Ellis and focuses on M&A and private equity in the energy sectors.
Ralph C. Mayrell has been promoted to special counsel in Kramer Levin’s litigation practice. Mayrell specializes in complex commercial litigation and appeals across a variety of industries.
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.
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.
Nathan Robinson has been elected as partner of Wilson Sonsini, a leading legal firm for technology and life sciences. Robinson specializes in corporate and securities law, advising clients on general corporate matters and transactions including public offerings, private placements, and mergers and acquisitions.
Donald Frank “Don” Schofield passed away on Dec. 2, 2023. A veteran of the U.S. Army, Schofield served as a city judge for Amarillo and practiced law in the Panhandle of Texas until retirement.
Brittany Castillo has been appointed to serve on FEMA’s National Advisory Council. Castillo currently is CEO of AshBritt, a government solutions provider specializing in emergency management, logistics, and disaster response.
Jack Harold Emmott III passed away on Nov. 21, 2023. Emmott was a successful lawyer who devoted his practice to resolving family law disputes for clients all over Texas. He was recognized as a Master Credentialed Collaborative Lawyer by Collaborative Divorce Texas, one of only two attorneys in Houston with that designation.
Ernest Altgelt passed away on Oct. 7, 2023. A celebrated veteran, he was recognized by the State Bar of Texas for providing outstanding service to low-income Texans. During his career, he worked for the State of Texas in various departments, in litigation private practice, and in oil and gas corporate practice.
Wayne D. Meissner has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Attorneys in Austin by Forbes Advisor. A former district attorney in Amarillo and Austin, Meissner currently serves as an attorney at Fitzgerald & Meissner PC.
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.
Alex Robertson has been elected to partnership at Vinson & Elkins’ Dallas office. Robertson focuses his practice on M&A and capital markets and serves as president of the Mergers and Acquisitions Section of the Dallas Bar Association.
Larry Ray Jones passed away Nov. 22, 2023. Jones served as head of law enforcement and security at Texas Parks and Wildlife before returning to his hometown of Stephenville to continue practicing law.
The Hon. John L. “Jack” Placke passed away Nov. 21, 2023. Placke was appointed 21st Judicial District Judge in 1975 and was re-elected without opposition until his retirement in 2000, after which he served as senior district judge for several years.
Finis Cowan Jr. passed away Nov. 15, 2023. In addition to serving as U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Cowan tried more than 100 jury trials during his time with law firm Baker Botts in Houston.
Drew Kershen was honored by the State of Oklahoma as an Oklahoma Water Pioneer. The State honored him for his 30-plus years of teaching, writing, and service about Oklahoma water law. Kershen was a faculty member for 41.5 years at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.
Stephen J. Smith of Houston passed away Dec. 8, 2022. Smith was a leader in the Houston legal community, as well as in numerous charitable organizations.
Robert Bledsoe has passed away on Nov. 15, 2023. Bledsoe served in the Air Force during his time at Texas Law, then Baker Botts, before eventually starting his own firm, Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe & Dawson.
Philip Charles Vitek passed away on Nov. 3, 2023. An Army veteran, Vitek was a celebrated lawyer, entrepreneur, and restaurant owner in Austin.
Bryan P. Hoeller has been named a “Best Criminal Defense Lawyer” in Fort Worth of 2023 by Forbes. Hoeller was a former criminal prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer, defending thousands of clients in a variety of cases.
Jamie E. France has been promoted to partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. France represents clients in antitrust merger and non-merger investigations, as well as in complex private and government antitrust litigation.
Allison Becker has been named co-chair at Health Care, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP (GRSM Healthcare Practice Group). Becker’s healthcare practice involves defending providers against all manner of claims in various stages of litigation.
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.
John Kenneth Vinson passed away on Oct. 22, 2023. In addition to teaching at the University of Mississippi Law School and Florida State University Law School, Vinson authored many law review articles and a book titled “The Case Against the Law.”
Travis Maples has joined Botkin Chiarello Calaf as an associate on the firm’s commercial litigation team. Following graduation from Texas Law, Maples clerked at both the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals.
Robert Neal passed away in August 2023. Neal was a double Longhorn who recently retired from practicing law in Austin after more than 45 years.
Mary Hall passed away on Nov. 14, 2022. Hall, who also earned an MBA from UT, specialized in family law in her native Vermont and enjoyed traveling around the world.
Dick DeGuerin has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston,2023. DeGuerin has been practicing criminal defense for the past five decades and represented many high profile clients as his firm handles state and federal cases from trial through the appellate process.
George Parnham has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston 2023. An Army veteran who has practiced for over five decades, Parnham has secured reduced sentences for clients accused of terrorism, criminally negligent homicide and murder.
David Nachtigall has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston 2023. Nachtigall, whose firm is based in Houston, has tried several thousand criminal cases and has represented clients facing serious allegations from the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Secret Service and other government agencies.
Neal A. Davis has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston 2023. Davis, who runs his own firm, has 25 years of experience in criminal defense from the investigative phase to appeal, and has appeared as counsel in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a matter involving the Fifth Amendment.
Rachel Ratcliffe Payne has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in Austin. A member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department, she advises public and private companies across industries on strategic and private equity M&A, take-private transactions, SEC compliance, and corporate governance.
Daniel Williams has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in New York. A member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department, he advises private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies, and strategic investors in M&A, dispositions, and asset sales transactions.
Amanda Tyler testified before the U.S. House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. Tyler is the executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) and lead organizer of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.
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.
Horace Coke Wilson Jr. passed away Oct. 31, 2023. Wilson was a partner at Pravel, Wilson and Gambrell and additionally served as a law professor at both Texas Law and the University of Houston Law Center.
Rachel E. Ratcliffe Payne has been elected to partnership at Latham & Watkins LLP. She is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department.
Daniel Williams has been elected to partnership at Latham & Watkins LLP. Williams is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department.