Vernon I. “Skipper” Lay, Jr. passed away on Nov. 22, 2022. His legal career included working for the Railroad Commission and in private practice, focusing on Oil & Gas and Environmental Law.
David Peavler is joining Jones Day as a partner in its Securities Litigation & SEC Enforcement practice. Peavler was the former Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Fort Worth office.
Kurt Schwarz passed away on Sept. 22, 2022. Before starting his own practice, Schwarz served as a law clerk to the Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, and was a partner at Jackson, Walker LLP.
Stefani Shanberg has been added to Perkins Coie’s national patent litigation practice as a partner. Shanberg specializes in representing technology companies in IP cases.
Leland Smith passed away on Nov. 22, 2022. After graduating from Texas Law, he began his career at the Texas Comptroller’s Office. Smith eventually moved on to Clark, Thomas and Winters, working there until his retirement.
Alia Moses made history when she became the first woman to assume the role of chief judge in the Western District of Texas. As chief, Moses oversees budgetary and administrative matters for the 68-county district, which covers 93,000 square miles from the Texas-Mexico border.
Guy Edward Matthews passed away Nov. 23, 2022. Matthews was a double Longhorn who came to the Forty Acres on a football scholarship. After starting his career at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Matthews worked at Pravel, Wilson and Matthews before starting his own firm that focused on the litigation of intellectual property matters in 1972.
William N. Hamilton passed away on Nov. 18, 2022 at the age of 100. A double Longhorn and a veteran of the U.S. Army Air Forces, Hamilton went on to found Vial, Hamilton, Koch & Knox, one of Dallas’ largest law firms.
John C. Boston passed away on Nov. 7, 2022. Boston served in the U.S. Marines and also was an airline pilot prior to attending Texas Law. In his legal career, he worked as an enforcement attorney for the Texas Real Estate Commission, in private general practice, and as executive director of the continuing legal education program at the State Bar of Texas.
Stephen Yeh has been promoted to counsel at Mayer Brown, in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Yeh works in the Banking & Finance Global Leveraged Finance and Global Projects groups, specializing on clean and renewable energy litigation.
Rachel Bergstrom Morgan has been named executive vice president and general counsel of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. She will be responsible for the long-term legal strategy and day-to-day management of Nexstar’s legal affairs, as well as those of its affiliated companies.
Gardner Pate has been named as Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s chief of staff. Pate previously was the deputy chief of staff before becoming Governor Abbott’s re-election campaign chairman.
Ha-Vi Nguyen was elected to serve on the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers (DAYL) Board of Directors. Nguyen is a senior associate at Frost Brown Todd and is also the co-chair of the Lawyers Promoting Diversity Committee of DAYL.
Cristina De La Cruz has joined Wright Close & Barger as a new associate. Cruz previously served as a law clerk for the Travis County probate court and as an intern for the Travis County Attorney’s Office.
Ron Erlichman has joined Linklaters LLP as a partner in the energy and infrastructure team. Erlichman specializes in advising lenders, sponsors, private investment funds and developers on the development and financing of energy and infrastructure projects. He is a double Longhorn, having also earned his bachelor’s degree from UT.
Ronnie Dabbasi has joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the firm’s transactional and regulatory team. Dabbasi previously served as counsel with Eversheds for nearly five years. He is a double Longhorn, having also earned his bachelor’s degree from UT.
Jeremy Hawpe has been appointed as office managing shareholder at Littler. Hawpe advises and represents employers in the infrastructure, healthcare, insurance, staffing and transportation industries in a range of employment law matters.
Matt Allen has joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson as an assistant United States attorney in the Criminal Division.
David Walter Nelson passed away on Nov. 8, 2022. Nelson was a double Longhorn having earned his bachelor’s degree from UT and playing on the varsity tennis team. He practiced law at McGinnis Lochridge & Kilgore before joining and becoming the managing partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld in Austin, where he remained for 24 years.
Philip “Flip” Whitworth passed away on Nov. 10, 2022. Whitworth was a double Longhorn, having received both undergraduate and law degrees with honors from UT. Flip was a member of Scott, Douglas & McConnico for 25 years, and was awarded the prestigious Ernest E. Smith Lifetime Achievement Award by the Texas Journal of Oil, Gas and Energy Law for his service in oil and gas regulatory law.
Travis Dale Jones passed away on Nov. 6, 2022. While at Texas Law, Jones was a legislative assistant, then served as staff assistant for a U.S. Congressman. He went on to open his own practice, Travis D. Shelton and Associates, which became Shelton and Jones.
Marissa Marquez was promoted to human resources manager of system compliance and immigration at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Paul Philbin passed away on Oct. 28, 2022. Philbin was a double Longhorn, attending the University of Texas for his undergraduate degree on a basketball scholarship. After graduating with his law degree, Philbin served in the Army’s Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He later worked with the Texas Water Quality Board and the law firm Smith, Strock & Rowe before opening his own practice.
Brooke Lierman made history during midterm elections by being the first woman to be independently elected into office in the state of Maryland. Lierman assume her role as the state comptroller in January 2023. She has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2015.
Congressman Henry Cuellar has been re-elected for a 10th term representing the 28th congressional district in South Texas.
Kaitie Sorenson has joined the Houston office of Beck Redden LLP as an associate and will work in the areas of appellate and commercial litigation. While at Texas Law, Sorenson served as editor-in-chief of the Texas Law Review.
Insiya Aziz has joined litigation firm Reynolds Frizzell LLP as an associate. As a trial attorney, Aziz draws upon her diverse background to find unique resolutions to legal issues for her clients across the energy, real estate, and financial sectors.
Randy Johnston has been inducted into the Pampa High School Harvester Hall of Fame as an outstanding alumnus for contributing to one’s profession and community. Johnston is currently a shareholder at Johnston Tobey Baruch.
David Tobin has joined McDermott Will & Emery LLP as a new partner in the intellectual property practice group. Tobin was previously special counsel at Baker Botts, where he focused on patent post-grant trial and patent litigation.
Sara Ann Brown has joined the Dallas office of the nationwide law firm Thompson Coburn as a partner. Ms. Brown is an experienced litigation attorney who represents clients in high-stakes, complex lawsuits.
Thomas Verity has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins. Verity is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and Corporate Department, where he advises multinational corporations, private equity sponsors, and financial advisors on M&A and corporate finance transactions.
Emily Stegich has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins. Stegich is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and Corporate Department, where she advises public and private companies on complex M&A, corporate reorganizations, and general corporate governance.
Naim Culhaci has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins. Culhaci is a member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, where he specializes in advising investment banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, alternative trading platforms, transfer agents, and other securities-related platforms on securities market regulation matters.
Jonathan Sarna has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. Sarna is a member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, where he represents issuers and underwriters in capital markets transactions, with a focus on the life sciences and real estate investment trust (REIT) sectors.
Max Raskin has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. Raskin is a member of the Executive Compensation, Employment & Benefits Practice and Tax Department, where he specializes in private equity and other corporate transactions.
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.
Josiah Daniel III is the author of three recent publications: “The MoUS[e] that Roared: The Manual of Usage & Style After a Half Century,” “What Can the Past Teach Today’s Bankruptcy Law Students, Lawyers, Judges, and Restructuring Professionals?: An Annotated Bibliography of Histories of Debt and Bankruptcy, and “Congressman Hatton Sumners’s 1928 Amendment to the Electoral Count Act” published in the LSN Legal History eJournal.
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.
Steve Mafrige passed away on Oct. 24, 2022. Mafrige was a double Longhorn, earning both his bachelor’s degree in economics and his law degree from the University of Texas. After law school, Mafrige served as a captain in the U.S. Army for eight years. He then began practicing as a trial attorney in Houston. Later in his life, Mafrige focused on ranching and investments.
Claude A. Hayes passed away on Oct. 13, 2022. After college, Hayes was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force where he served for three years. After graduating from Texas Law, he worked for Shell Oil Company for 10 years, before becoming the owner of both the Georgetown Title Company and Longhorn Title Company.
Leonard Schwartz passed away on Oct. 13, 2022. Schwartz was a double Longhorn, having earned both his bachelor’s degree in business and his law degree from UT. As a lawyer, he specialized in the areas of school law, employment, civil rights, and litigation.
Robert “Bob” Craft passed away on Oct. 16, 2022. Following graduation from Texas Law, Craft served in the U.S. Marines as a JAG lawyer, then as an anti-trust attorney for the next 30 years until retirement.
Kat Li is a recipient of The Best Under 40 award, given to members of the AAPI legal community under the age of 40. Li is an IP litigation partner in the Austin office of Kirkland & Ellis LLP.
Atman Shukla was promoted to partner at Sidley Austin in January of 2022. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and investment transactions for clients in the energy and infrastructure space, including upstream, oilfield services, midstream and downstream, as well as aviation matters.
Chief Justice Josh Morriss III was honored as a Distinguished Alumni by the Texarkana Independent School District Board of Trustees and administration. Morriss is the chief justice on the Texas Sixth District Court of Appeals.
Brian Watson has joined Bethune, Dye and Enright PLLC as an associate attorney. Watson is currently the mayor of Beeville and has spent the last three years as a felony prosecutor for the 156th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Charles Miller passed away on Oct. 12, 2022. Upon graduating from Texas Law, Miller joined the U.S. Navy, serving three years as a JAG officer. He then started his legal career in Texarkana. Miller also served as a city councilman, two terms as mayor pro tem, then as a county judge in Bowie County.
Newton Schwartz, Sr., a double Longhorn who earned his undergraduate and law degrees from UT, passed away on Oct. 11, 2022. After serving in the U.S. Air Force as a judge advocate, Schwartz spent 65 years as a trial lawyer in Houston with a focus on environmental law, toxic tort and medical malpractice.
Rachel Ehlers has joined Baker McKenzie as a partner in the firm’s intellectual property and technology practice. Ehlers, who is certified as a Privacy Law Specialist and Certified Information Privacy Professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, has more than a decade of experience advising clients on data privacy and cybersecurity issues.
Jamie Rose has joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as a litigation team shareholder. Rose’s expertise is in representing individuals and companies facing business and commercial disputes.