Leonard Wayne Scott passed away on Sept. 14, 2022. Wayne served as a briefing attorney for the Criminal Court of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court before becoming a law professor at St. Mary’s Law School.
Michael Byrd has joined Porter Hedges LLP’s Houston office as a partner in energy transactions. Byrd formerly practiced at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP before briefly running a solo practice.
Judge James A. Parker passed away on Sept. 16, 2022. Parker worked for an Albuquerque law firm for 25 years before being nominated to serve as a U.S. District Court judge in 1987. He filled that role for more than three decades, one of the longest tenures of any federal judge in New Mexico.
Reid Phillips was recognized with North Carolina’s highest honor, induction into the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, presented by Governor Roy Cooper. Phillips, one of the state’s top litigators, has served as Managing Partner at Brooks Pierce since 2015, and has been with the firm for 45 years.
Melynda Price has been named the inaugural J. David Rosenburg Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenburg College of Law. Price has served on the law school faculty there since 2006 and served as director of the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for Humanities.
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.
Travis Maples is the newest associate attorney at Soltero Sapire Murrell PLLC in Austin. During his time at Texas Law, Maples served as associate editor of the Texas Law Review.
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.
Susan Chase has joined the University of Michigan School of Law as a visiting clinical assistant professor in the Community Enterprise Clinic. In addition to teaching, she will work with student-led teams to assist small businesses and nonprofit organizations in southeastern Michigan.
Susan Byrd Burr passed away on May 23, 2022. Burr graduated Texas Law with Order of the Coif, after serving as Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review. She worked as both of counsel and senior counsel for two California law firms until retiring in 2011.
Grant Schmidt has become the first managing partner of the Dallas office of Hilgers Graben PLLC. Previously he was a partner in the Dallas office of Winston & Strawn.
Garrett Brawley was featured in a Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) Director Spotlight. Brawley currently serves on the TYLA Board of Directors and specializes in commercial litigation at Beck Redden.
Charles Harold Lloyd passed away on July 17, 2022. After graduating Texas Law, Lloyd opened Harold Lloyd, Inc., where he served as a Texas trial lawyer in family and personal injury. He was later admitted to the Texas Fifth Circuit court of Appeals as well as the Bar of the Supreme Court of the United States.
Brad Barron has been appointed to the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ San Antonio Branch Board of Directors. Barron is the president and CEO of the San Antonio-based NuStar Energy.
Judge Gregg Costa will join Gibson Dunn & Crutcher LLP in Houston as co-chair of its global trial practice group. Costa previously spent eight years as a judge in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Robert Holland has been elected as a new member of the DBM Global Inc. Board of Directors. Holland previously served on other private and public company boards, including representing the United States on World Bank Executive Board of Directors.
David L. Mossman will lead Crowe & Dunlevy’s new Houston office, with two colleagues. The new office, where Mossman is a director, specializes in a variety of intellectual property issues. Previously he was a shareholder at Mossman Kumar & Tyler, P.C.
Scott K. Field has been appointed to the 480th Judicial District Court in Williamson County. Field is a partner at Butler Snow, LLP. and previously served as a Justice of the Third Court of Appeals.
Chante Brantley has been recognized as a “Superb Woman” by Texas Metro News. Brantley is currently a professor at SMU Dedman School of Law and previously was a managing attorney and mediator at Barnes Prox Law, PLLC.
Nathan Adams has been nominated to the First District Court of Appeals Judicial Nominating Commission by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Adams is currently a partner at Holland & Knight LLP.
Raymond Clyde “R.C.” Thompson passed away on June 8, 2022. Thompson was formerly a corporate attorney at Temple-Inland Forest Products Corp.
Ima E. Nsien has been named as a principal in Squire Patton Boggs’ healthcare litigation practice group in the Los Angeles office. Nsien previously provided legal aid to some of the largest providers within the sector, including health insurers, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies.
Jim Hill, a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel, has been selected for inclusion in the 29th Edition of Best Lawyers in America®. He has been named to the Best Lawyers list in the fields of Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law as well as Commercial Litigation.
Christopher Hawkins, a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel, has been selected for inclusion in the 29th Edition of Best Lawyers in America®. He received special recognition as Best Lawyers® 2023 Bankruptcy and Creditor Debtor Rights/Insolvency and Reorganization Law “Lawyer of the Year” in San Diego.
Susan Richardson passed away recently. An expert in oil and gas litigation, Richardson worked many years with the Gulf Oil Corporation, before joining the firm Cotton, Bledsoe, Tighe and Dawson, P.C. She was named a Texas Super Lawyer and one of the top 15 Oil and Gas Female Lawyers in Texas.
Michael Dierberg has been named the Board Chairman of the Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation (TTEF) after eight years of board service. Dierberg serves as Chairman of the parent company of First Bank.
John Younger passed away on August 18, 2022. Described as a “champion of the underdog,” Younger served in the U.S. Marine Corps, then became a trial attorney in San Antonio.
Andrew Newman has joined the Dallas office of Polsinelli PLC’s commercial litigation practice as a shareholder, where he will work in the areas of business litigation, real estate litigation, and class action defense. While at Texas Law, he served as an associate editor of the Texas Law Review.
David Henderson has been appointed to the ACLU Texas Board of Directors. Henderson is a civil rights attorney at Ellwanger Henderson LLLP and managing partner of the firm’s Dallas office.
Evan McCurdy has joined the Dallas office of Winstead PC’s real estate development and investments practice group as a shareholder.
Michael McBride has been named in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America based on his expertise in the areas of intellectual property lawsuits and patent disputes. McBride is currently a partner at Alavi & Anaipakos PLLC in Houston.
Scott Clark has been included in the 2023 edition of The Best Lawyers in America for his expertise in intellectual property law. Clark is currently a partner at Alavi Anaipakos PLLC in Houston.
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.
Brandy R. Manning has started her commercial law practice as a partner at Dykema, specializing in oil and gas litigation.
Robert P. “Bobby” Perel passed away on August 14, 2022. A double Longhorn, Perel was an avid worldwide traveler. He practiced law in West Texas for more than 50 years, specializing in criminal justice.
Paul Burka passed away on August 14, 2022, at the age of 80. After graduating from Texas Law, Burka worked as a political writer and editor for Texas Monthly from the magazine’s beginning in 1974 until 2015.
Christopher V. Popov of Vinson & Elkins took office as the 2022-2023 president of the Houston Bar Association in May. Popov serves as co-head of the Complex Commercial Litigation practice and as the Litigation talent lead at Vinson & Elkins, where he has spent his entire legal career.
Steven Jumes has been appointed to the 485th Judicial District Court in Tarrant County by Governor Abbott. Jumes is currently an attorney at his own firm, and was formerly an assistant United States attorney for the Northern District of Texas.
Ben Browder joins national litigation firm Duncan Stubbs where he will focus on legal operations and financing, as well as litigation technologies and partnerships that support jury trials. A former Hunton Andrews Kurth partner, Browder has experience advising a broad spectrum of domestic and global private equity firms on the acquisition, disposition and financing of assets in excess of $10 billion.
LaTisha Tarrant has been promoted to chief human resources officer at PRA Group. Tarrant previously served as senior vice president, deputy general counsel and corporate secretary for the global financial services company.
Edward Knight has been appointed as interim chairman of U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-India Business Council’s Global Board of Directors. Knight is currently the executive vice chairman of NASDAQ and serves as a trustee of the University of Texas Law School Foundation.
Sylvan Stephen “Steve” Lang passed away on August 3, 2022. Lang practiced trial law, working at the firm of Lang, Cross, Ladon, Oppenheimer, and Rosenberg. He served in the U.S. military reserves, earning the distinction of captain. He was a charter member of the Texas Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers and a member of the Texas State Bar and American Bar Association.
James Hill has been selected to receive the Business Law Section’s 2022 Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is given each year to an attorney who over an extended period has made significant contributions to the Business Law Section or to business law generally in the State of California and who has achieved high status in the legal community. Hill is a founding member of Sullivan Hill, a member of its Executive Committee, and chair of the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy practice group.
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.
Joe Moss passed away on July 4, 2022. A double Longhorn and a Navy veteran, Moss received a business degree and a law degree from UT before serving in the Korean War. Moss had an accomplished legal and corporate career, working in a variety of firms as an oil and gas expert, and presenting to the US Supreme Court several times.
Paul Wiley passed away on May 20, 2022. A double Longhorn, Wiley received his bachelor’s degree in Business Administration before attending Texas Law. Wiley later opened his own private practice where he specialized in real estate and family law.
Samoneh “Sammy” Schickel has joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner specializing in patent litigation. Schickel previously served as a senior associate at Baker Botts LLP.
Aashish Kapadia has joined McDermott Will & Emery as a partner specializing in intellectual property litigation, post-grant trials and patent prosecution. Kapadia previously served as a senior associate at Baker Botts LLP.
Alex Toney has joined Bain & Company as counsel for employment law, managing employment litigation and counseling Bain on emerging issues in employment law. Toney was previously an associate at McGuireWoods LLP, where he represented employers and business owners on employment law matters.
Steve Peterson has co-founded a new Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP office in Houston. Peterson is a member of the firm’s Corporate and Securities practice group. He previously worked at Locke Lord LLP .