Sally Gillette Hankins has been appointed city attorney of Falls Church, Va. A double Longhorn, Gillette Hankins previously served as town attorney for Purcellville, Virginia and has 25 years of combined experience in municipal law and urban planning.
Chris Hawkins has been selected as a 2023 Super Lawyer in the area of Bankruptcy: Business. Hawkins is currently a shareholder at Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel and works in the Insolvency and Criminal Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation practice groups.
Maurice W. Dobson has been appointed General Counsel and Deputy Commissioner for Legal Affairs of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Dobson has served as Deputy General Counsel since 2005 with increasing responsibilities and mostly recently oversaw the Operations and Legislation Division.
David Pendarvis, who has been Chief Administrative Officer and Global General Counsel for ResMed Inc., has announced his retirement. Pendarvis has held various positions throughout his two decades with the company.
Marc R. Stanley is the U.S. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Argentine Republic. Prior to his service as a diplomat, Stanley was a trial lawyer for 40 years, focusing on national class actions and complex litigation.
Paul H. Brunette passed away on March 29, 2023. A U.S. Navy veteran, he enjoyed a lengthy legal career that spanned more than 50 years. Brunette was employed by the Wichita County Attorney as an assistant prosecutor before transitioning into private practice.
Michael McConnell passed away on March 25, 2023. A U.S. Air Force veteran, McConnell enjoyed a long career practicing bankruptcy law and was a partner in several law firms, finishing his career as Chairman of Kelly Hart & Hallman’s Reorganization and Bankruptcy practice. He also served three years as a U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Northern District of Texas.
William F. Young passed away on March 20, 2023. A double Longhorn, Young was an accomplished academic, serving as a professor at Columbia Law and a visiting professor at Harvard, Duke, Stanford, SMU, Wake Forest, the University of Georgia, and his alma mater.
Versel (Wall) Rush was awarded the 2023 Rutland Excellence in Advocacy Award by the Texas State Bar Child Protection Law Section “in recognition of her outstanding legal advocacy and service on behalf of children and families.” This is the highest award given by the section to an attorney. Rush is a regional attorney with the Child Protective Services based out of Montague County.
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.
David H. Burrow passed away on March 10, 2023. Burrow was an accomplished trial lawyer for cases ranging from personal injury, products liability, and cases involving petroleum plants. Early in his career, he served as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate General (JAG).
Edwin Flores has been reappointed to the Texas School Safety Center Board. Flores is the managing partner at Chalker Flores, LLP and is a member of the Dallas Independent School District Board of Trustees.
Jake Bleveans has been selected for a Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Who’s Who. In a career that spanned three decades within the public and private sectors, Bleveans’ positions included counsel at Arthur Anderson, partner at Mayer Brown, senior vice president and deputy general counsel of Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust, and trial and appellate attorney for the Civil Rights Division of the United States Department of Justice. He also served in the JAG Corps of the U.S. Navy.
Terrence Ponsford passed away on Feb. 3, 2023. After graduating from Texas Law, Ponsford joined the U.S. Marine Corps as a lawyer during the Vietnam War, then later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to practice business law.
Mary Kate Raffetto has been recognized as a 2023 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. Raffetto was an educator prior to beginning her legal career, where she specializes in appellate matters and commercial litigation.
David J. Beck, founder of Beck Redden, was presented with the E. Ernest Goldstein Award from the Texas International Law Journal (TILJ). This marks just the second time in the publication’s history the award has been given to a TILJ alumnus who has made a lasting impact on the journal or as a member of the Texas or international legal community.
Parth Gejji has been recognized as a 2023 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. Gejji specializes in appellate matters at Beck Redden, focusing on civil appeals and complex civil ligation.
Nicholas Bruno has been recognized as a 2023 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. Bruno regularly practices in all levels of the Texas appellate system, representing clients in a wide range of litigation.
Jacqueline Furlow has been recognized as a 2023 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. Furlow is a partner at Beck Redden, specializing in commercial litigation, employment litigation, energy litigation and professional liability.
Garrett Brawley has been recognized as a 2023 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers. Brawley specializes in commercial litigation at Beck Redden, and previously clerked for Hon. Alfred H. Bennett of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Michael B. Dear has formed Dear & Johnston Law Office, PLLC, with Brenda Johnston. Dear specializes in estate planning and real estate law.
Janiece Longoria has been reappointed to the University of Texas System Board of Regents. Longoria previously served a six-year term on the board, which is the governing body for the UT System. She is a founding member of the Center for Women in Law.
Max Africk has been named General Counsel at Legacy Housing Corporation. Africk most recently served as an attorney at King & Spalding LLP, where he focused on complex commercial litigation.
Glen Rosenbaum was honored with the 31st Annual Leon Jaworski Award, as presented by the Houston Bar Association, in recognition of qualities of civic-mindedness, professionalism, social and cultural concern, demonstrated over many years. Rosenberg is a senior partner at Vinson & Elkins.
Nancy Wilmeth has passed away. After spending two years in the Peace Corps, Wilmeth attending Texas Law, then worked in a legal position in East Texas. She later returned to UT to earn her master’s degree in social work before working as an elementary school counselor for many years.
Ben Lane has been appointed to the Bipartisan Elections Task Force in Arizona, where he will make recommendations to strengthen state election laws, policies and procedures. Lane currently serves as Scottsdale city clerk, a role he has held since 2021.
John Anderson Gilliam passed away on March 4, 2023. Gilliam was head of the trial section at Jenkens & Gilchrist. While at Texas Law, he was on the Board of Editors of the Texas Law Review, and a member of both the Order of the Coif and Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity.
Charles Renfro Slone passed away on March 13, 2023. Slone practiced law in Richmond, Texas, until his retirement in 2017, with an emphasis on real estate, wills, trusts, and probate.
Heather J. Kliebenstein has been named managing director of national the technology and innovation law firm Merchant & Gould’s seven offices. Kliebenstein comes from a technical background with experience as an IP and technology litigator.
David Robert Sorrell passed away on Feb. 19, 2023. Sorrell started his legal career as a trial lawyer before co-founding the firm Sorrell & Moak, where he remained until 1994. He went on to serve as an assistant district attorney for three different counties, with a stint as the patient’s attorney at Rusk State Hospital.
Richard G. Shook passed away on Feb. 11, 2023. Shook was an attorney for Prudential Insurance Company of America until he retired after 30 years of service.
William Rayford Price passed away on Feb. 21, 2023. He served as Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives, before moving on to specialize in municipal law and found Rayford Price & Associates.
Timothy Lynn Brown passed away on Dec. 30, 2022. Brown served as head of the Environmental Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office before entering private practice in 1982, where he remained active in the practice of water law until 2019.
John B. Selman passed away on Feb. 18, 2023. Selman practiced law for 32 years with Sneed, Vine, Wilkerson, Selman and Perry and was actively involved in counseling for the following 15 years.
Aron Potash ’07 has been elected as partner at Latham & Watkins LLP. Potash focuses on environmental law with an emphasis on air quality and climate change issues.
Jim Hill has been recognized by San Diego Magazine as a 2023 Top Lawyer in San Diego in the field of bankruptcy. A founding member of Sullivan Hill, he is chair of the firm’s Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy practice group and a member of its Executive Committee.
Scherry Ann Perkins Braziel passed away on Feb. 20, 2023. At the time Braziel was enrolled at Texas Law, she was one of just four women at the school. She went on to become the first female attorney in Titus County after founding Perkins & Perkins Law Firm with her father.
Scott A. Marks has joined Duane Morris LLP as a partner in the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group in its Austin office.
Ken Wall has joined the Houston trial law firm Alavi Anaipakos as of counsel, focusing his practice on complex business disputes. He also serves as a constitutional law instructor at the University of Houston Law Center.
Robert Hilton has been added as a partner at Barnes & Thornburg’s Dallas office and Intellectual Property Department. He will focus his practice on building and managing large and high-stakes patent portfolios for business from small startups to Fortune 500 companies.
Jim Sales passed away on Feb. 11, 2023. A double Longhorn and a Marine veteran, Sales served as of counsel at Norton Rose Fulbright for 22 years.
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.
On Feb. 15, 2023, the U.S. Senate confirmed the nomination of Adrienne C. Nelson, an associate justice on the Oregon Supreme Court, to serve as a federal district court judge. Nelson is the first Black woman jurist in Oregon to become a federal judge.
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.
John C. Meinrath passed away in February of 2023. Meinrath spent his career as an attorney, practicing in Austin and Dallas.
Sam Roberts has joined McAfee & Taft as a transactional attorney. Roberts, who specializes in corporate law, will be joining the firm’s Business Transactions and Finance and Securities practice groups.
Anthony McGettrick passed away on Feb. 8, 2023. McGettrick worked for the City of Laredo – as assistant city attorney then city attorney – before his retirement in 2009.
John Gillett Sheppard, Sr. passed away on Feb. 4, 2023. Sheppard established his own firm Adams and Sheppard, where he practiced for more than 50 years.
Jim Ormiston has been named chair of the Controversies Department at Gray Reed & McGraw LLP. Ormiston has been with Gray Reed for 35 years and has been included in the “Best Lawyers in America” publication since 2013.
Michael B. Overstreet has been promoted to shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka. A member of the firm’s Tax Planning & Business Transactions Group, he has significant experience forming, structuring, negotiating and implementing business acquisitions and dispositions, corporate reorganizations, mergers, conversions, and recapitalizations.