Class Notes

Michael Roy Pickering passed away on Nov. 2, 2025. A double Longhorn, he practiced law for decades in Houston before retiring in Horseshoe Bay.

Charles Fowler has been named to Law360’s Rising Stars of 2026, a list of more than 160 attorneys under 40 based on their legal accomplishments. He currently serves as the head of Texas trial firm McKool Smith’s appellate practice in Austin.

The Honorable Michael Landrum has been appointed Judge of the 514th Judicial District Court in Harris County. He is a practicing attorney and arbitrator, and former judge of the 113th District Court and 164th District Court in Harris County.

Shane Kimzey has joined BNSF Railway as vice president and general counsel. He previously served as deputy general counsel and chief ethics and compliance officer at CenterPoint Energy.

Nicholas Lowrey has been recognized in Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch^® in America since 2026. He currently works as a senior associate attorney in the Washington, D.C., office of Klasko Immigration Law Partners.

Ian Roberts has joined the Dallas office of Hunton Andrews Kurth as a restructuring and bankruptcy partner. Previously, he served as partner at A&O Shearman’s restructuring practice, representing major U.S. financial institutions and manufacturing companies.

Gustavo Torres will receive the Attorney of the Year Award at the Hispanic National Bar Association’s (HNBA) 2026 National Awards. He is senior vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary of Fervo Energy. Torres also serves as president-elect of HISBA, an HNBA affiliate.

J. Stewart Bass passed away on August 12, 2026. Bass served as a  municipal judge for several North Texas cities, presiding judge in Blue Mound and North Richland Hills, and maintained a private legal practice in Fort Worth for 40 years.

Harold Metts passed away on July 22, 2026. A U.S. Navy veteran who served in the Korean war, Metts started his career as a briefing attorney for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. He practiced law for five years in Liberty, Texas, then joined Baker Botts in Houston where he specialized in estate and tax law for 34 years, retiring as a senior partner.

Martin Noven has been appointed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds to oversee the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System. Previously Noven served as the executive director of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System.

Lynda Tealer will join the University of Texas Athletic Department as deputy athletics director for strategic initiatives and administration. Tealer is a former NCAA senior vice president of championships and a longtime collegiate athletics administrator.

Timothy “Tim” Smith passed away on July 27, 2026. A double Longhorn and devoted fan, Smith practiced real estate law and was known for his longtime work with LH Capital, where known for his insightful counsel and exceptional work ethic.

Joe Bailey Jr. passed away on July 31, 2026. He was an award-winning documentary filmmaker and UT instructor who met his wife, fellow Texas Law alum Alice Dolson, while attending law school.

Ronald B. King was selected to receive the 2026 American Inns of Court Bankruptcy Distinguished Service Award, recognizing his career, professionalism, mentoring, and service. King has been a U.S. bankruptcy judge for the Western District of Texas since 1988 and served as chief U.S. bankruptcy judge from 2006 to 2021. Although he officially retired in 2021, he still helps his Western District colleagues with their caseloads by serving as a recall judge.

Douglas Leroy Corbett passed away on July 26, 2026. After starting his career with the Federal Power Commission in Washington, D.C., he moved to Houston, where he pursued a legal career in natural gas pipelines then in power plant development in an independent practice. Corbett was active in civic and community service in Houston.

Joe Ramirez passed away on July 24, 2026. An attorney and retired U.S. Air Force colonel, Ramirez held senior legal leadership roles at Southwestern Bell, Western Electric, and AT&T, eventually becoming vice president and chief labor counsel. A double Longhorn, he and his wife supported scholarships for students in the Rio Grande Valley.

Sheree Lynn Rabe passed away on July 24, 2026. She practiced law in Texas for 33 years.

David Vollmer has joined Snell & Wilmer’s Reno-Tahoe office as an associate in the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. His practice focuses on real estate transactions, including development, construction, leasing and financing matters.

Brock Jones passed away on July 25, 2026. He served as judge of Texas’ 112th Judicial District for 24 years and later worked as a visiting senior judge and mediator across West Texas.

Sam Waldon will be leaving his position as principal deputy director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement on July 31, closing out more than 14 years of service at the agency. Waldon’s departure caps a career that saw him twice step into the top enforcement job on an acting basis, in both 2025 and 2026.

Patricia Rigney of the Rigney Law Firm has been elected to membership in the Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation. Fellows are selected for their outstanding professional achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout the state of Texas.

David Allan Eldridge passed away on July 15, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran, Eldridge practiced law for over 50 years, specializing in wills, trusts, and probate. A third-generation lawyer, he worked at two other firms before forming Holman, Robertson, and Eldridge.

Lourdes ‘Lulu’ Ortiz has been named to 2026 “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation” legal guide. Ortiz is an associate attorney at Cleveland Kristin Austin and has served as an adjunct professor at Texas Law.

Abbey Garber has been elected chair of the Taxation Section of the State Bar of Texas for 2026-27. Garber is a partner at Holland & Knight in Dallas where he focuses his practice on tax litigation and providing advice on applying tax laws to individuals, estates, corporations and partnerships.

William Hagans has been elected a member of the prestigious American Board of Trial Advocates. ABOTA is a national, invitation-only organization of seasoned trial lawyers and judges committed to protecting the right to a civil jury trial and upholding the highest standards of civility, integrity, and professionalism. He is an attorney at the Hagans law firm in Houston.

Jared Vitemb has joined Ruiz Foods as senior vice president and general counsel. He will lead the company’s legal function and advise its CEO, board of directors, and executive leadership team. Vitemb previously was VP, general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at Farmer Brothers Co.

Gilbert “Buddy” Low passed away on July 14, 2026. A nationally recognized trial lawyer, he practiced with Orgain Bell & Tucker for more then 50 years and received numerous honors throughout his career. Low served for many years on both the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee and the Supreme Court Professional Ethics Committee.

Mark Eisenbraun has joined Jones Walker as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Practice Group in Houston, where he focuses on corporate, securities and transactional matters. Before joining Jones Walker, Eisenbraun co-founded Walker Eisenbraun.

Douglas Duane Behrendt passed away on July 10, 2026. A U.S. Army veteran, Behrendt started his career as an assistant criminal district attorney in Brazoria County, Texas. He went on to practice law in Austin, San Marcos and Lockhart from 1979 until he retired in 2013.

Aaron Reitz has been sworn in as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, where he serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the district. Previously he was in  private practice with Hance Scarborough after serving as head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy.

Lorena Trujillo has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at Everstory Partners, where she leads the company’s legal, compliance, risk management, and corporate governance functions. Everstory Partners is one of the nation’s largest providers of cemetery, funeral, and cremation services. Trujillo has been with the company since 2019.

William Willard “Bill” Gibson passed away on June 1, 2026. After starting his career at an Amarillo law firm, Gibson returned to Texas Law and was on the faculty for 33 years, also serving as associate dean for administration and academic affairs. In the early 1970s, he spent two years as an attorney advisor to the Federal Power Commission in Washington, D.C.

Ajay Thomas has been selected to serve as the next chair-elect of Southwestern University Board of Trustees. He currently is the senior managing director and national head of public finance at FHN Financial.

A portrait of Chief U.S. District Judge Alia Moses was ceremoniously unveiled June 26 at the U.S. courthouse in San Antonio, the headquarters of the federal judiciary’s Western District of Texas. Moses was the first woman  appointed to a district bench in the Western District of Texas in 2002, then became the district’s first female chief judge in 2022.

William “Bill” Archer passed away on July 4, 2026. Archer served Texas in Congress for 30 years, chaired the influential House Ways and Means Committee, helped negotiate the 1997 balanced federal budget, and later founded the Archer Center in Washington D.C.

Amy Davis has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union. Davis has 16 years of legal experience including a decade at RBFCU, where she has helped the credit union navigate increasingly complex issues and transactions including risk mitigation, regulatory compliance, mergers, among others.

William C. Bednar Jr. passed away on June 6, 2026. A U.S. Marine veteran who served in Vietnam, Bednar had a distinguished career in education law—first as general counsel of the Texas Education Agency and then in private practive— and also served as president of the National Organization on Legal Problems of Education.

William E. Routt III has joined national law firm, Bass, Berry & Sims, as a senior litigation attorney in the firm’s newly launched Chicago office. Routt has 20 years of litigation experience focusing on contract disputes and business torts across a wide variety of industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, insurance, and entertainment.

Marlen Whitley has been named director of operations and partner-in-charge of Townsend & Lockett’s newly opened Houston office. Whitley brings more than 20 years of experience practicing law in the Houston market, advising clients across the energy, private equity, infrastructure and business sectors.

Cynthia Dunn Raibourn has joined Carrington, Coleman, Sloman and Blumenthal in Dallas as a partner in the firm’s Family Law section. She is board certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and has over three decades of experience as a family law specialist.

Max Sherman’s third book and first novel, “A Testament to Wind and Stone,” has been published. Sherman is professor emeritus and former dean of the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin, served as president of West Texas State University, and was a Texas state senator.

Mark Taylor, a director in the Austin office of Kane Russell Coleman Logan, has been recognized in the Chambers USA 2026 Guide: Texas for bankruptcy/restructuring.

Stephanie E. Kaiser, a director in the Dallas office of Kane Russell Coleman Logan, has been recognized in the Chambers USA 2026 Guide: Texas in the area of general commercial litigation.

Daniel Ortman passed away on May 5, 2026. Ortman held many significant legal and engineering-related roles where he worked for companies such as Saudi Aramco, Samsung, and Hyundai. At the end of his career he served as an adjunct professor at Texas Law.

Robert Griffin has been promoted to partner in the Investment Management Group at Skadden’s office in Abu Dahbi. Griffin has a depth of experience in international fund structuring, fund management, regulatory compliance, and private placements.

Curtis Kantor passed away on June 12, 2026. He practiced law for 35 years, including more than 20 as a managing attorney for TeleCheck in Houston.

Steven Pfister passed away on June 7, 2026. Pfister worked for various companies throughout his career—mostly in the field of real estate development—including many years as a commercial broker with Real-Tec in Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Bill Nelson was promoted to partner in Latham & Watkins’ capital markets and public company representation practices in Houston. He represents corporate and institutional clients in complex capital markets transactions and corporate governance matters.

Lisa S. Blatt has been named to Forbes’ “America’s Top Women Lawyers“ list for appellate law. Blatt serves in Williams & Connolly’s supreme court and appellate practice in Washington, D.C.

Lisa Tsai has been named to Forbes’ “America’s Top Women Lawyers“ list for litigation. She is the managing partner and co-founder of Reid Collins & Tsai in Austin.