Class Notes

Bradley Cole has been added as a partner to Thompson Coe’s Insurance Coverage section. Cole has more than 30 years of experience assisting clients in a wide range of disputes.

Michael James Bloch passed away on Dec. 17, 2022. Bloch worked as the appellate attorney for the Ector County DA’s office for more than 10 years.

Bradley Bingham passed away on Oct. 20, 2022. Bingham was a double Longhorn, having also earned his bachelor’s degree  from UT. Bingham worked as a civil defense attorney in Houston before, e and his wife founded their own law firm, Bingham, Mann & House, in 2006.

Rudy Metayer was awarded the Outstanding Community Service Award at the 57th Annual Dewitty/Overton Freedom Fund Banquet by the Austin branch of the NAACP. Metayer is a City Council member of the City of Pflugerville, president of the Texas Black Caucus Foundation, and an attorney at Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody.

Talmage Boston has been selected to receive the 2023 Luther “Luke” H. Soules III Award for Excellence in Litigation, presented by the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas. The honor is given to an attorney who embodies excellence in the practice of the law and exemplary service to the State Bar. Boston is a partner at Shackelford Bowen McKinley & Norton LLP.

Matt Stewart has been promoted to partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP. Stewart is a member of the firm’s Investment Management and Private Equity practice groups. He focuses on structuring, forming, and advising private equity, energy, real estate, and other private investment funds and their management companies.

Chase Proctor has been promoted to partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP. A member of the firm’s Mergers &Acquisitions practice group, Proctor has experience in acquisitions, divestitures, securities transactions, and other complex business transactions.

Garrett Martin has been promoted to partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP. Martin specializes in the firm’s Energy, Power and Natural Resources practice, representing clients in all facets of the oil and gas industry.

William Logan McCallie has joined the Nashville office of Bass, Berry & Sims. McCallie specializes in corporate and securities issues including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, and securities regulations matters and filings.

Kermit W. Fox, Jr. passed away on Dec. 5, 2022. An Austin native, Fox had a private practice in the San Antonio area and served in the legal field for 30 years.

Steven Douglass Arnold passed away on Dec. 8, 2022. Arnold worked with the Hinkle Law Firm for more than 30 years, where he became the head attorney practicing utility law. He then served as a senior judge in the State Office of Administrative Appeals before retiring in 2019.

Darryll Grubbs passed away on Dec.4, 2022. A double Longhorn who also earned his master’s degree at UT, Grubbs spent most of his career working for Texas Attorney General’s Office in the Child Support Enforcement Division.

Robert “Bob” Malinak passed away on Nov. 29, 2022.  Malinak spent 37 years as a trial lawyer with the Baker Botts law firm, where he was a partner, then a senior partner. After retiring from active practice  in 1999, he worked as an arbitrator and consultant.

Judge Solomon “Sol” Casseb, III passed away on Dec. 7, 2022. Casseb served as a state district judge from 2008-18 after practicing law for 30 years at Casseb & Pearl.

Lt. Col. Cecil Roy Morrow, Jr. passed away on Nov. 23, 2022. Morrow had a distinguished military career of 21 years before opening his own law firm specializing in international law.

Hon. Herb Ritchie passed away on Dec. 1, 2022. Ritchie was managing partner of his private practice, Ritchie and Glass, before being elected as judge of the 337th District Criminal Court in 2008, then becoming Harris County’s criminal administrative judge in 2018.

Jeff Matthews has been elected as the new chairman and CEO of Winstead PC. Matthews, who was previously the chair of the Business & Transactions Department, specializes in real estate litigation.

Jeavon (Ehler) Lang was honored as the 2022 Attorney of the Year, Appellate Division, in the Montana Office of the State Public Defender. While at Texas Law, she was president of the Environmental Law Society.

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.