Class Notes

Stanley David Rosenberg died at the age of 89 on May 21, 2021. Rosenberg served in the Air Force as a JAG officer, providing legal services in the Air Force. He founded three successful law firms, was involved in the creation of many large businesses, and one of his biggest points of pride was his negotiation of the purchase of the New Orleans Saints by Tom Benson. Rosenberg was known for his great sense of humor, his magnetic personality, and charismatic storytelling.

John Kaercher has joined Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a partner in the Corporate Practice Group to help launch its Austin office. Kaercher counsels clients on complex transactions, including domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, SPACs, private equity and public and private securities offerings, with a particular focus on the technology, media, telecommunications and energy sectors.

Minor L. Helm, Jr., 83, passed away Tuesday, May 18, 2021. Helm was admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court; U.S. Court of Appeals as well as Northern, Eastern and Western districts of Texas, and was especially proud to achieve the highest possible peer review rating in legal ability and ethical standards for 40 years. He practiced law in Waco for 53 years, he was a friend to all and a very humble man.

Caitlin Rice has been promoted to the leadership position of Global Vice President, Customer Service. She was previously the Senior Director, Commercial Support for the evo^® Cold Chain Management Platform.

Carlos Martinez has been appointed to the newly established position of Senior Vice President for Institutional Strategic Planning, Compliance Risk Management, and Office Operations & Chief of Staff at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Martinez has nearly 20 years of experience in senior leadership positions in Texas higher education and most recently served as chief of staff at The University of Texas at Austin before joining UTSA in September 2020.

Karen C. Burgess, of Burgess Law in Austin, was elected dean of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers at the academy’s annual meeting. Burgess was inducted into IATL in 2015 and has served on various ITAL committees, the board of directors, and held the office of secretary-treasurer. She served as co-chair of the 2019 State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting. Texas Law honored Burgess as Mentor of the Year at its 2018 Alumni Awards Dinner.

Broadus Autry Spivey died at home Saturday, May 8, 2021 with his beloved Texas Hill Country view. Spivey graduated with a B.A. in Government at UT in 1960, then a J.D. from Texas Law in 1962. During his 57 years of practice he tried more than 500 cases to a jury and 146 appellate cases, and mentored around 200 law clerks. He believed in—and counseled law clerks & students to adopt—four principles: honesty, humility, humor, and humanity.

Kimberly Burley has been appointed by Bexar County’s 14 civil district judges as associate judge in Children’s Court. When she takes the oath of office, she will be the first woman and African American to hold that bench. She has worked for the Texas’s Bexar County District Attorney’s Office for 23 years, with a specific emphasis on child welfare advocacy for 21 of those years.

Nancy Jane Moore’s second novel, “For the Good of the Realm,” will be published June 1 by Seattle’s Aqueduct Press. Unlike her first book, the science fiction first contact novel, “The Weave” (also published by Aqueduct), there are no lawyers in this book, but there are swordswomen and witches.

Byron Egan published the third edition of his treatise, “EGAN ON ENTITIES: Corporations, Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies in Texas.” The third edition of “EGAN ON ENTITIES” is available as a hardbound book or as an eBook through LexisNexis.

Reid Phillips, managing partner with Brooks Pierce, has been named to Business North Carolina’s inaugural “Power List” of the most influential business leaders in the state. He was included in a section specifically focused on leaders in the legal profession, with 43 attorneys selected out of the more than 28,000 licensed lawyers in North Carolina.

Gibbs Henderson has joined the Dallas-based firm Fears Nachawati Law Firm, adding significant expertise to the firm’s litigation, mass torts, mesothelioma and public client practice groups. Henderson joins a Fears Nachawati trial team actively involved in mass torts and multi-district litigation.

Michael Holmes has been elected as Vice Chair at Vinson & Elkins LLP. He will work alongside three partners, which will constitute a new Executive Committee of the firm. Holmes is currently co-head of the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice. His practice focuses on trial and litigation, and he has particular expertise in matters relating to mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance, securities, alternative entities, joint ventures and director and officer liability.

Keith Fullenweider was elected as the next Chair at Vinson & Elkins LLP. He will work alongside three partners, which will constitute a new Executive Committee of the firm. Fullenweider started with Vinson & Elkins in 1988 and is currently the co-head of the Corporate department. Previously, he led the firm’s Private Equity and Mergers and Acquisitions practice from 2008 to 2016.

Hilary Preston was elected as Vice Chair at Vinson & Elkins LLP.  She will work alongside three partners, which will constitute a new Executive Committee of the firm. Preston serves as Chair of the Intellectual Property & Technology Litigation practice. Her practice focuses on IP and commercial disputes, with particular emphasis on the intersection between sports, media, and technology, representing major sports leagues, including the NFL, the NBA, MLS, and the NHL. 

Jay Dewald, a Texas-based litigator and former federal prosecutor, has joined the global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright as a partner in the Regulations, Investigations, Securities and Compliance practice. Dewald joins the firm’s Dallas and San Antonio offices from Jackson Walker, where he led its Investigations and White Collar Defense practice. Dewald is a former Assistant US Attorney, serving in this role in the Northern District of Texas from 2007–2015.

Elizabeth Fitch has been promoted to shareholder at Hallett & Perrin, P.C. in Dallas. She joined Hallett & Perrin in 2016. A member of the firm’s litigation section, Fitch has experience at every level of dispute resolution, from the initiation of a lawsuit through appeal. While she represents both individuals and companies in a broad range of matters, her emphasis is on commercial and construction litigation, as well as employment law.

Wesley Watts is the founding partner of the new Austin office for midsize venture capital law firm Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP, with with a focus on private equity work. Watts has a history of working with technology companies in Austin through transactions and private equity matters. Previously he worked at Vinson & Elkins.

Luke Thomas helped open new Austin office for the venture capital law firm Gunderson Dettmer Stough Villeneuve Franklin & Hachigian LLP, with with a focus on private equity work. Thomas, a senior associate, has experience working on transactions and public offerings as an attorney and has previously worked as a financial adviser.  Previously he worked at Vinson & Elkins for about five years.

Frank Wayne Calhoun, age 88, died April 24, 2021 in Austin, TX. Calhoun served in the U.S. Navy during the Korean Conflict from 1951-53. He began his legal career in 1959 with the firm of Lee Byrd and Guy Shaw which quickly expanded to become Byrd, Shaw, Weeks & Calhoun. He served as State Representative for Abilene (1967-75) and served as delegate to Texas’s Constitutional Convention in 1974. Calhoun was recruited by the Houston law firm of Liddell, Sapp, Zivley, Hill & LaBoon to serve Austin clients and finally moved to Austin to make it his permanent home.

Robert “Bob” Erle Wehmeyer, Jr. passed away on April 19, 2021. Wehmeyer was a double Longhorn who practiced law in San Antonio for more than 30 years with the firms of Groce, Locke & Hebdon and Baucum Steed Barker. More recently, he spent 15 years at Jefferson Bank, where he served as Division President, Jefferson Bank Trust. Philanthropically, Bob had served as president of the board at Sunshine Cottage School for Deaf Children, president of the board of Friends of McNay, and on the board of Morningside Ministries.

Monty Clyde Barber of Dallas Texas, 89, passed Tuesday Nov. 17, 2020. He was a double Longhorn before serving in the U.S. Army from 1955 – 1957. His career included being partner at Biggers, Baker, Lloyd & Carver, Dallas, 1957-1967; vice president and general counsel at Liquid Paper Company, 1967-1968; executive vice president and general counsel at Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc., 1968-1989; and manager and trustee of the Mary Kay Foundation. He was a member of the American Bar Association, Texas Bar Association, Dallas Bar Association, Texas Exes Alumni Association and served as a member of the Texas Silver Spurs.

Brittany Scheier was named by the American Heart Association as a Real Woman, a group that will serve as year-long national volunteers for the Association. Scheier was was chosen as one of 22 survivors who are boldly sharing their stories as part of the Association’s Go Red for Women® movement. Scheier suffered a hemorrhagic stroke during her last semester of law school in 2018. Despite this, she managed to graduate law school, take the bar exam, and start a job six months after her stroke. Scheier works as a mergers and acquisitions attorney at the international law firm Kirkland & Ellis in Houston.

Stephen Best has been named the “Best of the Best” in White Collar Crime in both the 2021 USA and Global Expert Guides. Best is a Brown Rudnick Partner, Chair of the Firm’s White Collar Defense & Government Investigations Practice Group, and a former state and federal prosecutor.

Charles Stam is now a trial attorney at Zehl & Associates PC. He represents plaintiffs, mainly individuals who have been seriously injured or killed in oilfield, 18-wheeler, maritime, plant and refinery, and other catastrophic accidents.

Marshall Joseph Day passed away on April 14, 2021 at age 74. Day spent most of his career practicing law with his father, Joe Day, Jr., in Fort Worth. Marshall Day’s clients could always count on his empathy, compassion, and his vigorous representation. His family and friends remember his persistent sense of humor, and his obsession with University of Texas athletics, especially football.

Leona Malmstrom Franklin of Houston passed away peacefully on April 2, 2021 at age 96. Franklin started college at Southwest Texas State University and then transferred to The University of Texas at Austin. She landed a job as legal secretary in the firm of Patterson and Patterson and the firm encouraged her to attend The University of Texas School of Law. She was admitted to the bar in 1950 and was successfully practicing law when she met and married the love of her life, Thomas Jennings Franklin.

Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel is pleased to announce that Shareholder Chris Hawkins has been selected as a 2021 Super Lawyer. Hawkins has been selected to the Super Lawyers list in the area of Bankruptcy. He is a current member of the firm’s Executive Committee and practices in the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy, Business Transactions, and Commercial and Business Litigation practice groups.

Sullivan Hill Rez & Engel is pleased to announce that Shareholder Jim Hill has been selected as a 2021 Super Lawyer. Hill has been selected to the Super Lawyers list for the last fifteen years in the areas of Bankruptcy, Business Litigation, and Creditor Debtor Rights. A founding member of the firm, a member of the Executive Committee and chair of the Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy practice group, Hill practices primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and commercial law.

Brad Caldwell has been named one of the country’s top trial lawyers in the Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar series from the national legal publication Law360. Caldwell is the only attorney in Texas to earn two selections in the exclusive listing after previously being recognized in 2019. He is one of only 11 lawyers nationwide to be named in the 2021 Titans of the Plaintiffs Bar series.

Gillis Edward Reavis, age 62, passed away on Feb. 2, 2019. He was a successful trial attorney in Texas, eventually starting his own firm with law school friends. He chose to practice part-time when he was offered an adjunct position with the University of Texas School of Law to teach Texas Civil Procedure and Products Liability. In 1995 he joined the national law firm Morrison and Foerster, LLP.  He then co-founded two boutique environmental law firms and later joined Foster Pepper LLP. Reavis was most proud of his successful litigation protecting the Olympic National Park Wilderness Area as a pro-bono project.

Michella Gibbs joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon as a new associate. Gibbs participates in all aspects of litigation, with key areas of focus in product liability. She also has experience handling labor and employment disputes. She issues reports to clients assessing factual, legal and procedural aspects of cases, including liability analysis, litigation strategy and settlement evaluation for purposes of early dispute resolutions.

Douglas McNiel joined Shook, Hardy & Bacon as a new associate in the Product Liability Group. He has experience in drafting motions, document review, preparing witnesses for trial and managing discovery for product liability and mass tort matters. Douglas also wrote a report on Texas cannabis laws and public policy.

Jason Villalba has started a 501(c)(3) foundation, Texas Hispanic Policy Foundation‬ (TXHPF.org) along with a new podcast, “Our Story,” which is dedicated to the voices of Texas Hispanics. Its mission is to explore the personal and intimate stories of Texas Latinos to dispel misconceptions about Texas Hispanics. Villalba is an attorney with the firm Foley and Lardner LLP in his native Dallas, Texas, and a Republican former member of the Texas House of Representatives for District 114 in Dallas County.

Roy Quillin Minton passed away at the age of 89 in Austin, TX on March 25, 2021. Minton began his career in the Travis County District Attorney’s office and in 1963 opened a law firm with Perry Jones – which later became Minton, Burton, Foster and Collins. Although the firms’ primary passion and notoriety drew upon criminal cases, Minton and the firm later became well known for their representation of many high-profile and complex civil litigation matters. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Minton’s name to the Save Our Springs Alliance.

William Jeffrey Demarest passed away at the age of 74 on March 24, 2021, after a long battle with numerous illnesses. Demarest obtained his undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at El Paso, and his law degree from Texas Law. Although he had his law degree he didn’t limit himself to the practice of law, instead he led a rather eclectic life, as the owner/operator of Wee Tam Head Shop, world traveler, survivor of a small plane crash in the hill country of Texas, avid canoer, and spent his final work years as a CNC computerized punch press programmer and operator in Providence, Rhode Island.

Emily Martha Calhoun passed away peacefully in her Boulder, CO home on March 27, 2021. She began her law career as a civil rights lawyer for the Southern Regional Office of the American Civil Liberties Union in Atlanta, GA. However, Calhoun’s major impact in law was as a teacher and mentor to hundreds of students in the classroom as an Assistant Professor of Law at the University of Georgia Law School (5 years) and as an Associate Professor (11 years) and Professor of Law (24 years) at the University of Colorado Law School. While at the University of Colorado, she took leave from the Law School for three years to serve the university as an Associate Vice President for Human Resources.

Winstead PC attorney Steffen Sowell wrote an essay in honor of Black History Month that was recently published in Texas Lawyer. In the essay, Sowell discusses the societal contributions of African American poet Amanda Gorman, as well as how lawyers can move the needle on racial equity.

Parth S. Gejji, an associate with Beck Redden, has been recognized as a 2021 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers.

Jacqueline M. Furlow, an associate with Beck Redden, has been recognized as a 2021 Texas Rising Star by Thomson Reuters Super Lawyers.

Theodora Lee, a Shareholder at Littler’s San Francisco office, has been named to the National Black Lawyers (NBL) top list. Lee is a skilled litigator with extensive courtroom experience in all state and federal courts in California and employment-related regulatory agencies. As a recognized subject matter authority, Lee has been published in numerous publications and is a sought-after speaker presenting on a wide variety of employment topics.

Jeptha P. “Jep” Hill, Jr., age 78, passed peacefully in Austin, Texas, with family at his side on Jan. 10, after a long, progressive battle with corticobasal degeneration. CBD is a rare, prime-of-life brain disease with no known cause or cure, and it was Jep’s wish that his brain be donated to the Mayo Clinic Brain Trust for research. He practiced law with Kleberg, Dyer, Redford & Weil Heron then with Burchette, Ruckert & Rothwell before starting Austin Linux Group in the ’90s. Hill was also a contributing editor of the Texas Natural Resources Reporter.

Jim Hill, of Sullivan Hill, has been recognized by San Diego Magazine as a 2021 Top Lawyer in San Diego in the field of Bankruptcy. A founding member of the firm, chair of its Insolvency and Commercial Bankruptcy practice group, and member of its Executive Committee, Hill practices primarily in the areas of bankruptcy, insolvency and commercial law. The list reflects those local attorneys who have been recognized by Martindale-Hubbell as 2021 AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rated attorneys.

Dana Davis Paul, of Paul Law Firm in Rogers, AR, has been selected to Mid-South Super Lawyers by Super Lawyers as a top attorney in the Mid-South, specializing in real estate law.

Robert E. Icenhauer-Ramirez graduated from Texas A&M University and then from Texas Law at at age 23. He practiced law for 40 years, first in Port Arthur, Texas, and later as an attorney for the City of Austin. He supported Texas Law’s Dean’s Scholarship Excellence Fund. Icenhauer-Ramirez eventually pursued his dream of becoming a historian, receiving his doctorate degree in history in 2014 from UT Austin. He published a book in 2019, Treason on Trial: The United States v. Jefferson Davis, through LSU press. His greatest aspiration came true when he was able to teach history at UT. Memorial donations may be made to the Dr. Robert Icenhauer-Ramirez Memorial Endowment in the Department of History at the UT Austin.

Jason E. Boatright has joined Duane Morris LLP as special counsel in the firm’s Trial Practice Group in its Dallas office. Boatright has held senior legal positions in state government in both Dallas and Austin. He is a former justice of the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, the appellate court that reviews trial court decisions in Collin, Dallas, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman and Rockwall counties.

Bill Swart joined Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. as Shareholder in the firm’s Dallas office on March 1. Swart regularly represents clients in sale transactions, expansion strategies and recapitalizations. He has also gained experience with private equity structures and practices, managing expectations among buyers, sellers, lenders, management and other parties associated with complex transactions.

Julie Offerman was recently elevated to income shareholder at Chamberlain Hrdlicka. Named among the Up-and-Coming 50: 2020 Texas Women Rising Stars, Offerman is an experienced litigation attorney in Chamberlain’s Houston Labor & Employment practice. She has been named to Texas Super Lawyers in 2020 after being named Texas Rising Star in 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, and 2019. She has also been named among Houstonia Magazine Top Lawyers in 2019 and 2020.

Jamie Clayton Boyd passed away at the age of 91 on the Feb. 5, 2021. During his legal career he served as Assistant City attorney, City of Austin, Assistant County Attorney of El Paso County. Boyd was elected State District Attorney for the 13th District of Texas. In 1997, he was appointed United States District Attorney for the Western District of Texas by President Jimmy Carter. Boyd also served two terms as United States Magistrate for the Western District of Texas.

Bruce Dixie Smith passed away peacefully in Houston, Texas on Feb. 21, 2021. Smith was a double Longhorn, having earned his undergraduate and law degree from the University of Texas in Austin. He joined the firm of Fulbright and Jaworski out of law school and was made partner in 1975. He was proud to be the first Fulbright attorney to win a case in front of the United States Supreme Court in 1974. Smith retired from the firm in 1997. Donations in Dixie’s memory may be made to any animal or homeless shelter, Meals on Wheels, Houston Food Bank or the charity of your choice.