Jonathan Harmon has been named to the 2026 Virginia Black Business Leaders Hall of Fame. A West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, he was elected the first Black chairman of McGuireWoods after leading the firm’s Business Securities Litigation Department.
Kim Altsuler has been named to the executive committee of Peckar & Abramson PC. She serves as the Houston partner-in-charge, chairs the firm’s Residential and Multifamily Construction Practice, and co-chairs the Culture, Career Development, and Inclusion Committee.
John Stavinoha has joined Latham & Watkins’ Houston office as a partner in the firm’s M&A and Private Equity Practice. A double Longhorn, Stavinoha, who specializes in the energy and infrastructure industries, most recently was a partner at Bracewell.
Parisa Fatehi-Weeks has been appointed executive director of nonprofit policy institute Every Texan. Fatehi-Weeks’ career has focused on social justice and advocacy across a variety of organizations, including Google, Indeed, the Workers Defense Project, and HousingWorks Austin.
Justice Patricia O’Connell Alvarez (Ret.) was inducted into the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals, an invitation-only organization of the nation’s most respected and accomplished alternative dispute resolution professionals. Alvarez served 12 years as a judge in the Fourth Court of Appeals and spent 26 years as a trial attorney before launching Alvarez Dispute Resolutions, PLLC.
Grace Lentz has made partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in the Energy and Infrastructure group at the firm’s Houston office. A project development and M&A lawyer, Lentz helps developers, sponsors, strategic investors and other energy companies navigate complex renewable and conventional power projects.
Montana Ware has made partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP in the Technology Companies group at the firm’s Austin office. Ware—who represents startups and high-scale tech companies, venture capital funds and strategic investors—has significant experience in highly regulated industries such as defense, nuclear energy, space and aerospace.
Jerry Weldon Carlton passed away on Dec. 13, 2025. He specialized in tax law, spending over 35 years of his career with the firm O’Melveny & Myers in Austin before retiring to serve as director for various companies and organizations.
Scott Young will be recognized by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook with a 2025 Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service. He currently serves as managing counsel for Toyota North America.
Taylor Nichols, the principal of IDEA Parmer Park College Prep School in Austin, recently brought a group of his senior students competing in mock trial to visit Texas Law. Nichols has worked in education for 20 years and is in his 11th year as principal.
Daniella Martinez has been elected to firm partnership at BakerHostetler LLP in Houston. She previously worked as an associate, and her practice focuses on complex commercial disputes in both state and federal court.
The Honorable Wallace B. Jefferson has been elected as the next president of the American Law Institute, effective at the conclusion of the Institute’s 2026 Annual Meeting in May. Jefferson served on the Supreme Court of Texas from 2001 to 2013, including as Chief Justice from 2004 through the end of his tenure. He also previously served as president of the Conference of Chief Justices, representing chief justices from all 50 states and U.S. territories.
Sarah T. Glaser has been elected managing director for Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C. She will continue to chair the firm’s Employment Law Practice Group and advise employers on employment compliance and litigation matters.
Rrachelle Renee’ Douglas Breckenridge passed away in October of 2025. She had a distinguished legal career as a prosecutor and later worked as a municipal attorney for the City of Olathe.
Antony Louis passed away Jan. 13, 2026. A longtime resident of Coppell, Texas, Louis served as associate general counsel and secretary of Contran Corporation and associate general counsel, vice president and secretary of Valhi, Inc.
Stephen Utz passed away on Dec. 9, 2025. Through his nearly 40 years as the Roger Sherman Professor of Law at the University of Connecticut School of Law, Utz became a renowned expert in federal tax law, tax policy, and jurisprudence. He started his law career clerking for Judge Joseph T. Sneed of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco and then practiced for three years as an associate at the tax law firm of Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C. before teaching law.
Chen Zang, Ph.D., was elevated to the partnership at global intellectual property law firm Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP in Washington, D.C. Zang maintains a diverse patent practice, including inter partes review (IPR) proceedings, district court litigation, International Trade Commission investigations, and patent prosecution and counseling.
Kim McMath has served as president of the Eanes ISD Board of Trustees since May, 2025. McMath, who was first elected to the school board in 2020 and spent two years as vice president, is general counsel for Madison Industries entities, a private company with international holdings.
Erin Fonken has joined Kemp Smith in Austin as partner. She specializes in air quality, water quality, endangered species, enforcement, permitting, administrative matters and litigation for their Public and Environmental Law Department.
The fifth edition of “Egan on Entities: Corporations, Partnerships and Limited Liability Companies in Texas,” written by Byron Egan, is being published in January 2026. Egan, a double Longhorn, is partner at Jackson Walker in Dallas.
John D. Stover passed away on Jan. 4, 2026. After serving on the Texas Water Commission, he practiced law in Austin until 1997, representing businesses, industries, government organizations, and other clients in state and federal courts and before the Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and other forums. He also taught water law as an adjunct professor at Texas Law.
Leanne Flatter has been elevated to principal at Fish & Richardson in Austin, where her practice focuses on U.S. and international patent prosecution and patent portfolio management in the fields of automotive technologies, medical devices, carbon capture technologies, and robotics.
Jonathan Eisenman has been appointed to serve as a judge in the Los Angeles County Superior Court. Eisenman previously was assistant general counsel for the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and worked as a deputy city attorney. He served as a law clerk at the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
John Reilly passed away Nov. 29, 2025. An Air Force veteran, Reilly practiced oil and gas law in Houston for more than 50 years.
Cory Fish has been appointed policy director for the Office of the Texas Governor. Fish previously served as a budget and policy advisor to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and was later promoted to deputy policy director. He was previously a fellow at the Cicero Institute in Austin.
Garrett S. Brawley has been elected partner at Beck Redden in Houston. An experienced trial lawyer, he has secured high-stakes commercial victories for both plaintiffs and defendants and has been recognized as a “Rising Star” in Business Litigation by Thomson Reuters’ Super Lawyers and named to The Best Lawyers in America “Ones to Watch” list.
Charles W. Cappel passed away on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 27, 2025. He began his career practicing admiralty law with the firm of Lillick McHose and, after 15 years, chose to become president of a small family oil company.
Jasmine Harding Adams has joined the global internet and technology company Match Group as the employee relations and ethics lead in the Legal Department. Adams previously worked at Mattel and Ogletree, where she was recognized for her work, leadership and integrity.
Reeya Thakrar has been promoted to partner at Faegre Drinker in the firm’s Chicago office. Thakrar is an attorney in Faegre Drinker’s intellectual property practice group, and she counsels clients on technology transactions, artificial intelligence (AI) and intellectual property matters.
Jane Beard was selected to receive an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the winter commencement ceremony at Hardin-Simmons University in recognition of her humanitarian and philanthropic contributions. Beard has served as grants administrator for the Dian Graves Owen Foundation for more than 20 years and previously was a shareholder at McMahon, Smart, Surovik, Suttle, Buhrmann & Cobb in Abilene, where she focused on corporate, nonprofit, and health law.
Alex Robertson has joined Kirkland & Ellis in Dallas as a partner in the Corporate Practice Group, where he advises private equity firms and public and private companies on corporate matters. Previously a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Dallas, he brings experience across a range of industries, with a particular focus on energy and infrastructure.
Frank Cooksey passed away on Dec. 15, 2025. A double Longhorn, Cooksey served as mayor of Austin from 1985 to 1988. He practiced law for more than 40 years, including roles as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, an assistant U.S. attorney, and special attorney general of Texas.
Sam Waldon has been promoted to deputy director for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Enforcement. He previously served as chief counsel in this division.
Chuck Pinney has been promoted to legal director at Texas’s Office of the Secretary of State. He previously served as the office’s senior staff attorney.
Craig Ball has been announced as a 2025 finalist for the Gayle O’Connor Spirit Award. He serves as an adjunct professor at Texas Law and general counsel of the Electronic Discovery Reference Model. The award celebrates members of the e-discovery and legal technology communities based on “singular energy, enthusiasm and verve.”
Kayla D. Dreyer has joined Jones & Keller, P.C. as a shareholder and leader of the firm’s Employment Law Practice. With more than 15 years of experience counseling employers nationwide, Dreyer provides strategic guidance, litigation defense, and transactional support. She has extensive expertise in employment compliance and workplace investigations.
Chris Kratovil was named to D Magazine’s “Best of Dallas Hall of Fame.” An attorney at Dykema who specializes in commercial litigation, Kratovil has been named a “Best Lawyer in Dallas” by the publication for 15 consecutive years.
Andrea Hyatt has been appointed as an assistant United States attorney for the District of Rhode Island. She previously served as an assistant United States attorney in the Northern District of Texas, with more than 23 years of experience as a litigator in both the private and public sectors.
Jack Eckels passed away on Nov. 7, 2025. He began his legal career with the Cox, Smith Law Firm in San Antonio, then joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka in Houston where he worked as a tax attorney for over 40 years.
Jared P. Harrell has been named to the Top 50 Undergraduate Business Directors of 2025 by Poets & Quants for Undergrads. He is an associate professor of practice and director of the Center for Real Estate at the Rawls College of Business at Texas Tech University.
Theodore Paul Bulmahn passed away Nov. 11, 2025. Bulmahn founded and served as CEO of ATP Oil and Gas Corporation in Houston, Texas, then went on to build and run GoldMark Farm, a premier property for racehorses.
Michael W. Wood passed away Nov. 18, 2025. After forming the boutique law firm Wood, Campbell, Moody & Gibb, he went on to serve as senior vice president and CEO of the water resources company Azurix, then was a partner at Jackson Walker in Houston.
Nathan Simmons has been promoted to senior associate at Tully Rinckey in Austin. A double Longhorn, Simmons focuses his practice on state and federal employment.
Jiles David Richeson passed away on Nov. 20, 2025. After starting his career in Washington, D.C., as legal counsel for Congressman Jake Pickle, Richeson moved to Fort Pierce, Florida, where he established a successful law practice in the field of labor and employment law.
Peter William Low passed away on Oct. 18, 2025. After more than 20 years as a solo practitioner with a concentration on local property appraisal and tax law as well as public and administrative law, Low joined fellow property tax attorneys to form Low Swinney Evans & James in 2018.
Anjana Patel has a new position as managing shareholder of Baker Donelson’s New Jersey offices. Patel specializes in health care law and focuses her practice on transactional, regulatory, and compliance matters.
Bill Hopkins has joined Stinson as a partner in the firm’s Health Care & Insurance Practice Division. He was previously an office managing partner at Spencer Fane.
Jason Blackmer has joined Latitude Legal, a global flexible legal staffing company, as leader and founding partner of the company’s new regional corporate office in Houston. Blackmer previously served as associate general counsel of Sunnova, where he advised the company on debt and equity transactions, public reporting matters, and restructuring.
George M. Jirotka has retired after almost 20 years as a circuit court judge in Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit. Previously Jirotka practiced law for nearly 20 years as a shareholder at the firm Fowler White Boggs Banker.
Susan Welker Turley retired from L3Harris Technologies in 2024, where she was the corporate director of enterprise contracts and compliance. Previously she worked for U.S. Air Force JAG Corps and Raytheon Technologies.