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.
Amy Hinzmann has joined the Seattle-based e-discovery company Lighthouse Document Technologies Inc. as head of information governance. She previously worked as an executive vice president of corporate and commercial services at legal services company UnitedLex.
Mason Grist has joined Wilkinson Stekloff as an associate in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Grist, who served as editor-in-chief of the Texas Law Review during his time at Texas Law, most recently clerked for Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
The Honorable Thomas Bartlett Sehon Sr. passed away on Nov. 5, 2025. He served for nearly 20 years as the Falls County district attorney in Marlin, Texas, then successfully ran for county judge, retiring in 2007.
David Rodriguez passed away Oct. 25, 2025. A double Longhorn, he opened and ran his own law practice, the Law Office of David Rodriguez, in San Antonio.
Theodore Thomas “Ted” Hollen III passed away Oct. 13, 2025. Hollen, who pursued his passion for rodeo alongside his law career, worked in the political arena and opened a sole practitioner law firm. He received the 50-years recognition from the State Bar of Texas.
Stuart Alan Morse has passed away. He began his career as an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission before returning to Texas, where he founded several law firms including Klein Morse; Kroney, Silverman, Mincey; and Kroney Morse Lan.
Charles Robert “Chuck” Helms passed away Nov. 2, 2025. Helms, who spent many years practicing law in Dallas alongside his friend and partner Paul Pesek, was president of his local Catholic lawyer’s guild and served as president-elect of the national Catholic Bar Association.
Timothy Allen “Tad” Dunn passed away Oct. 30, 2025. Following law school, Dunn worked for several law firms throughout his career, most recently with Messer Fort.
David Bolduc has been appointed to the Texas Public Sector Artificial Intelligence Systems Advisory Board. Bolduc currently serves as the agency head and public counsel at the Office of the Public Insurance Counsel and has over 49 years of legal experience in government and private practice.
Jennifer Matis has retired from the federal government following 24 years of public service. Following more than a decade at the National Labor Relations Board, Matis spent 11 years with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and most recently served as associate counsel in its legal, external affairs, and performance branch.
Bridget O’Hickey has a new position as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division. She previously served as deputy solicitor general at the Florida Office of the Attorney General.
Mary Goldsmith has been selected for inclusion in Marquis “Who’s Who,” which is a biographical collection covering leaders and achievers from around the world. She is the owner of the Law Office of Mary A. Goldsmith in Port Aransas, Texas, as well as Mary Goldsmith Photography and Art in Nature.
Herbert Edward Marsh Jr. passed away on March 7, 2025. For nearly six decades he practiced law as both a private practice attorney and Texas state judge.
Omar Ochoa has been elected mayor of Edinburg, Texas. A triple Longhorn and civil litigation attorney, Ochoa serves as founding attorney at Omar Ochoa Law Firm in McAllen, Texas.
Jeb McNew passed away on Oct. 17, 2025. A double Longhorn, he and his wife opened their own law practice, McNew & McNew in Nocona, Texas. He then was elected to serve as Montague County Attorney, a position he held for over two decades.
Manuel Almaguer passed away on Oct. 24, 2025. A double Longhorn, he served in the United States Air Force before spending five decades managing his own law firm until his retirement in 2020.
Russ Hollenbeck has been promoted to managing partner of Wright Close Barger & Guzman. A member of the firm for over 23 years, he previously served as a partner before his election to this leadership role.
Annie Holland Miller has been inducted into the University of Texas at Austin Recreational Sports Hall of Honor for 2025. She currently serves as chief business and operations manager of Holand Investments, LTD, and remains involved with RecSports as a member of the department’s Leadership Team.