Class Notes

Grant O’Hickey joined Gunster in Jacksonville, FL, where his practice focuses on commercial litigation and e-discovery.

Texas Law Professor Randall H. Erben has been elected Vice-Chair of the Texas Ethics Commission.

Sylvia Kerrigan has been elected vice-chair of Southwestern University’s Board of Trustees and will assume her new duties on July 1, 2022. Kerrigan has served on the board since 2015 and chairs the academic affairs committee. She is the executive director of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Center for Energy, Law and Business at The University of Texas at Austin. Kerrigan also currently serves on the board of directors for Team Industrial Services, where she chairs the corporate governance and nominating committee and sits on the audit committee.

Kara L. Karcher has joined Bourland, Wall & Wenzel as associate attorney in Fort Worth, Texas. Her practice focuses on commercial relate estate and general business transactions, including the acquisition, financing, development, leasing and disposition of commercial real estate.

Poonam Kumar, a partner in DLA Piper’s Minneapolis office, has been elected treasurer of Minnesota Women Lawyers (MWL), an association of more than 1,200 attorneys, judges, law students and legal employers in Minnesota. Poonam will also serve on the organization’s 2021-2022 Board of Directors.

Pamelya Herndon has been appointed by the Bernalillo County Commission to District 28 in the New Mexico House of Representatives. She will serve this position until January of 2023. Before her appointment, Herndon served as the president and CEO of KWH Law Center for Social Justice and Change and the CEO of The Women’s Center for Social Justice and Change. She also worked with the Southwest Women’s Law Center, Herndon Legal Services, and the State of New Mexico.

Shane Pennington recently joined top-ranked national cannabis law firm Vicente Sederberg LLP as counsel in the firm’s New York office. He was also just elected to the board of directors for the International Cannabis Bar Association. Pennington, who focuses on federal appeals and regulatory issues, is co-counsel on several high-profile cases against the DEA regarding cannabis research, hemp, and psychedelics.

Hon. Patrick Keel of Austin has been elected Fellows Secretary to the Board of Trustees of the Texas Bar Foundation. Keel took office June 18, 2021. Keel, a former state district judge, is a full-time mediator and arbitrator. He is also an adjunct professor in the trial advocacy program at Texas Law and a member of the Professional Ethics Committee for the State Bar of Texas. After law school, Keel practiced commercial litigation for 13 years with Baker Botts LLP, where he was a partner in the firm’s trial department and hiring partner for the firm’s Austin office.

Barry Abrams, who serves as chair of Blank Rome’s Pro Bono Committee, was named Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by Houston Volunteer Lawyers, a nonprofit service of the Houston Bar Association. Abrams has received this honor on behalf of his tremendous pro bono work.

Dr. Susan Bohn, superintendent of Aledo ISD, has been named the Region 11 Superintendent of the Year for 2021. The Superintendent of the Year Award honors outstanding Texas administrators for achievement and excellence in public school administration.

Jaime Garcia was promoted to Partner of J. Cruz & Associates, LLC in Laredo, Texas. Garcia will continue to serve public and private clients in the areas of general civil litigation, education law, employment law, and public finance.

Carlos Eduardo Cárdenas, of the Law Office of Carlos Eduardo Cárdenas, P.C. in El Paso, has been elected 2021-2022 Fellows Chair of the Texas Bar Foundation.  Cárdenas’ law practice focuses on personal injury and commercial litigation, and in administrative law proceedings

Cynthia Dooley has joined Dallas’ Brousseau Naftis & Massingill. Her practice focuses on wills, trusts, estates and probate issues. Dooley earned her undergraduate degree from Rice in 1986 and her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 1992.

Jason Marlin has joined the Dallas trial firm of Bailey Brauer PLLC as a partner. Marlin is a corporate litigator and experienced trial lawyer who represents companies on complex commercial disputes involving shareholder derivative actions, real estate disputes, financial services litigation, catastrophic personal injury cases, and energy-related lawsuits. 

David G. Webster was promoted to Partner at Bell Nunnally & Martin LLP in Dallas. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation, Creditors’ Rights, Health Care and White Collar Criminal and Regulatory Defense practice areas. Prior to joining Bell Nunnally, he served as an active-duty Judge Advocate General (JAG) for the U.S. Army, where he represented military forces. Most recently, Webster served as a U.S. Army Officer with the Texas Army National Guard JAG Corps, assigned as trial counsel for the 56th Infantry Brigade Combat Team.

Josiah Daniel has published “What I Said Was ‘Here Is Where I Cash In'”: the Instrumental Role of Congressman Hatton Sumners in the Resolution of the 1937 Court-Packing Crisis, 54 John Marshall Law Review 379 (June 11, 2021). Daniel continues archival work for his biography of Congressman Sumners, who chaired the House Judiciary Committee 1931-1947, overlapping the tenure of President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

Tom Landry, Jr. was named a co-grand marshal  of the 37th annual NASCAR All-Star Race at Texas Motor Speedway held during on June 13. The 2021 NASCAR All-Star Race will be held for the first time at the speedway, which is celebrating its 25th Season of Speed. Landry, Jr. currently serves as President and a Director of Dallas-based Landry Investment Group, Inc.

Reid Phillips, managing partner at Brooks Pierce in North Carolina, was recognized for Litigation: General Commercial in the 2021 edition of Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business. The listing of the leading lawyers and law firms in the country is published annually by Chambers and Partners.

Andrea Meza has joined the Board of Directors at Mabel Center for Immigrant Justice.  Meza is the Director of Family Detention Services at RAICES, which offers free universal representation to families held in ICE custody at the Karnes family prison in Karnes City, Texas.

Steve Eargle has been elected as Chairman of the Board for The National Bank of Texas, based in Fort Worth. Elected to the Board of Directors in 2017, he currently serves on the Executive, Strategic Planning, Property and Director’s Loan Committees. Eargle is a Co-founder and Partner of Fort Worth Royalty Company.

Stephanie Collett Sparks has joined the firm Vedder Price as a Shareholder in its Litigation practice area in the Dallas office. Her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation, health care, and energy transactional and regulatory matters.  Prior to this position, Sparks spent a 15-year career with Jackson Walker.

Jennifer Librach Nall has joined DLA Piper as a partner in the firm’s Patent Litigation practice, based in Austin, Texas.

Spencer Bartlett, of Jefferson City, Mo., was appointed to the Administrative Hearing Commission. Bartlett joined the Missouri Department of Revenue as Deputy General Counsel in 2017 and was promoted to General Counsel in 2019. Prior to joining the Department of Revenue, he served as an assistant Prosecuting Attorney for the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

Kristan K. Wheeler has been appointed to Colorado’s Jefferson County Court in the 1st Judicial District, effective July 1, 2021. Wheeler is currently a district and county court magistrate in the 17th Judicial District, a position she has held since 2019. Her docket consists of both criminal and civil matters.

Julie Gremillion has been appointed as General Counsel for GoExpedi. She will be responsible for leading all aspects of GoExpedi’s legal strategy, managing compliance and risk throughout the organization; working closely with senior leadership and the Board of Directors as a strategic advisor on legal and business matters affecting the company; and providing legal support for transactional matters, strategic opportunities and day-to-day operations.

Darren Walker has been elected as a member of The American Philosophical Society (APS), founded by Benjamin Franklin in 1743. He is among 33 leaders in the sciences, humanities, and business fields to be elected to the APS this year. Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, an international grant-making philanthropy with the mission of advancing human welfare.

John Helms has been selected to Super Lawyers, as part of its top tier of attorneys in the White Collar and General Litigation practice areas. Helms is a Dallas criminal defense attorney who specializes in both trials and appeals. He is a former federal prosecutor for the Northern District of Texas.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.