Class Notes

Amanda Thomson has been named partner at Arnold & Porter. Brown is a member of the firm’s complex litigation practice, specializing in representing clients in health care and aviation industries.

Hilda Galvan has been named in the Top 50 Diverse Board Candidate List, a recognition by Equilar and the Nasdaq Center for Board Excellence that seeks to advance opportunities for underrepresented groups. Galvan is a partner in charge at the Dallas office of Jones Day, specializing in intellectual property, with a background in technology and artificial intelligence.

Richard R. Orsinger has been named a Best Divorce Lawyer in San Antonio for 2023 by Forbes. Orsinger has more than 40 years of experience in family and appellate law and has been previously honored in the State Bar of Texas Family Law Hall of Legends.

Arthur J. Rossi, Jr. has been named a 2023 Best Divorce Lawyer in San Antonio by Forbes. Rossi has more than 40 years of experience helping clients with property division, child custody, spousal support, and other family law-related issues.

Mysti Murphy has been named a Best Divorce Lawyer in San Antonio by Forbes for 2023. As a consultant for the City of Dallas Domestic Violence Task Force and a former Dallas County assistant district attorney, Murphy specializes in domestic violence and other family law cases.

Floyd S. Contreras has been named a 2023 Best Divorce Lawyer in San Antonio by Forbes. Contreras practices all types of family law, with experience in business and probate law that allows him to help clients with divorces involving family businesses.

Christopher Luna has joined SPCA of Texas—the most comprehensive and longest-serving animal welfare agency in North Texas—as president and CEO. Luna previously spent 18 years as vice president of legal affairs at T-Mobile.  He also was a Dallas city councilman for three terms and served as deputy mayor pro tem.

Sherry Talton has joined Ogletree Deakins as shareholder in the firm’s Seattle office. Talton represents local and national employers in court and previously served as principal of Jackson Lewis’ Disability, Leave and Health Management practice group.

Keith Y. Cohan has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Cohan is a partner in the Austin office of Reid Collins & Tsai and focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation.

Matthew Falcone has been named a recipient of Texas Lawyer’s 2023 “On the Rise” Award. Falcone is a partner at Vinson & Elkins’ Houston office and focuses his practice on M&A and private equity.

Taylor Mauze has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Mauze is a litigator and trial attorney at Reichman Jorgensen Lehman & Feldberg LLP and specializes in complex business disputes and patents.

Atman Shukla has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Shukla is a partner at Sidley Austin LLP and focuses on M&A and investment transactions in the energy, infrastructure, and aviation industries.

Maryssa Simpson has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Simpson is a trial lawyer at the Simpson Tuegel Law Firm and focuses her practice on personal injury, sexual assault, and sexual harassment cases.

Courtney Hammond has been named a recipient of Texas Lawyer’s 2023 “On the Rise” Award. Hammond is a member of Vinson & Elkins’ real estate practice and focuses on commercial real estate projects.

Michael Kelso has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Kelso is a trial lawyer at Susman Godfrey LLP and focuses his practice on antitrust, securities fraud, and the energy sector.

Rocco Magni has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Magni is a trial lawyer at Susman Godfrey LLP and specializes in commercial litigation and patents.

Kim Hicks has been named a Rising Star by Texas Lawyer. Hicks is a founding partner at the Austin office of Kirkland & Ellis and focuses on M&A and private equity in the energy sectors.

Ralph C. Mayrell has been promoted to special counsel in Kramer Levin’s litigation practice. Mayrell specializes in complex commercial litigation and appeals across a variety of industries.

Saeed Mody has started a new position as deputy associate attorney general at the Office of the Associate Attorney General, Office of the Deputy Attorney General, United States Department of Justice.

Charles “Chip” Roy has started a new position as Chair Republican Member at Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Committee on the Judiciary. Roy is currently serving his third term in Congress representing Texas’s 21st Congressional District.

Nathan Robinson has been elected as partner of Wilson Sonsini, a leading legal firm for technology and life sciences. Robinson specializes in corporate and securities law, advising clients on general corporate matters and transactions including public offerings, private placements, and mergers and acquisitions.

Brittany Castillo has been appointed to serve on FEMA’s National Advisory Council. Castillo currently is CEO of AshBritt, a government solutions provider specializing in emergency management, logistics, and disaster response.

Wayne D. Meissner has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Attorneys in Austin by Forbes Advisor. A former district attorney in Amarillo and Austin, Meissner currently serves as an attorney at Fitzgerald & Meissner PC.

James Leader Jr. has been elected to partnership at Vinson & Elkins’ Houston office. A trial lawyer, Leader focuses his practice on commercial and business litigation and has additionally served on the Board of Directors for Houston Volunteer Lawyers since 2019.

Alex Robertson has been elected to partnership at Vinson & Elkins’ Dallas office. Robertson focuses his practice on M&A and capital markets and serves as president of the Mergers and Acquisitions Section of the Dallas Bar Association.

Drew Kershen was honored by the State of Oklahoma as an Oklahoma Water Pioneer. The State honored him for his 30-plus years of teaching, writing, and service about Oklahoma water law. Kershen was a faculty member for 41.5 years at the University of Oklahoma College of Law.

Bryan P. Hoeller has been named a “Best Criminal Defense Lawyer” in Fort Worth of 2023 by Forbes. Hoeller was a former criminal prosecutor turned criminal defense lawyer, defending thousands of clients in a variety of cases.

Jamie E. France has been promoted to partner at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP. France represents clients in antitrust merger and non-merger investigations, as well as in complex private and government antitrust litigation.

Allison Becker has been named co-chair at Health Care, Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani, LLP (GRSM Healthcare Practice Group). Becker’s healthcare practice involves defending providers against all manner of claims in various stages of litigation.

Sakina Rasheed Foster has received the Texas State Bar’s annual Trailblazer of the Year Award. Foster was nominated for the award by The Podium, a nonprofit for Asian American women lawyers,  for her work as managing partner and mentor at Haynes and Boone.

Travis Maples has joined Botkin Chiarello Calaf as an associate on the firm’s commercial litigation team. Following graduation from Texas Law, Maples clerked at both the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals.

Dick DeGuerin has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston,2023. DeGuerin has been practicing criminal defense for the past five decades and represented many high profile clients as his firm handles state and federal cases from trial through the appellate process.

George Parnham has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston 2023. An Army veteran who has practiced for over five decades, Parnham has secured reduced sentences for clients accused of terrorism, criminally negligent homicide and murder.

David Nachtigall has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston 2023.  Nachtigall, whose firm is based in Houston, has tried several thousand criminal cases and has represented clients facing serious allegations from the FBI, DEA, ATF, U.S. Secret Service and other government agencies.

Neal A. Davis has been named one of the Best Criminal Defense Lawyers in Houston 2023. Davis, who runs his own firm,  has 25 years of experience in criminal defense from the investigative phase to appeal, and has appeared as counsel in front of the U.S. Supreme Court in a matter involving the Fifth Amendment.

Rachel Ratcliffe Payne has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in Austin. A member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department, she advises public and private companies across industries on strategic and private equity M&A, take-private transactions, SEC compliance, and corporate governance.

Daniel Williams has been elected a partner at Latham & Watkins LLP in New York. A member of the Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department, he advises private equity sponsors, their portfolio companies, and strategic investors in M&A, dispositions, and asset sales transactions.

Amanda Tyler testified before the U.S. House Oversight Committee’s Subcommittee on National Security, the Border, and Foreign Affairs. Tyler is the executive director of Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) and lead organizer of the Christians Against Christian Nationalism campaign.

Brandi Howard has joined Brown Rudnick LLP as partner in the firm’s Washington D.C. office. Howard, who focuses her practice on commercial litigation and appellate matters, was selected to the National Bar Association’s “Top 40 Under 40” in 2022.

Rachel E. Ratcliffe Payne has been elected to partnership at Latham & Watkins LLP. She is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department.

Daniel Williams has been elected to partnership at Latham & Watkins LLP. Williams is a member of the firm’s Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity Practice and Corporate Department.

Travis Maples has joined Botkin Chiarello Calaf as an associate on the firm’s commercial litigation team. Maples clerked at both the Supreme Court of Texas and the Court of Criminal Appeals before entering private practice.

Tammy Cooper has started a new position as deputy general manager of Regulatory, Communications, Compliance and Legal Services at Austin Energy. Cooper was former senior vice president, overseeing that same division at Austin Energy.

Brian A. Carpenter has joined Cole Schotz PC’s Dallas office. Carpenter has 32 years of legal experience and focuses on commercial and patent litigation, including trials before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeals Board.

John D. White has been awarded the 2023 Outstanding Alumni Award for the Bush School of Government & Public Service at Texas A&M University. In addition to his numerous public service appointments, White served as a judge advocate general in the United States Air Force and practiced law for three decades.

Rebekah Prince has joined Duane Morris LLP in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Prince, who previously worked at Barnes & Thornburg LLP,  specializes in celebrity endorsement transactions and representing professional athletes.

Karen Robinson has been named to the board of directors of ChIPs Network Inc., a global membership community focused on advancing women and promoting diversity in IP and tech law and policy. Robinson is vice president and associate general counsel at Adobe.

David Tamisiea has been named executive director of the North Dakota Catholic Conference. Tamisiea is the dean of the School of Arts & Sciences and associate professor in Theology at the University of Mary in Bismarck, N.D.

Stephen R. Pattison has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth as a special counsel. Pattison is a business immigration attorney and a former U.S. State Department senior foreign service officer, focusing his practice on the representation of corporate and individual clients on business immigration, consular processing and individual immigration matters.

Warigia M. Bowman’s first book, “Digital Development in East Africa: The Distribution, Diffusion, and Governance of Information Technology,” has been published by Palgrave McMillan. Bowman, an associate professor at the University of Tulsa College of Law, also has received significant press attention for her work on aquifer depletion including mention in the New York Times, CNN International, PBS, and Democracy Now.