Jessica Adkins has joined Latham & Watkins in Houston as partner in the project development and finance practice. Adkins, transferring from Sidley Austin, advises on electric power and renewable energy transactions.
Nicholas McCoy has been promoted to partner in the Corporate Department at Proskauer Rose in Washington, D.C. McCoy, who is a member of the firm’s Private Funds Group, focuses his practice on representing leading private fund sponsors, institutional investors, and other market participants.
Siva Barnwell Adams has been named corporate secretary and chief governance officer of Chevron Corporation, effective Jan. 1, 2027. Barnwell Adams currently serves as deputy corporate secretary and prior to that role was senior managing counsel for the Major Transactions Law Group.
Josh Pleitz has joined Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr’s Dallas office as a shareholder with the corporate securities and mergers and acquisitions practices. He previously was a partner at Dorsey & Whitney for nine years after eight years as an associate at Fulbright & Jaworski.
Emily Jolly has joined Troutman Pepper Locke’s Austin office as a partner in its Energy Regulatory Practice Group. She previously served as senior vice president and chief regulatory and compliance officer at the Lower Colorado River Authority.
Josh Pleitz has joined Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr as a shareholder in its Corporate & Securities and M&A practices. Pleitz has more than 16 years of experience advising public and private companies, private equity funds, and institutional investors on mergers and acquisitions, capital markets, strategic investments, and other corporate matters.
Thomas “Tom” Tomlinson has joined Ashurst Perkins Coie’s Projects, Energy, Environment & Resources group as partner, expanding the firm into Houston. Tomlinson brings over 30 years of experience advising sponsors, investors, developers, and lenders on transactions across the energy sector.
Alex Kaplan has joined the Houston office of Kirkland & Ellis as partner. As a commercial trial lawyer, Kaplan previously made partner at Susman Goffrey in just four years for his work in energy, antitrust, financial services, technology, intellectual property, and M&A-related disputes.
Alejandra Chavira has joined Reynolds Frizzell in Houston as a trial attorney. She previously served as a law clerk to Judge James E. Graves Jr. of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
Chalon N. Clark has joined Hunton Andrews Kurth in Dallas as a partner in the firm’s commercial litigation practice. Drawing on nearly two decades of experience handling complex, high-value matters, Clark’s practice focuses on high-stakes disputes across the commercial lending, construction, real estate, financial services, products liability, and employment sectors.
Evan Kudler has joined Kaplan Kirsch in San Francisco as an attorney working on public infrastructure, environmental stewardship, and matters involving Native American tribes. He previously worked as an associate at Hogan Lovells and, before that, at Baker Botts.
Emily Jolly has joined Troutman Pepper Locke’s Energy Regulatory practice as a partner in its Austin office. Jolly brings nearly two decades of Texas-based legal experience focusing on contested case proceedings, rulemakings, transmission, and wholesale power policy within ERCOT, as well as advocacy before the Public Utility Commission of Texas.
Kristi Tyler has joined My Dallas Criminal Lawyer to handle juvenile defense, CPS cases, and criminal matters. Tyler previously led the Felony Crimes Against Children Division at the Collin County District Attorney’s Office.
Michael Davis has been promoted to partner at Houston litigation firm Gibbs & Bruns. Prior to joining the firm, Davis clerked for former Fifth Circuit Judge Gregg Costa from 2018 to 2019.
Sam Waldon has joined WilmerHale’s Washington, D.C., office as partner in its Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group. As a former Securities and Exchange Commission senior enforcement official, Waldon will advise clients on regulatory and enforcement matters, internal investigations, litigation, and long-term risk mitigation.
Brad Thompson has been appointed as managing partner for the Austin office of Duane Morris LLP. Before serving as a partner focusing on energy-related matters at the firm, he worked as a partner at King & Spalding. He also serves as a team lead for the Duane Morris Energy Industry Group and is a member of the firm’s governing Partners Board.
Adrián Gay Lasa has joined the Mexico office of Greenberg Traurig’s capital markets and finance practices as a shareholder. Lasa, who received his LLM from Texas Law, has extensive experience in FIBRAs, a Mexican real estate investment trust.
Christina Hightower has joined Kelley Drye & Warren LLP as a partner and will be based in Austin. Her practice focuses on major energy, data center, power generation, and infrastructure projects as she counsels owners and developers on project development, EPC and procurement strategy, risk allocation, and project execution.
Allison Kendrick has joined McGuireWoods’ aviation litigation and product liability practice in Seattle as partner after serving as product liability counsel at Boeing.
Mindy Montford has co-founded the National Cold Case Center, a non-profit dedicated to providing funding for investigative resources, family-victim peer support, the creation of a national cold case database, and serving as a national hub for cold cases. She previously worked for the Attorney General’s Office Cold Case & Missing Persons Unit.
Kristen Silverberg has been named the new president and CEO of Business Roundtable, based in Washington, D.C., after serving as its president and COO. Silverberg began her career in public service as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, held several senior policy roles in the White House under President George W. Bush, served as U.S. ambassador to the European Union from 2008-09, and spent six years at the Institute of International Finance.
Buena Vista Lyons has joined Jackson Lewis in Dallas as an employment litigation principal. She previously worked for FordHarrison as managing partner.
Elizabeth Bellows Brockman has joined the UTHealth Houston Development Board. She currently works as an attorney, and spent several years at Vinson & Elkins in Houston.
Della Sentilles has joined Steptoe’s New York office as a partner in its Investigations, White-Collar Defense and Compliance group. Sentilles previously served as senior attorney in the U.S. Department of Justice’s Fraud Section.
Judge Alan Albright is joining the Austin office of A&O Shearman as a partner in its Intellectual Property Litigation practice. Albright previously served eight years as a United States district judge for the Western District of Texas.
Jon Hyland has joined Kane Russell Coleman Logan’s Dallas office as a director. Hyland focuses his practice on intellectual property litigation and has extensive experience serving as lead counsel in federal courts.
Katherine Himaya Lewis has joined the Tulsa office of GableGotwals as a litigation associate. She will focus on commercial litigation, researching complex legal issues and conducting analysis, drafting motions and briefs, and providing trial support.
John Zachary has been appointed as an immigration judge at the Oakdale Immigration Court in Louisiana. He previously served as an assistant chief counsel with the Office of the Principal Legal Advisor, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Leslie Kay Ritchie Robnett has been reappointed to the Specialty Courts Advisory Council of Texas. As a sixth generation Texas lawyer and rancher, Robnett currently works at LKR Law in Austin as a litigation and regulatory counselor. She is the former Fort Worth chair of Texas Law Alumni Association Executive Committee.
Travis Wussow recently founded Bell Rock Strategies to build AI-powered workflows. He also is joining Texas Law as a lecturer, where he leads the school’s AI skills program.
Jim Ammerman II has been appointed municipal court judge of Marshall, Texas. He previously served as the County Court at Law judge for Harrison County starting in 1997, won reelection four times before his last term ended in 2014, and returned to private practice.
The Honorable Michael Landrum has been appointed Judge of the 514th Judicial District Court in Harris County. He is a practicing attorney and arbitrator, and former judge of the 113th District Court and 164th District Court in Harris County.
Shane Kimzey has joined BNSF Railway as vice president and general counsel. He previously served as deputy general counsel and chief ethics and compliance officer at CenterPoint Energy.
Ian Roberts has joined the Dallas office of Hunton Andrews Kurth as a restructuring and bankruptcy partner. Previously, he served as partner at A&O Shearman’s restructuring practice, representing major U.S. financial institutions and manufacturing companies.
Martin Noven has been appointed by Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds to oversee the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System. Previously Noven served as the executive director of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System.
Lynda Tealer will join the University of Texas Athletic Department as deputy athletics director for strategic initiatives and administration. Tealer is a former NCAA senior vice president of championships and a longtime collegiate athletics administrator.
David Vollmer has joined Snell & Wilmer’s Reno-Tahoe office as an associate in the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. His practice focuses on real estate transactions, including development, construction, leasing and financing matters.
Sam Waldon will be leaving his position as principal deputy director of the SEC’s Division of Enforcement on July 31, closing out more than 14 years of service at the agency. Waldon’s departure caps a career that saw him twice step into the top enforcement job on an acting basis, in both 2025 and 2026.
Jared Vitemb has joined Ruiz Foods as senior vice president and general counsel. He will lead the company’s legal function and advise its CEO, board of directors, and executive leadership team. Vitemb previously was VP, general counsel, chief compliance officer and corporate secretary at Farmer Brothers Co.
Mark Eisenbraun has joined Jones Walker as a partner in the firm’s Corporate Practice Group in Houston, where he focuses on corporate, securities and transactional matters. Before joining Jones Walker, Eisenbraun co-founded Walker Eisenbraun.
Aaron Reitz has been sworn in as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, where he serves as the chief federal law enforcement officer for the district. Previously he was in private practice with Hance Scarborough after serving as head of the Justice Department’s Office of Legal Policy.
Lorena Trujillo has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at Everstory Partners, where she leads the company’s legal, compliance, risk management, and corporate governance functions. Everstory Partners is one of the nation’s largest providers of cemetery, funeral, and cremation services. Trujillo has been with the company since 2019.
Ajay Thomas has been selected to serve as the next chair-elect of Southwestern University Board of Trustees. He currently is the senior managing director and national head of public finance at FHN Financial.
Amy Davis has been promoted to senior vice president and general counsel at Randolph Brooks Federal Credit Union. Davis has 16 years of legal experience including a decade at RBFCU, where she has helped the credit union navigate increasingly complex issues and transactions including risk mitigation, regulatory compliance, mergers, among others.
William E. Routt III has joined national law firm, Bass, Berry & Sims, as a senior litigation attorney in the firm’s newly launched Chicago office. Routt has 20 years of litigation experience focusing on contract disputes and business torts across a wide variety of industries including finance, healthcare, manufacturing, real estate, insurance, and entertainment.
Marlen Whitley has been named director of operations and partner-in-charge of Townsend & Lockett’s newly opened Houston office. Whitley brings more than 20 years of experience practicing law in the Houston market, advising clients across the energy, private equity, infrastructure and business sectors.
Cynthia Dunn Raibourn has joined Carrington, Coleman, Sloman and Blumenthal in Dallas as a partner in the firm’s Family Law section. She is board certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and has over three decades of experience as a family law specialist.
Robert Griffin has been promoted to partner in the Investment Management Group at Skadden’s office in Abu Dahbi. Griffin has a depth of experience in international fund structuring, fund management, regulatory compliance, and private placements.
Bill Nelson was promoted to partner in Latham & Watkins’ capital markets and public company representation practices in Houston. He represents corporate and institutional clients in complex capital markets transactions and corporate governance matters.
Robert Levy has announced his retirement after 17 years with Exxon Mobil Corporation, most recently as executive counsel responsible for issues and advocacy. In July he will join the U.S. Department of Justice’s Environment and Natural Resources Division as senior counsel at Main Justice in Washington, D.C.