Class Notes

Brianna Herman has joined Ogletree Deakins’ Houston office as an associate. A former Harris County prosecutor, Herman focuses her practice on a variety of labor and employment matters.

Shavonne Smith has joined Ogletree Deakins as of counsel at the firm’s San Antonio office. Her practice focuses on employment litigation matters, including workplace discrimination, harassment, retaliation, failure to accommodate, wrongful termination, and related issues.

Greg Sorensen has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins’ Houston office. Sorensen is a member of the firm’s M&A and Private Equity Practice and Corporate department and advises clients on strategic energy and infrastructure transactions.

David Moore has been elected to partner at Latham & Watkins’ Houston office. Moore, who is a member of the firm’s Investment Funds Practice and Corporate department, focuses his practice on U.S. and international private investment funds and joint ventures.

Christine Mainguy has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins in the Houston office. A member of the firm’s Transactional Tax Practice and Tax Department, she advises clients on U.S. federal income taxation of mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, Up-C structures, restructurings, and capital markets transactions. Mainguy has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America as “Ones to Watch” for tax law and energy law.

Sean Whyte has joined Bressler, Amery & Ross’ Florham Park, N.J., office as a principal in the firm’s Commercial Litigation practice group. Whyte, who has extensive experience in blockchain and crypto technology, specializes in class actions and business litigation.

Christi Craddick has been reelected to the Railroad Commission of Texas, of which she is the current chair. Craddick has served in the agency, which regulates the state’s oil and natural gas industry, since 2012.

Cal Hendrick won the Odessa mayoral race, in the Nov. 5 election. Hendrick, an insurance attorney, ran on a platform of returning the City Council’s attention to everyday issues. He has served as general counsel at Mcanally Wilkins Inc. in Odessa.

David Young has joined Reynolds Frizzell as an associate. Young’s experience as a young trial lawyer includes client matters across various industries, including industrial, private equity, financial services, and technology.

Cheryl Rosenberg has joined Frost Brown Todd, following 14 years with Haynes and Boone. Rosenberg, who’s been practicing law for over 35 years, has experience in the issuance of governmental tax-exempt debt in Texas, serving as underwriter’s counsel for investment banking firms and advising clients on general public law matters.

Nik Soni has joined bi-coastal boutique BraunHagey & Borden as an associate in the New York City office. He works as a complex commercial litigator, focusing on high profile commercial disputes. Soni is now the fifth Texas Law alum at BHB.

Monica Brown will be appointed executive vice president, chief legal officer and secretary for Lennox International, effective January of 2025. Brown joined Lennox in 2012 and currently serves as vice president and deputy general counsel.

Scott Schools has been appointed chief compliance officer for OpenAI. In addition to his previous role as Uber Technologies’ chief ethics and compliance officer, Schools has served as associate deputy attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Cathy Garza has joined the Jackson Walker’s Electric Regulatory practice in Austin. She regularly advises clients in the electricity sector, including investor-owned utilities, power generation companies, retail electric providers and developers on regulatory and commercial litigation, as well as compliance issues. Garza advocates for clients in contested proceedings before the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the State Office of Administrative Hearings.

Colombina Valera has joined Austin-based litigation firm Botkin Chiarello Calaf as an associate, following a two-year clerkship for U.S. Magistrate Judge Dustin M. Howell of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas.

Joe Profaizer has joined Linklaters LLP’s Washington, D.C., office as partner and international arbitration global co-head. Profaizer previously served as global co-chair of Paul Hastings LLP’s international arbitration practice and is an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown University Law Center.

Tom Mason, an executive vice president of Energy Transfer LP in Dallas, has been appointed to the Texas Economic Development Corporation board of directors.

Zoraima Pelaez has been promoted to staff attorney with the ACLU’s Reproductive Freedom Project. A double Longhorn, Pelaez previously worked with the ACLU as an Equal Justice Works fellow.

Sam Waldon has been named acting deputy director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Division of Enforcement. Waldon has been with the SEC for 14 years, most recently as chief counsel for the Division of Enforcement.

Richard Joseph has been named interim dean of the Knauss School of Business at the University of San Diego. Joseph is the former provost and chief academic officer at Bryant University who previously served for over a decade at UT’s McCombs School of Business.

Michelle Schulz founded the Dallas-based Schulz Trade Law, where she is managing partner. Schulz, a leader in international trade law with over 20 years of experience,  advises Fortune 500 companies on import and export compliance and serves on the U.S. Industry Trade Advisory Committee for Aerospace.

Melissa Shultz has been named assistant dean for legal writing and professor of law at St. Mary’s University. Prior to becoming a law professor, Shultz worked at King & Spalding in Washington, D.C., before opening her own law firm.

Karen Hansen has joined the San Antonio Water System (SAWS) executive management team as vice president of environmental law and regulatory compliance. Hansen, who’s had a working relationship with SAWS since 2007, will assist the utility in navigating state and national environmental issues.

Edward Guzman has been promoted to senior vice president/chief legal and ethics officer of the San Antonio Water System. Guzman joined SAWS in 2020 as senior corporate counsel, providing legal support for environmental and regulatory issues.

Rose Jenkins has been nominated by President Joe Biden as a judge to the United States Tax Court. Jenkins has over 15 years of career experience as a tax lawyer and is an expert in international tax law and administrative law. She is currently an attorney in the Office of Associate Chief Counsel at the Internal Revenue Service.

Elizabeth Noël Harwerth has been appointed as independent non-executive director at Hansard Global. Harwerth previously worked in the British government and recently was honored by King Charles III with the Order of the British Empire for her outstanding services to international trade.

Suzanne Milton has been appointed as chief audit and compliance executive of Virginia Commonwealth University’s audit and compliance services unit. Previously Milton was VCU’s chief ethics and compliance officer after practicing in-house labor and employment law for the U.S. Postal Service.

Alex Anderson has joined Spencer Fane’s Plano office as an associate in the banking and financial services practice group. A double Longhorn, Anderson served as law clerk for Chief Bankruptcy Judge John S. Hodge of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Louisiana.

Catherine Bellah has been appointed to the Texas Department of Information Resources. Bellah is currently CEO of Plumaven and head of philanthropic and political missions for Charles and Potomac Capital.

Jack Balagia has been named executive director of the Kay Bailey Hutchison Energy Center at the University of Texas at Austin. Balagia was on Exxon Mobil’s legal team for nearly two decades, serving as vice president and general counsel from 2010 until his retirement in 2016.

Leah Gillum, the deputy commissioner of the fraud and enforcement division at the Texas Department of Insurance, has been elected secretary of the administrative and public law section of the state bar.

E. David Coligado was promoted to CEO at Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr in Dallas. Coligado, who has led the firm’s real estate section, also was named a 2024 Texas Super Lawyer in real estate law.

Robert “Bryan” Gantt has been appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to the 471st Judicial District Court in Collin County.

Stephen Clarke has been promoted to general counsel at Preston Hollow Community Capital in Dallas. Clarke will be supporting Preston Hollow in its strategic initiatives by providing legal advice and counsel on a broad array of corporate, contract, litigation, and compliance matters.

Drew Baldinger has joined King & Spalding’s Houston office as a partner in its Corporate Practice group and Energy Industry team. Baldinger specializes in energy transactions and has experience representing clients in M&A and joint venture transactions.

Marc Taubenfeld has joined Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C. as a shareholder in the firm’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring + Insolvency section in Dallas. Taubenfeld has extensive experience representing both debtors and creditors in business bankruptcy matters as well as creditors and creditor groups in consumer cases.

George J. Hittner has been appointed executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary at W&T Offshore, Inc., an independent oil and natural gas producer. Hittner, whose legal career in the public and private sector spans over 20 years, will join the executive team in propelling W&T’s strategic goals.

Zoe Dobkin has joined Texas Legal Services Center as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. While at Texas Law, Dobkin was vice president of communications for If/When/How: Lawyering for Reproductive Justice; a student attorney in the Transnational Worker Rights, Civil Rights, Housing Policy, and Housing clinics; and a Pro Bono Scholar for the Richard and Ginni Mithoff Pro Bono Program Expunction Project.

Warigia Bowman has been named the new director of the Natural Resources and Environmental Law program at the University of New Mexico School of Law. Bowman is a nationally known expert in in water, natural resources, energy, public policy and regulatory issues.

E. David Coligado has been elcected to be the next chief executive officer (CEO) of Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C., effective Jan. 1, 2025. Colgado joined Munsch Hardt as an associate in 2000, and has consistently increased his responsibilities and leadership roles, most recently serving as Real Estate Section head, a member of the firm’s Operations Committee and Opinion Letter Committee.

Philip I. Danze has joined Hallett & Perrin in Dallas as a shareholder. Danze has a broad base of experience in complex real estate and corporate transactions, representing clients in connection with the acquisition, development, leasing, finance, and sale of a variety of large real estate projects.

J. Cullen Aderhold has joined Dallas’ Hallett & Perrin as a shareholder. Aderhold has extensive experience representing domestic and foreign clients in a wide variety of commercial real estate, corporate, partnership, and other business transactions.

Ralph Molina was appointed deputy first assistant to Attorney General Ken Paxton. Molina most recently served as deputy attorney general for legal strategy, managing the Legal Strategy and Special Litigation divisions.

Sarah Keyton has been appointed to the position of interim commissioner by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board. Previously she Keyton served as associate vice chancellor for state relations at the Texas Tech University System.

Daniel E. “Dan” Mangis has a new position as deputy chief of mission at the Office of the U.S. Ambassador to Cyprus at the U.S. Embassy in Cyprus. Most recently, Mangus was the deputy public affairs officer and spokesperson at the embassy in Amman, Jordan.

Claire Campbell has joined Kirkland and Ellis as a Houston-based corporate partner focused on representing private equity funds, equity investments, and related portfolio management. Previously working as a managing director with Stonepeak, a leading alternative investment firm focused on the infrastructure and real estate sectors, she has extensive experience negotiating mergers and acquisitions and structured equity investments for private equity clients in multiple jurisdictions.

Andy Cooper has been named a partner with the Dallas-based firm Chamblee Ryan PC. Having joined the firm in 2014, his practice focuses on a variety of subject matters, including the defense of personal injury, insurance coverage, commercial, trucking, premises liability, environmental and toxic tort claims, indemnity, and trade practice cases in federal, Texas, and Louisiana courts.

Pam Giblin has joined the Good Neighbor Environmental Board under the Federal Advisory Committee Management Division of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). With over 30 years of experience in environmental law, Giblin is knowledgeable in advising clients on environmental matters such as air quality.  She has also served as president of the American College of Environmental Lawyers and on the Clean Air Act Advisory Committee, a team that advised the EPA on the implementation of the Clean Air Act.

Cori Loomis has joined the healthcare group at McAfee & Taft, where she will represent and counsel hospitals and health systems, physicians and medical practices, and other healthcare providers. Before taking on this role, Loomis served as the compliance officer and HIPAA privacy official for the University of Oklahoma and as the general counsel for the Oklahoma State Medical Association.