Peter Sakai, formerly a state district judge, has been sworn in as Bexar County judge, managing a county of two million people. Sakai has spent his career in Bexar County, working in District Attorney’s Office, serving as the county’s juvenile section chief, then becoming an associate judge. In 2006, he was elected to the 225th District Court, a post to which he was re-elected three times without opposition.
Marie Harlan has joined the Houston office of McFarland PLLC as a partner. Harlan specializes in private property rights, eminent domain and condemnation law.
Cindi Graham has been named chair of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization Board. In 1994, Graham opened her own law firm and in 2002 became board certified in family law.
Bradley Cole has been added as a partner to Thompson Coe’s Insurance Coverage section. Cole has more than 30 years of experience assisting clients in a wide range of disputes.
Matt Stewart has been promoted to partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP. Stewart is a member of the firm’s Investment Management and Private Equity practice groups. He focuses on structuring, forming, and advising private equity, energy, real estate, and other private investment funds and their management companies.
Chase Proctor has been promoted to partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP. A member of the firm’s Mergers &Acquisitions practice group, Proctor has experience in acquisitions, divestitures, securities transactions, and other complex business transactions.
Garrett Martin has been promoted to partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP. Martin specializes in the firm’s Energy, Power and Natural Resources practice, representing clients in all facets of the oil and gas industry.
William Logan McCallie has joined the Nashville office of Bass, Berry & Sims. McCallie specializes in corporate and securities issues including mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, and securities regulations matters and filings.
Jeff Matthews has been elected as the new chairman and CEO of Winstead PC. Matthews, who was previously the chair of the Business & Transactions Department, specializes in real estate litigation.
David Peavler is joining Jones Day as a partner in its Securities Litigation & SEC Enforcement practice. Peavler was the former Director of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)’s Fort Worth office.
Stefani Shanberg has been added to Perkins Coie’s national patent litigation practice as a partner. Shanberg specializes in representing technology companies in IP cases.
Alia Moses made history when she became the first woman to assume the role of chief judge in the Western District of Texas. As chief, Moses oversees budgetary and administrative matters for the 68-county district, which covers 93,000 square miles from the Texas-Mexico border.
Stephen Yeh has been promoted to counsel at Mayer Brown, in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Yeh works in the Banking & Finance Global Leveraged Finance and Global Projects groups, specializing on clean and renewable energy litigation.
Rachel Bergstrom Morgan has been named executive vice president and general counsel of Nexstar Media Group, Inc. She will be responsible for the long-term legal strategy and day-to-day management of Nexstar’s legal affairs, as well as those of its affiliated companies.
Gardner Pate has been named as Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s chief of staff. Pate previously was the deputy chief of staff before becoming Governor Abbott’s re-election campaign chairman.
Ha-Vi Nguyen was elected to serve on the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers (DAYL) Board of Directors. Nguyen is a senior associate at Frost Brown Todd and is also the co-chair of the Lawyers Promoting Diversity Committee of DAYL.
Cristina De La Cruz has joined Wright Close & Barger as a new associate. Cruz previously served as a law clerk for the Travis County probate court and as an intern for the Travis County Attorney’s Office.
Ron Erlichman has joined Linklaters LLP as a partner in the energy and infrastructure team. Erlichman specializes in advising lenders, sponsors, private investment funds and developers on the development and financing of energy and infrastructure projects. He is a double Longhorn, having also earned his bachelor’s degree from UT.
Ronnie Dabbasi has joined Holland & Knight as a partner in the firm’s transactional and regulatory team. Dabbasi previously served as counsel with Eversheds for nearly five years. He is a double Longhorn, having also earned his bachelor’s degree from UT.
Jeremy Hawpe has been appointed as office managing shareholder at Littler. Hawpe advises and represents employers in the infrastructure, healthcare, insurance, staffing and transportation industries in a range of employment law matters.
Matt Allen has joined the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi in Jackson as an assistant United States attorney in the Criminal Division.
Marissa Marquez was promoted to human resources manager of system compliance and immigration at Houston Methodist Hospital.
Brooke Lierman made history during midterm elections by being the first woman to be independently elected into office in the state of Maryland. Lierman assume her role as the state comptroller in January 2023. She has served in the Maryland House of Delegates since 2015.
Congressman Henry Cuellar has been re-elected for a 10th term representing the 28th congressional district in South Texas.
Kaitie Sorenson has joined the Houston office of Beck Redden LLP as an associate and will work in the areas of appellate and commercial litigation. While at Texas Law, Sorenson served as editor-in-chief of the Texas Law Review.
Insiya Aziz has joined litigation firm Reynolds Frizzell LLP as an associate. As a trial attorney, Aziz draws upon her diverse background to find unique resolutions to legal issues for her clients across the energy, real estate, and financial sectors.
David Tobin has joined McDermott Will & Emery LLP as a new partner in the intellectual property practice group. Tobin was previously special counsel at Baker Botts, where he focused on patent post-grant trial and patent litigation.
Sara Ann Brown has joined the Dallas office of the nationwide law firm Thompson Coburn as a partner. Ms. Brown is an experienced litigation attorney who represents clients in high-stakes, complex lawsuits.
Thomas Verity has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins. Verity is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and Corporate Department, where he advises multinational corporations, private equity sponsors, and financial advisors on M&A and corporate finance transactions.
Emily Stegich has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins. Stegich is a member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice and Corporate Department, where she advises public and private companies on complex M&A, corporate reorganizations, and general corporate governance.
Naim Culhaci has been promoted to counsel at Latham & Watkins. Culhaci is a member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, where he specializes in advising investment banks, hedge funds, private equity firms, alternative trading platforms, transfer agents, and other securities-related platforms on securities market regulation matters.
Jonathan Sarna has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. Sarna is a member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, where he represents issuers and underwriters in capital markets transactions, with a focus on the life sciences and real estate investment trust (REIT) sectors.
Max Raskin has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. Raskin is a member of the Executive Compensation, Employment & Benefits Practice and Tax Department, where he specializes in private equity and other corporate transactions.
Christopher Bezeg has been promoted to partner at Latham & Watkins. Bezeg is a member of the Capital Markets Practice and Corporate Department, where he represents private equity sponsors, investment banks, and public and private companies across a range of capital markets and corporate transactions.
Nickolas Spiliotis has joined Jones Walker LLP as a partner, where he specializes in counseling employers across multiple industries on a variety of workplace issues. Spiliotis was formerly a partner at K&L Gates LLP for six years.
Atman Shukla was promoted to partner at Sidley Austin in January of 2022. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions and investment transactions for clients in the energy and infrastructure space, including upstream, oilfield services, midstream and downstream, as well as aviation matters.
Brian Watson has joined Bethune, Dye and Enright PLLC as an associate attorney. Watson is currently the mayor of Beeville and has spent the last three years as a felony prosecutor for the 156th Judicial District Attorney’s Office.
Rachel Ehlers has joined Baker McKenzie as a partner in the firm’s intellectual property and technology practice. Ehlers, who is certified as a Privacy Law Specialist and Certified Information Privacy Professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals, has more than a decade of experience advising clients on data privacy and cybersecurity issues.
Jamie Rose has joined Greenberg Traurig LLP as a litigation team shareholder. Rose’s expertise is in representing individuals and companies facing business and commercial disputes.
Ethel Johnson has joined the litigation team as a shareholder at Greenberg Taurig LLP. Johnson’s practice primarily focuses on employment and product liability litigation for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies, automobile manufacturers, pharmaceutical companies, and more.
David Cole has joined the Houston office of Kirkland Ellis as a partner. Cole is a tax attorney who has been recognized by The Legal 500 US and named a “Texas Rising Star” by Thomas Reuters.
Molly Fenton has been promoted to Partner at Cohen Gardner LLP. Fenton specializes in entertainment law, negotiating deals and contracts for a range of clients in film, television, and digital/new media spaces.
Adam Greiner has joined Schiffer Hicks Johnson PLLC after completing the firm’s 2021 Summer Associate Program. Greiner specializes in mass tort litigation, product liability claims, and commercial disputes in the energy sector.
Eric Halpern has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Dallas office as an associate in the Litigation Practice Group.
David Genender has joined McDermott Will & Emery LLP as a partner. Genender has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in arbitrations at the state and federal levels, in industries varying from energy, technology, private equity and real estate.
Michael Byrd has joined Porter Hedges LLP’s Houston office as a partner in energy transactions. Byrd formerly practiced at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP before briefly running a solo practice.
Melynda Price has been named the inaugural J. David Rosenburg Professor of Law at the University of Kentucky J. David Rosenburg College of Law. Price has served on the law school faculty there since 2006 and served as director of the University of Kentucky Gaines Center for Humanities.
Travis Maples is the newest associate attorney at Soltero Sapire Murrell PLLC in Austin. During his time at Texas Law, Maples served as associate editor of the Texas Law Review.
Omar Alaniz has been named the president of the John C. Ford American Inn of Court, an organization dedicated to the specialty of the bankruptcy field. Alaniz currently serves as a restructuring partner at Reed Smith LLP.
Susan Chase has joined the University of Michigan School of Law as a visiting clinical assistant professor in the Community Enterprise Clinic. In addition to teaching, she will work with student-led teams to assist small businesses and nonprofit organizations in southeastern Michigan.