Class Notes

Bill Hopkins has joined Stinson as a partner in the firm’s Health Care & Insurance Practice Division. He was previously an office managing partner at Spencer Fane.

Jason Blackmer has joined Latitude Legal, a global flexible legal staffing company, as leader and founding partner of the company’s new regional corporate office in Houston. Blackmer previously served as associate general counsel of Sunnova, where he advised the company on debt and equity transactions, public reporting matters, and restructuring.

George M. Jirotka has retired after almost 20 years as a circuit court judge in Florida’s 6th Judicial Circuit. Previously Jirotka practiced law for nearly 20 years as a shareholder at the firm Fowler White Boggs Banker.

Susan Welker Turley retired from L3Harris Technologies in 2024, where she was the corporate director of enterprise contracts and compliance. Previously she worked for U.S. Air Force JAG Corps and Raytheon Technologies.

Amy Hinzmann has joined the Seattle-based e-discovery company Lighthouse Document Technologies Inc. as head of information governance. She previously worked as an executive vice president of corporate and commercial services at legal services company UnitedLex.

Mason Grist has joined Wilkinson Stekloff as an associate in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office. Grist, who served as editor-in-chief of the Texas Law Review during his time at Texas Law, most recently clerked for Judge Royce C. Lamberth of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

The Honorable Thomas Bartlett Sehon Sr. passed away on Nov. 5, 2025. He served for nearly 20 years as the Falls County district attorney in Marlin, Texas, then successfully ran for county judge, retiring in 2007.

David Rodriguez passed away Oct. 25, 2025. A double Longhorn, he opened and ran his own law practice, the Law Office of David Rodriguez, in San Antonio.

Theodore Thomas “Ted” Hollen III passed away Oct. 13, 2025. Hollen, who pursued his passion for rodeo alongside his law career, worked in the political arena and opened a sole practitioner law firm. He received the 50-years recognition from the State Bar of Texas.

Stuart Alan Morse has passed away. He began his career as an attorney at the Securities and Exchange Commission before returning to Texas, where he founded several law firms including Klein Morse; Kroney, Silverman, Mincey; and Kroney Morse Lan.

Charles Robert “Chuck” Helms passed away Nov. 2, 2025. Helms, who spent many years practicing law in Dallas alongside his friend and partner Paul Pesek, was president of his local Catholic lawyer’s guild and served as president-elect of the national Catholic Bar Association.

Timothy Allen “Tad” Dunn passed away Oct. 30, 2025. Following law school, Dunn worked for several law firms throughout his career, most recently with Messer Fort.

David Bolduc has been appointed to the Texas Public Sector Artificial Intelligence Systems Advisory Board. Bolduc currently serves as the agency head and public counsel at the Office of the Public Insurance Counsel and has over 49 years of legal experience in government and private practice.

Jennifer Matis has retired from the federal government following 24 years of public service. Following more than a decade at the National Labor Relations Board, Matis spent 11 years with the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and most recently served as associate counsel in its legal, external affairs, and performance branch.

Bridget O’Hickey has a new position as senior counsel to the assistant attorney general at the U.S. Department of Justice’s National Security Division. She previously served as deputy solicitor general at the Florida Office of the Attorney General.

Mary Goldsmith has been selected for inclusion in Marquis “Who’s Who,” which is a biographical collection covering leaders and achievers from around the world. She is the owner of the Law Office of Mary A. Goldsmith in Port Aransas, Texas, as well as Mary Goldsmith Photography and Art in Nature.

Herbert Edward Marsh Jr. passed away on March 7, 2025. For nearly six decades he practiced law as both a private practice attorney and Texas state judge.

Omar Ochoa has been elected mayor of Edinburg, Texas. A triple Longhorn and civil litigation attorney, Ochoa serves as founding attorney at Omar Ochoa Law Firm in McAllen, Texas.

Jeb McNew passed away on Oct. 17, 2025. A double Longhorn, he and his wife opened their own law practice, McNew & McNew in Nocona, Texas. He then was elected to serve as Montague County Attorney, a position he held for over two decades.

Manuel Almaguer passed away on Oct. 24, 2025. A double Longhorn, he served in the United States Air Force before spending five decades managing his own law firm until his retirement in 2020.

Russ Hollenbeck has been promoted to managing partner of Wright Close Barger & Guzman. A member of the firm for over 23 years, he previously served as a partner before his election to this leadership role.

Brian D. Miller has been appointed United States attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania for the U.S. Department of Justice effective Oct. 27, 2025, by order of United States Attorney General Pamela Bondi. He previously served as special inspector general for pandemic recovery. Miller’s interim appointment is for 120 days or until a presidential appointment is made, whichever occurs first.

Annie Holland Miller has been inducted into the University of Texas at Austin Recreational Sports Hall of Honor for 2025. She currently serves as chief business and operations manager of Holand Investments, LTD, and remains involved with RecSports as a member of the department’s Leadership Team.

Brian Haley has been inducted into the University of Texas at Austin Recreational Sports Hall of Honor for 2025.The co-founder of CB Capital, he served as the student government president during the 2003–04 academic year, and was appointed the first student on The University of Texas System Board of Regents in 2006.

Milam Newby has been inducted into the University of Texas at Austin Recreational Sports Hall of Honor for 2025. He served on the ad hoc committee that developed the initial design concepts for the Gregory Gym Aquatic Complex, and he currently works as a partner at Vinson & Elkins in Austin and heads the firm’s technology practice.

Dean Greenwood has been inducted into the University of Texas at Austin Recreational Sports Hall of Honor for 2025. One of four individuals to earn All-Intramural Team honors in four sports within a single academic year, he served in the U.S. Army for four years before law school, where he continued his intramural career playing flag football with the Legal Eagles.

Thomas Nguyen, a practice leader at CBRE Restaurant Real Estate, competed with his family on the TV show “Family Feud” that will air Nov. 25.

Alyse Munrose has joined Bollier Ciccone Stinson LLP as an attorney. She focuses her practice on family law, combining her legal experience with a strong foundation in social work and public service.

Adam Goodrum has joined the Austin law firm Botkin Chiarello Calaf as a litigation associate. Goodrum joins the firm after serving as assistant U.S. attorney in the Northern District of Oklahoma, where he was the 2024 Gaye L. Tenoso Indian Country Fellow, part of the Attorney General’s Honors Program. He also worked as a term clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Lane of the Western District of Texas.

Ben Bireley has joined the firm Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner in Houston as of counsel. Bireley—who has 15 years of valuable personal injury and commercial litigation experience—focuses on a wide range of personal injury matters, including wrongful death, catastrophic injury, plant explosions, workplace injuries, product liability, and truck accidents.

Samuel G. Encarnacion has been chosen to receive the A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Minority Bar Committee, recognizing his outstanding contributions to justice, leadership, and service throughout his career. Encarnacion is senior trial counsel at Haggerty Silverman & Justice in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.

Donald Rorschach Sr. passed away on Oct. 9, 2025. He served as the assistant city attorney for Waco before becoming the city attorney for Irving, a position he held for over two decades.

Donna Gooden Payne has announced her plans to retire as senior vice president and general counsel at the University of Rochester.  She previously served as university counsel and vice chancellor for legal affairs at East Carolina University before joining URochester in 2019.

Ronald Eugene Holub passed away on Oct. 10, 2023. Holub began his career at the former law firm Newman Shook & Newman and remained there until 1984 when he opened a solo practice.

Keith Clark Carter passed away on Sept. 16, 2025, at the age of 100. A POW and Purple Heart recipient for his service in World War II, Carter was a contracts supervisor for the Continental Oil Company in Houston before moving to the UT Austin Graduate School of Business, where he taught Business Law and Oil and Gas Law as well as while coordinating the Petroleum Land Management Program.

Carlos Martinez has been promoted to chief of staff for the Office of the President at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Previously Martinez served as a senior vice president at the institution, overseeing strategic planning, compliance risk management and office operations.

Robert P. Parker has written the book “Derecognition,” which recounts how his testimony to Congress in 1979 helped shape the Taiwan Relations Act and the federal legislation at the heart of U.S. relations with Taiwan and China today. Throughout his career, he served as an international lawyer, pilot, and venture capitalist, the former president of Taiwan’s American Chamber of Commerce.

Laurier Bernard McDonald Jr. passed away on Oct. 10, 2025. McDonald served as a special agent with the FBI and as the United States Commissioner before the office was abolished.

Louis Dayne Miller passed away on Oct. 6, 2025. After spending many years in General Dynamics Corporation’s legal department, Miller started his own law practice in Graham, Texas, then served as the Young County attorney until his retirement.

Nancy Carlson, trustee emeritus for The University of Texas Law School Foundation, has been named a 2026 TACA Silver Cup Award honoree. She serves as a partner at the investment firm Carlson Capital, LP and is heavily involved in the Dallas art community.

David Hayden, retired U.S. Army colonel, has been appointed by Governor Josh Stein to serve a two-year term as chair of the North Carolina Military Affairs Commission. He’s currently an attorney at Smith Anderson and was previously general counsel and board secretary for USfalcon, Inc.

Maine Goodfellow has joined Hilcorp in Houston as assistant general counsel. He previously served as managing counsel for Business Development and Corporate Transactions at Phillips 66.

Thomas Cooke has joined McFarland PLLC as a condemnation attorney in the firm’s Houston office.  He was previously an associate attorney at a complex commercial litigation firm.

Theodore Thomas Hollen III passed away on Oct. 13, 2025. He began his career at Pearson & Pearson in El Paso, Texas, before launching his independent law practice in Austin, Ted Hollen Attorney at Law. He retired in May of 2025.

James “Jim” Bertrand passed away on Sept. 29, 2025. Bertrand, who served in the Navy for two years before coming to Texas Law, eventually became a partner at Vinson & Elkins, where he worked for over 30 years.

Veronica Gonzales has been named the 2025 Woman of the Year by the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce. Gonzales, who is the senior vice president for governmental and community relations at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, also serves on Texas Law’s Alumni Association Executive Committee.

A downtown plaza in Austin will be named to honor the late Pike Powers, former state representative and longtime contributor to Austin’s technology sector. The “Old” Red River Street will become a pedestrian-oriented space named Pike Powers Plaza.

Katy Zendeh has been elected to member of the firm Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C. effective Oct. 1, 2025. She practices in the Bankruptcy and Complex Litigation practice groups.

Ashley Morgan has been appointed to the Texas Water Development Board by Governor Greg Abbott. She is an attorney at Erben & Yarbrough and previously worked for the Office of the Governor, the Office of the Attorney General, the Railroad Commission of Texas, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

Randy Schaffer has written “Tales As Old As Crime” about corruption in the criminal justice system. Schaffer is a defense attorney with Schaffer Law Offices in Houston.