Latham & Watkins LLP is pleased to announce that Jonathan Castelan has joined the firm’s Houston office as a partner in the Corporate Department and member of the Mergers & Acquisitions Practice. Castelan represents private equity firms and energy companies in acquisitions, divestitures and strategic joint ventures involving midstream assets.
Elizabeth “Heidi” G. Bloch, a prominent Texas appellate lawyer, has joined the Austin office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP as a shareholder. The addition of Bloch to the firm further extends the depth and experience of Greenberg Traurig’s Texas Appellate Practice while also strengthening the firm’s already robust foothold of more than 125 attorneys in Texas.
Eversheds Sutherland is pleased to announce that Ian S. Shelton has joined the Austin office as counsel in the Litigation Practice Group, bolstering the commercial disputes practice with a focus on intellectual property and technology, complex commercial litigation and appeals. Prior to joining Eversheds Sutherland, Mr. Shelton was an attorney with Los Angeles-based Quinn Emanuel & Sullivan LLP.
Baker Botts L.L.P., announced that John W. Martin has been elected as the firm’s 15th Managing Partner. Mr. Martin’s four-year term will commence April 1, 2019. “John is a bold and dynamic leader, and the perfect choice to lead our 179-year old firm in these changing times. I know that with John’s selection the future of the firm is in great hands,” said Andrew M. Baker, the current Managing Partner of Baker Botts.
HOUSTON, TX, February 13, 2019 – Taylor English Duma LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Bryce Linsenmayer as a partner in the firm’s Corporate practice. In his third decade of practice, Linsenmayer has built a reputation for assisting top national and global clients. He focuses his practice on securities law and mergers and acquisitions with a particular focus on the energy, technology, cybersecurity, environmental, travel and leisure and healthcare industries.
Michael McBride, an intellectual property lawyer, was promoted to partner at Houston-based Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. Jan. 28, 2019. Mr. McBride focuses on patent litigation and patent prosecution matters. He earned a degree in electrical engineering at UT and worked for Fujitsu-AMD Semiconductor in Austin before becoming a lawyer. He has prosecuted patents in hardware and software, aerospace and energy. Mr. McBride is a repeat honoree on the Texas Rising Stars list.
Commercial litigator Ryan Hackney was promoted to partner at Houston-based civil trial law boutique Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. on Jan. 28, 2019. He has represented energy companies in a variety of disputes and previously worked as a management consultant at Boston Consulting Group. Mr. Hackney has earned recognition on Super Lawyers magazine’s peer-reviewed Texas Rising Stars list of top young lawyers the past two years. Less than 2.5% of lawyers in Texas are chosen.
Intellectual property lawyer lawyer Scott W. Clark, JD 1998, was promoted to partner at Houston-based civil litigation boutique Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing P.C. on Jan. 28, 2019. Mr. Clark is a registered U.S. patent attorney with over 15 years of experience representing clients in all aspects of intellectual property. He has litigated over 30 civil cases, including 25 patent disputes. He earned a B.S. in chemical engineering from UT in 1993.
Fish & Richardson has elevated Jackob Ben-Ezra to principal in the firm’s Intellectual Property Litigation Group in Houston. Overall, 11 attorneys were promoted to principal. Ben-Ezra represents the world’s largest tech companies in complex patent litigation.
Norton Rose Fulbright has promoted Eliot Turner to partner. Turner is a member of the firm’s antitrust disputes group and he represents clients in defending and prosecuting claims under the Sherman Act, the Clayton Act, and state antitrust laws, as well as other complex matters. Based in the firm’s Houston office, Mr. Turner is an executive editor of Litigation, the journal of the American Bar Association’s Section of Litigation.
Norton Rose Fulbright has promoted Jamila S. Mensah to partner. Mensah concentrates on all areas of employment law and has extensive experience in discrimination, retaliation and wage and hour issues. Based in the firm’s Houston office, Ms. Mensah represents clients in federal and state court and before administrative bodies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. She counsels employers on hiring, termination, disability accommodation and drafting of personnel policies.
Norton Rose Fulbright in Houston has promoted Brandon Byrne to partner. Byrne represents clients on capital markets and M&A transactions, including public and private securities offerings, mergers, stock and asset transactions, and private equity and venture capital investments. He also advises on securities compliance, corporate governance, and contractual matters.
Vinson & Elkins has promoted Danielle Patterson to partner, effective Jan. 1, 2019. Patterson advises domestic U.S. and international clients in mergers and acquisitions, private equity investments, joint ventures and project development transactions. She most frequently represents public and private companies, private equity funds and financial institutions involved in the energy industry, particularly in the upstream and midstream oil and gas and renewable power sectors.
Fish & Richardson announced today that Leanne Flatter has joined the firm as a first-year associate in its Austin office. Flatter previously was a summer associate with the firm and focuses her practice on patents in the life sciences, medical devices and software industries. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2018 and her M.S. (2015) and B.S. (2014) in bioengineering from Clemson University.
Jeffrey J. Zissa has joined the Dallas office of national law firm Polsinelli as a shareholder in its thriving Real Estate Finance practice. With a broad range of experience over almost three decades, Zissa has advised on all aspects of complex commercial real estate and mortgage transactions on a national scale, involving virtually every product line. He is board certified in Commercial Real Estate Law and Residential Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Mark D. Strachan joined the Dallas office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as Counsel. He has tried patent cases to verdict in Texas federal courts and has argued at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. A native of East Texas, he has served at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall as an adjunct professor. He is Board Certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and is an associate of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He is a Texas Super Lawyer.
Stacy D. Simon has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings as a Senior Attorney in Dallas. Ms. Simon represents business clients in complex commercial disputes in arbitration and in state and federal courts. Her expertise includes antitrust claims, contract disputes, breach of fiduciary duty claims, fraud and negligent misrepresentation claims, trade secret and non-competition issues, securities and transactional fraud, FOIA requests, partnership and shareholder disputes, as well as libel defense.
William S. Snyder has joined the Dallas office of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as a Partner. Mr. Snyder has an active practice in state and federal courts and in arbitration. He represents clients in a broad spectrum of business litigation and is included in The Best Lawyers in America, and was named a Texas Super Lawyer for the last 10 consecutive years. He has argued cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the Texas appellate courts.
Bracewell LLP is pleased to announce the election of Molly E. Butkus to the 2019 partnership class. Butkus represents clients in upstream oil and gas acquisitions, divestitures, exchanges, service agreements and other operational matters. She also advises on transactions in the water supply, disposal and infrastructure space, as well as transactions in the midstream energy sector.
Matt Sheehan has joined Reynolds Frizzell LLP as a litigation associate in Houston. A trial attorney, his practice focuses on complex litigation for clients in the energy, real estate, and financial industries.
Alex Berger has joined the Motorcycle Industry Council as Associate General Counsel, serving the national trade association for the motorcycle industry, as well as affiliated powersport associations — the Specialty Vehicle Institute of America (all-terrain vehicles), the Recreational Off-Highway Vehicle Association (ROVs), and the Motorcycle Safety Foundation. Alex is in the associations’ government relations office in Arlington, Virginia.
Lowry Crook has joined the law firm Best Best & Krieger LLP as a partner in the Environmental Law & Natural Resources practice group. He is in the firm’s Washington, D.C. office.
The Law Office of Patrick J McLain, an national practice of federal criminal law and an international practice of military law, is moving to Founders Square (900 Jackson Street, Suite 635, Dallas, Texas 75202). He welcomes on UT Law grads who have business next door at the US District Court in downtown Dallas to come by for a visit.
Brian Scrivani will be a partner in the corporate department. A member of the mergers & acquisitions group, Mr. Scrivani advises a diverse range of public and private clients on acquisitions, sales and divestitures, leveraged buyouts, mergers-of-equals and private equity transactions. He also advises boards and special committees on corporate governance and fiduciary matters. Mr. Scrivani earned his J.D., with distinction, from The University of Texas School of Law, and his B.A., with distinction, from the University of Virginia.
KPMG LLP, the U.S. audit, tax and advisory firm, is pleased to announce the appointment of Linda L. Addison ’76 as an independent director to its U.S. Board of Directors. Addison is the immediate past U.S. Managing Partner (CEO equivalent) of Norton Rose Fulbright, one of the world’s largest global law firms.
Abbe Miller has accepted a position as Assistant District Attorney in the Child Welfare section of Hidalgo County, Texas. Miller will be representing the Department of Family and Protective Services in child abuse cases.
Andrew F. Newman has joined the law firm Clark Hill Strasburger as a member of its Litigation Practice in Dallas. Newman handles complex contract and business tort issues and has significant experience representing technology providers in software development and licensing disputes. He also has a strong background in alternative dispute resolution. Previously Newman served as a law clerk for the Honorable A. Joe Fish of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas.
John “Jack” Wilson has joined Kelly Hart & Hallman LLP as an associate in its Midland office. Mr. Wilson will focus his practice on oil, gas, and energy litigation and transaction.
Arleas Upton Kea, the President of Texas Law’s Alumni Association, has been named Chief Operating Officer and Deputy to the Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). Kea replaces Barbara Ryan, who retired as COO on July 27. Prior to her appointment as COO, Ms. Kea served as director of the Division of Administration, a post she has held since May 1999.
International law firm Clark Hill Strasburger announced that Member Elizabeth Copeland has been confirmed to the U.S. Tax Court. Senators approved her appointment on the evening of August 28, 2018 in a voice vote. Elizabeth was nominated by President Trump in August 2017 and was approved by the Senate Finance Committee in June 2018.
Kent McKinley has joined the Boston firm Hermes, Netburn, O’Connor & Spearing as a litigation associate. Kent counsels clients across a range of industries including corporate defense, product manufacturing, heavy machinery and automotive.
Judge Aurora Martinez Jones ’07 has been elected to the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges (NCJFCJ) Board of Directors. Currently, her judicial position is dedicated to the child welfare dockets in Travis County including the specialty Family Drug Treatment Court. She is the chair-elect for the Texas Children’s Justice Act Task Force, the past president of the Austin Black Lawyers Association and the former chair of the Austin Court Appointed Family Advocates (CAFA). She is also a Texas Bar Foundation Fellow and a member of the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court.
Joe Hardt is CEO and owner of Presco Polymers LP, a vertically integrated manufacturer of safety marking products and custom engineered films in Sherman, Texas. Previously, he was an attorney at the Dallas law firm, Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr PC and CEO of AMX Corp.
In August 2018, Samuel Kan began serving as the Assistant Dean of Academic Success and Bar Preparation at Barry University School of Law in Orlando Florida. As Assistant Dean, he will continue teaching tax, estate planning, and criminal law subjects as he taught during the 2017-2018 academic year. He initially joined the Barry law faculty as a tenured track Assistant Professor of Law after becoming a Florida licensed attorney and retiring from the Army JAG Corps, last serving as the Tax Counsel for the Department of Defense Office of General Counsel from 2014 to 2017 at the Pentagon.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP recently announced that it is expanding with the opening of an office in Dallas. Thomas Laughlin, one of Dallas’ top transactional lawyers, will join the new office as partner. Mr. Laughlin focuses on private equity investments, energy transactions and M&A.
Adam Schramek is president of the Austin Bar Association for 2018-19. A commercial litigation partner at Norton Rose Fulbright, Schramek plans to focus his term on increasing participation by Austin lawyers in pro bono cases, such as working to reunite immigrant families separated at the Texas border.
Megan Gray has resigned from the Federal Trade Commission to join DuckDuckGo as its General Counsel and Policy Advocate. She will be based in Washington, DC. DuckDuckGo is an online search engine that protects users’ privacy.
Rachel E. Ehlers has joined national workplace law firm Jackson Lewis P.C. as Of Counsel in its Austin, Texas office. Ms. Ehlers specializes in corporate governance and internal investigations, data privacy and cybersecurity, and workplace training. She has served in multiple in-house legal and compliance roles, in all sizes of companies—from startups to Fortune 500 companies.
McGinnis Lochridge welcomes Ashton G. Cumberbatch, Jr. as a special counsel in the firm, effective May 1. His primary practice areas include alternative dispute resolution and labor-employment law. He is rejoining McGinnis Lochridge after working at the firm previously from 1989 to 2002, including a period as leader of a period as leader of the employment law section.
Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP has promoted Jocelyn Tau to partner. Jocelyn focuses her practice on federal income tax law with an emphasis on domestic business transaction planning. She has significant experience advising publicly traded partnerships on capital formation, ongoing qualification, and acquisition and disposition activities.
Dave Wishnew proudly announces the launch of his firm, Crawford, Wishnew & Lang PLLC. Dave has a diverse litigation practice with a primary focus in business, employment and intellectual property disputes. SuperLawyers named Dave a Rising Star each year since 2012, including Top 100 in 2017 and 2018. D Magazine recognized Dave in its Best Lawyers in Dallas and Best Lawyers Under 40 for 2018. News agencies across the country published stories of Dave’s client, after awarding her $1.08 million.
Scott Tuthill has joined the Dallas office of Jackson Walker as a partner in the firm’s real estate practice group. His practice includes commercial real estate transactions, particularly those involving the acquisition, financing, development, management, leasing, and disposition of office, industrial, multifamily, and retail development projects.
James McNeel has joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka as a shareholder in its San Antonio office. His practice will focus on fiduciary litigation in the area of estates, trusts, contested guardianships, and other related litigation. He will handle claims by and against estate administrators, trustees, beneficiaries, and closely held family businesses in all areas of law related to estate, trust, guardianship, and tax-related litigation.
James (Jim) Smith recently joined the Crain Caton & James (CCJ) law firm as Shareholder in the Environmental and Intellectual Practice Areas. His practice principally focuses on environmental matters including counseling, supporting transactions, and trying cases. He also has experience in intellectual property matters and is registered before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a patent attorney.
Diana Pérez Gomez has joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka as a shareholder in its Houston labor and employment practice. At Chamberlain Hrdlicka, her practice will focus on complex labor and employment disputes in state and federal courts. She will also serve as a mediator on a variety of civil matters.
David A. Breston is a criminal defense attorney who works in Houston. He is a proud graduate from the 1997 class and has built a name in the community of Houston for being a top-rated criminal defense attorney and Immigration lawyer at The Law Offices of David A. Breston. Additionally, David has taught seminars at Princeton and is a proud member of several associations in Texas such as the American immigration lawyers association and the Texas criminal defense lawyers association.
Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry elevated Mr. Knight to Shareholder in January 2018. He practices in Houston in the areas of Admiralty & Maritime law as well as Commercial Litigation.
Robert E. Booth has been elected Managing Partner of Mills Shirley LLP with offices in Galveston and Houston. Mills Shirley LLP has 18 attorneys and is recognized by the State Historical Survey Committee as the oldest continuously operated law firm in the State of Texas.
Akerman LLP, a top 100 U.S. law firm serving clients across the Americas, continued its Texas expansion with a team of five international trade lawyers and business professionals, led by partners Michelle Schulz and Elsa Manzanares in Dallas. The group joins Akerman’s Government Affairs and Public Policy Practice Group from a regional law firm, where Schulz and Manzanares served as co-chairs of the International Trade Group. Schulz also served as chair of the International Practice.
On February 1, 2018, Martha Todd joined McGinnis Lochridge—a legal fixture in Austin for 90 years—as Associate. McGinnis Lochridge has a strong presence in Austin and Houston, providing legal counsel on business and financial matters, and advocating for clients before administrative agencies, at the state capitol, and in courthouses across Texas and throughout the Southwest.