The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have announced the finalists for the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion, General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department and the Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Lawbook received nearly 70 nominations for 15 categories that recognize extraordinary legal work and leadership they demonstrated during 2022. Panels of independent judges reviewed the nominations. In some of the categories, the judges selected two or three finalists, while they chose a sole finalists – and thus a winner – in others.
The finalists in the three categories announced today come from Texas Instruments, General Motors, Black Mountain Sand and Cavitas Capital Group.
ACC DFW and The Lawbook will honor the finalists and announce the winners at the annual 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards gala Thursday, Jan. 26, at the George W. Bush Institute, which is part of the presidential library.
The 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement goes to Deborah E. Bartlett, Texas Instruments senior counsel for mergers and acquisitions. Shearman & Sterling partner Alain Dermarker nominated Bartlett, who handled more than 200 M&A transactions for TI, for the award. She was the lone finalist selected by the judges.
The judges selectedtwo finalists for the award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department. The first finalist is Black Mountain Sand General Counsel Kelli Roach, who was nominated by Greenberg Traurig shareholder Karl Dial. The second finalist is Civitas Capital Group General Counsel Bill Dunne, who was nominated by Scott Barnard, who is partner-in-charge of Akin Gump’s Dallas office.
And the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion has only one finalist: Juli Greenberg, who is innovation counsel at General Motors. Collen McCullough, associate general counsel at Citi, nominated Greenberg, who was her colleague at Citi until a few months ago, for the honor.
The finalists for the other categories include:
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department (21-plus lawyers): American Airlines Deputy General Counsel Bruce Wark and American Airlines Managing Director Charlene Wandrisco.
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (1-5 lawyers): City Electric Supply Associate General Counsel Denton Muse and MB2 Dental Associate General Counsel Jonathan Koh.
Rookie of the Year (practicing in-house for three years or less): Forney General Counsel Chelsea Casiano and Johnathan Jordan, is vice president of legal for OpTic Gaming.
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (6-20 attorneys): The sole finalist – and thus the recipient of the award – is PepsiCo Foods North America Deputy General Counsel Adrienne Mosley.
Corporate Counsel Award for Pro Bono and Public Service: The judges voted to give the award jointly to Pioneer Natural Resources Senior Counsel Barry Thomas and Pioneer Executive Vice President of Corporate Operations Mark Berg, who is the former general counsel.
General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (1-5 lawyers): The sole finalist is Tuesday Morning General Counsel Jennyfer Gray.
General Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department (21+ lawyers): McAfee Chief Legal Officer Sarah Decker is the sole finalist and thus the recipient of the award.
General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (6-20 lawyers): HF Sinclair Corporation General Counsel Vaishali Bhatia is the winner of the award.
Business Litigation of the Year: ACC DFW and The Lawbook received several nominations for Business Litigation of the Year, which is one of three DFW Corporate Counsel Awards that recognizes both the in-house counsel at a business and the outside lawyers who scored extraordinary courtroom success. The judges selected two finalists for this honor. They are:
Keurig Dr Pepper Chief Legal Officer Anthony Shoemaker, Senior Counsel and head of litigation Stephen Cole and former GC Jim Baldwin, along with Gibson Dunn as outside counsel.
Ocwen Financial Corporation Assistant General Counsel Joel Israel, along with Womble Bond Dickinson as outside counsel.
M&A Transaction of the Year: Celanese Corporation General Counsel Lynne Puckett and the company’s outside counsel at Baker Botts.
For companies and law firms seeking to attend the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards on Jan. 26, please contact Texas Lawbook publisher Brooks Igo about purchasing a table or a sponsorship. All net revenues go to the Texas Lawbook Foundation, a nonprofit that employs full-time pro bono, public service and diversity writer Natalie Posgate. You may read more about Posgate’s efforts and the Texas Lawbook Foundation here.