The general counsel and chief legal officers of Transocean, Hines Real Estate, Microvast Holdings, ChampionX, LGI Homes and Applied Optoelectronics have been selected by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook as finalists for the 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards for General Counsel of the Year.
And the in-house lawyers at Phillips 66 and Talen Energy are finalists for the 2025 Houston Corporate Legal Department of the Year.
ACC Houston and The Lawbook received more than 90 nominations for 14 separate categories honoring corporate in-house counsel in the Houston area.
Panels of independent judges consisting of corporate lawyers who are past recipients of the Houston Corporate Counsel Awards reviewed the nominations and selected the finalists and winners.
The Lawbook and ACC Houston previously announced the finalists for Senior Counsel of the Year, M&A Transaction of the Year, Business Litigation of the Year, Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service and Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
Today, ACC Houston and The Lawbook reveal the finalists for four separate Houston General Counsel of the Year categories and the Houston Corporate Legal Department of the Year.
Later this week, The Lawbook will announce the 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award and Rookie of the Year recipients.
Finalists for the Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department (21 or more attorneys) are:
— Hines Real Estate Chief Legal Officer Richard Heaton, who was nominated by Baker Botts partner Connie Taylor; and
— Transocean General Counsel Brady Long, who was nominated by AZA partner Shahmeer Halepota.
There are also two finalists for Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department, which are companies with six to 20 in-house lawyers. They are:
— ChampionX General Counsel Julia Wright, who was nominated by Baker McKenzie partner Justin Whittenburg; and
— LGI Homes General Counsel Scott Garber, who was nominated by Marie Pierre, who is LGI Homes’ Vice President of Litigation.
The judges selected one finalist — and thus the winner — for the Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department, which is two to five lawyers, and he is:
— Applied Optoelectronics Chief Legal Officer David Kuo, who was nominated by Norton Rose Fulbright partner Amelia Zhang.
And the sole finalist and recipient of the Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department is:
— Microvast Holdings General Counsel Isida Tushe, who was nominated by AZA partner Todd Mensing and A&O Shearman partner Alain Dermarkar.
The newest category for the Houston Corporate Counsel Awards is Houston Corporate Legal Department of the Year, which recognizes the entire in-house legal team — lawyers, paralegals and other support staff. The ACC Houston judges selected two finalists for this category, and they are:
— Phillips 66 and P66 Legal Administrator Kristie Dewey, who were nominated by Phillips 66 Senior Director of Legal Operations Michael Voutsinas; and
— Talen Energy General Counsel John Wander and his team, who were nominated by Kirkland & Ellis partner William Benitez.
“The Houston Corporate Counsel Awards showcase the tremendously sophisticated legal work done by corporate general counsel, senior counsel and their legal teams,” said Texas Lawbook publisher Brooks Igo. “In-house counsel are part lawyers and part business counselors, guiding their corporate executives through challenging conflicts and helping them find solutions.”
The other award category finalists previously announced include:
The two finalists for Houston M&A Transaction of the Year are:
— Former Marathon Oil General Counsel Kim Warnica in Marathon’s $22.5 billion sale to ConocoPhillips, which closed in November 2024. To lead the deal, Warnica, who is now the chief legal officer at Apache Corp., turned to Kirkland & Ellis partners Debbie Yee and Sean Wheeler.
— Waste Management Chief Legal Officer Charles Boettcher for the company’s $7.2 billion acquisition of Illinois-based Stericycle. Boettcher turned to Vinson & Elkins partners Doug McWilliams and Steve Gill. Gill is now a partner at Skadden Arps.
The judges selected two finalists for the Houston Business Litigation of the Year. They are:
— Baker Hughes Vice President of Litigation Teresa Garcia-Reyes, who led the energy and industrial infrastructure giant to a groundbreaking patent infringement victory in 2024. Garcia-Reyes turned to Yetter Coleman partner Jeffrey Andrews as lead outside counsel.
— McDermott General Counsel Rachel Clingman, senior director of legal compliance Barry White, vice president of corporate legal and securities Kimberly Wolford and senior litigation counsel Kathleen Brien and a team of other in-house counsel in a high-stakes and complex billion-dollar dispute involving the construction of its Freeport LNG facility. As outside counsel, Baker Hughes turned to Baker McKenzie and its Houston partner Jack Massey.
The sole finalist and thus the recipient of the 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year of a Midsized Legal Department (six to 20 attorneys) goes to:
— Maverick Natural Resources Senior Litigation Counsel Sarah Payne. Payne was nominated by Ahmad Zavitsanos & Mensing partner Ryan Hackney.
The judges selected two finalists for the Houston Senior Counsel of the Year Award for a Large Legal Department, which is 21 or more attorneys. They are:
— Phillips 66 Legal Counsel Kathleen Bertolatus, who was nominated by her P66 colleague Michael Voutsinas; and
— Weatherford International Deputy General Counsel Christi Morrison, who was nominated by Baker McKenzie partner Justin Whittenburg.
In a unanimous decision by the judges, the 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Creative Partnership goes to:
— Black Women in Environmental Law (BWEL) and its founders. This is a truly creative initiative started in 2023 by Baker Botts associate Teresa Jones and Chevron Phillips Chemical Assistant General Counsel Cheryl-Lynne Davis. Other founding members include Calpine Corporation Head of Federal Affairs Zoe Cadore, Major League Soccer Associate GC Jordan Franklin, Fervo Energy Corporate Counsel Pilar Hastings-Smith, Shell USA Senior Litigation Counsel Cisselon Hurd, Shell General Manager of Developing Assets Tonya Lewis, Energy Transfer Counsel Celena Loeb, Shell Legal Counsel Taylor Moore, ExxonMobil Counsel K.K. O’Neal, TC Energy Corporation Senior Counsel Tracy Penn, Halliburton Assistant GC Tramaine Singleton and Venture Global LNG Senior Public Affairs Associate Claire Stevenson. Baker Botts partners Russell Lewis and Scott Janoe nominated BWEL and its founders for this award.
The annual Harry Reasoner Pro Bono Advocacy Award recognizes achievements in pro bono and public service, including offering legal aid to the poor, military veterans and others who need legal assistance but cannot afford to hire a lawyer. The award is named after legendary Vinson & Elkins trial lawyer Harry Reasoner, who championed legal rights for the disadvantaged and under-represented throughout his five-decade career.
The 2025 Harry Reasoner Pro Bono Advocacy Award goes to:
— Baker Hughes and Baker Hughes Senior Counsel Ivett Hughes. She was nominated by Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program Executive Director Jessica Howton Stool.
The 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion promotes efforts to encourage people of all economic levels, all backgrounds, and all ethnicities and genders to consider law as a profession. The unanimous decision of the judges was to give the award to:
— Shell USA Managing Counsel Adam MacLuckie and Shell Legal Counsel Huyen Luong. They were nominated by their colleagues at Shell, Abigail Farmer and Joel Talley.
The finalists will be celebrated and the winners announced at the annual Houston Corporate Counsel Awards ceremony on May 22.