© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo – (November 21) – Close to 100 corporate general counsel, state supreme court justices, law firm leaders and legal service providers played through light showers and cool temperatures last week to raise money for legal aid in Texas in the General Counsel Forum’s 3rd Annual Charity Golf Classic.
The charity golf scramble last Thursday at the Hill Country Golf Club in San Antonio. The tournament collected $71,000 – the most in its history – for the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, the state organization that funds legal services for those who cannot afford it. The GC Forum golf tournament donated $50,000 last year and $25,000 in 2012.
“We have a long history of supporting Texas Access to Justice and we encourage our law firms to support it,” said Rob Johnson, assistant general counsel at ExxonMobil, one of the tournament’s sponsors. “We don’t do many of these events, but this is one we love to support.”
GC Forum Executive Director Lee Emery said one of the unique aspects of the charity event is that it brings together the entire legal community – chief legal officers, law firms and judges.
“It is important for the leaders in the corporate arena to participate in access to justice,” Guzman said. “I commend and congratulate the GCs of our corporations in leading the way to make sure courts are open for all.”
Lawyers approached the competitive-side of the tournament in vastly different ways. Some lawyers showed up two hours before the 12:15 shotgun start to get some practice time in at the driving range and putting greens. Others, like Bell Nunnally partner Jeff Lowenstein, believe the less practice the better.
“Practice actually hurts my game,” he said over breakfast at the hotel’s Springhouse Café restaurant. “I just show up and hit.”
Some believe part of preparation is making sure you have the right equipment and gear. John Clement, the incoming president of the General Counsel Forum and GC at Classic Industries, went to the pro shop early to buy a new hat.
Clement actually received a private golf lesson from a Las Colinas Country Club pro at the DFW GC Forum Golf Tournament in 2013. He said he played the best golf of his life that day, but, unfortunately, he has forgotten everything he learned.
Good golf was played yesterday despite the wet conditions. Sidley Austin’s foursome took home the day’s top overall score with a 57. The team included Mark Glasser, Agustin Villagomez, Dean Gomez and Charlie Gomez. The second place team in Flight 1 finished with a 59 and included Rob Johnson, Michael Gromwell, Reid Gettys and Todd Kissner of ExxonMobil.
Winstead’s foursome posted a 65, the best score in Flight 2. The team included Steve Seidel, managing shareholder of the San Antonio office, and in-house counsel of three different San Antonio-based companies: Kevin Cronin, IP counsel at Kinetic Concepts; Jonathan Schlueter, senior counsel at Zachry Corporation; and Bill Mason, VP and chief IP counsel at CeloNova.
Matt Thiem, vice president of legal at Houston-based NCI Building Systems, won the longest drive contest on Hole No. 9 of the Lakes Course. Derrick Howard, executive director at Freeman Coliseum, finessed the shot closest to the pin on Hole No. 8 of the Creeks Course.
A cloud of suspicion often hovers over the day’s top scores in a golf scramble. It is no secret that some teams take liberties – or are suspected of taking liberties – with ball placement, mulligans and strokes. Jackson Walker partner John Jansonius expected no such cloud to hover over his foursome.
“I’m with Justice Willett, so we will have to play by the rules,” he said. “I’m not expecting to win.”
Jansonius was not the only golfer who came in with low or modest expectations for the afternoon.
“There is going to be a last place team, and we are vying for that,” said Andrews Kurth partner David Whittlesey, who played in a group with former Weatherford VP and Co-GC Alex Cestero, retired Blue Cross Blue Shield GC Ron Taylor and Dell Executive Director of Legal Mark Mouritsen.
But Whittlesey was on his game at Hole No. 1 on the Creeks Course. He piped a drive right down the middle of the fairway, causing his teammates to exclaim, “Damn!” Taylor added that he had been playing well all day.
Baker Botts, Gibson Dunn, Sidley and V&E joined AT&T and ExxonMobil as the tournament’s presenting sponsors.
Other sponsors included Fort Worth-based BNSF Railway and Houston-based LyondellBasell; law firms Beck Redden, The Berry Firm, Bracewell & Giuliani, Haynes and Boone, Jackson Walker, Locke Lord, McKool Smith, Weil, Winstead and Wong Cabello; and legal service providers Charles River Associates, Haven Recruiting Group, Huron Legal, Kiersted and Precision Discovery.
“This is the first time we have heard about the event,” said Gabriela Cailide Cleveland, founder and principal of Haven. “It was a great opportunity to meet good people and support a great cause.”
The record-setting fundraising total for the GC Forum’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament wasn’t the only exciting development of the day.
Before the tournament’s shotgun start, the GC Forum’s board voted to approve the formation of a Pro Bono Committee to lead the efforts on making next year’s tournament even better. Retired GCs Ron Taylor and Scott Rozzell have agreed to serve on the committee and recruit others to join.
Emery said his long-term vision for the new committee is to better connect solo and small corporate legal departments to pro bono projects. He said the challenge is that smaller corporate legal departments sometimes feel they can’t make much of an impact because they don’t have the resources that bigger corporate legal departments with robust pro bono initiatives do.
“Each year is better,” Emery said. “We think we can build this tournament up to one day raise $150,000.”
Mark Waite, senior counsel of litigation at LyondellBasell, said his company is privileged to be active in pro bono and efforts like Texas Access to Justice.
“A little bit of time [from lawyers] can give a lot of peace [to those who need it],” he said.
The Hill Country Golf Club – designed by Arthur Hills and Associates – was formerly a cattle ranch and covers 200 acres. It features three 9-hole courses. The GC Forum’s golfers played 18 holes on the Lakes and Creeks courses.
© 2014 The Texas Lawbook. Content of The Texas Lawbook is controlled and protected by specific licensing agreements with our subscribers and under federal copyright laws. Any distribution of this content without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
If you see any inaccuracy in any article in The Texas Lawbook, please contact us. Our goal is content that is 100% true and accurate. Thank you.