The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announced Thursday the second group of finalists for the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards.
On the final Thursday of each January, ACC DFW and The Lawbook honor corporate in-house counsel who faced extraordinary challenges during the prior year and achieved tremendous successes on behalf of their clients and the legal profession.
On Tuesday, The Lawbook announced the finalists and winners in four different categories: Business Litigation of the Year; M&A Deal of the Year; General Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department; and General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department.
Today, ACC DFW and The Lawbook reveal the recipients of three 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards. They are:
The award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (6-20 attorneys) goes to PepsiCo Foods North America Deputy General Counsel Adrienne Mosley. PepsiCo Foods GC Leanne Oliver, last year’s recipient of the DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement, nominated Mosley for the honor.
The 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Pro Bono and Public Service goes 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. Vinson & Elkins partner Robert Kimball nominated Thomas and Berg for their extraordinary work involving Dallas’ CASA (Court-Appointed Special Advocates) program and the Permian Strategic Partnership coalition.
The judges determined that the recipient of the DFW General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (1-5 lawyers) is Tuesday Morning General Counsel Jennyfer Gray. Haynes and Boone partner Susan Wetzel nominated Gray for the award.
The finalists will be honored and all of the winners announced at the annual 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards gala on Thursday, Jan. 26, at the George W. Bush Institute, which is part of the presidential library.
The Lawbook received nearly 70 nominations for the 15 categories. ACC DFW and The Lawbook empaneled a group of independent judges – all of them cleared of any conflicts regarding the nominees and those making the nominations – to review each submission and determine up to three finalists. All finalists must be deserving of receiving the award.
In some categories, the judges selected only one or two finalists. In those categories where only one person or legal department was chosen, that sole finalist is the recipient of the award.
Here are the finalists for the categories announced earlier this week:
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.
The winner for this category will be announced Jan. 26 at the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award ceremony.
M&A Transaction of the Year: Celanese Corporation General Counsel Lynne Puckett and the company’s outside counsel at Baker Botts.
The Texas Lawbook will announce the finalists for the remaining categories next week. The Lawbook plans to publish in-depth profiles of the finalists over the next six weeks.
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 non-profit 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.