Hugo Teste is the general counsel and vice president of legal of Vopak. In this Q&A, Teste discusses the factors he uses when hiring outside counsel and specific items outside lawyers need to know about him.
GC Hugo Testé is ‘an Indispensable, Hands-on Resource’ for Vopak
As a first-year lawyer at Mayer Brown in Houston, Hugo Testé was given a case that his partner told him he was “going to lose.” His new client was a 19-year-old Honduran mom and her three-year-old daughter seeking asylum. The son of Cuban immigrants, Testé said the case hit home right away. “After one meeting with my clients I knew that I couldn’t afford to lose,” he said.
Nineteen years later, Testé is the general counsel of Vopak, where he has guided the chemical, oil and gas and biofuels storage corporation through numerous transformation transactions. Testé’s 2023 successes are the reason that the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring him with the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (less than five lawyers).
10 Years of Kirkland: A Bold Vision Transformed Texas Corporate Law and Generated Record Revenues and Profits
A decade later, Kirkland has 414 lawyers in Houston, Dallas and Austin. The firm last year made $200 million more than any law firm in Texas has ever made in one year. Through the eyes of those who were there at the beginning, this is the story of how Kirkland became the highest revenue generating and most profitable corporate law firm in Texas history. And firm leaders are promising they are not finished growing.
Q&A: Tabitha Bailey
For Premium Subscribers Former Avantax GC Tabitha Bailey discusses the factors she uses in hiring outside counsel and specific items outside lawyers need to know about her. But she also
GC Tabitha Bailey is ‘A Force to Reckon with for Many Years to Come’
For 18 months — from the last quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2024 — Tabitha Bailey faced trials and tribulations that few young corporate general counsel have encountered. As GC of Avantax, Bailey played a critical role in the $720 million sale of its TaxAct software business in October 2022. Days later, the Richardson-based wealth management firm became embroiled in an alleged data breach crisis that led to congressional inquiries, state and federal investigations, four class action lawsuits and hundreds of individual arbitrations, which required extensive communication with investors and the private equity fund buyer that was making noises about terminating the deal.
The excitement for Bailey was only starting. In the months that followed, Avantax faced its third activist challenge and proxy contest in three years, executed a $250 million tender offer, overhauled its executive compensation plan and successfully completed a $1.2 billion take-private merger with competitor Cetera. Earlier this year, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook honored Bailey with the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department. This is her story.
Corporate Law Firms Hired Record Number of Texas First-Years in 2023
The competition for first-year associates hit a fevered pitch 2023 as corporate law firms in Texas hired 503 brand new lawyers last fall to join their Texas offices — a 15 percent jump over 2022, according to exclusive new Texas Lawbook 50 data. Twenty-six law firms operating in Texas increased their hiring of new law school graduates in 2023, while 15 firms reduced their first-year hires and nine firms hired the same number in 2023 as they did the prior year.
The Corporate Client: London Stock Exchange Head of Litigation Kay Lynn Brumbaugh
Kay Lynn Brumbaugh is a Dallas antitrust litigator who has been head of litigation for the London Stock Exchange Group since 2021. A former lawyer at Andrews Kurth and Strasburger & Price, Brumbaugh went in-house in 2017 and then became part of the London Stock Exchange legal team when LSEG purchased financial market data company Refinitiv, which had a market value of more than $20 billion.
Brumbaugh is also the focus of a new Texas Lawbook feature called “The Corporate Client,” which focuses on members of the Association of Corporate Counsel in Texas. In this Q&A, Brumbaugh discusses her position at LSEG, the challenges she faces, successes she has achieved and what her criteria are for hiring outside counsel.
Julia Simon Leaves Mary Kay C-Suite for Lynn Pinker
For 24 years, Julia Simon successfully navigated danger zones, intellectual property matters and litigation threats as the chief legal officer at Addison-based skincare and cosmetics company Mary Kay. On Wednesday, Simon started her new position as a partner at the Dallas litigation boutique Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann after retiring from Mary Kay.
“Twenty-three years is a long time. But when you love what you do and where you work, it seems like no time at all,” Simon told The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview. “That is especially true at a company like Mary Kay where I was able to use my legal knowledge and strategic thinking to protect entrepreneurial opportunities for women around the globe. I am proud of the compliance programs we built. I am proud of the important legal precedent we established through a complex litigation docket. I am most proud of the team that I led. They are absolutely incredible.”
Houston Corporate Counsel Unveils Rookie of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Winners
Cindy Dinh has been an in-house counsel for one year and nine months. Tana Pool has been a general counsel for two major companies spanning 17 years. Both are recipients of 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announced Tuesday that Pool, who is the general counsel of global seismic data analytics company TGS, will receive the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, ACC Houston and The Lawbook announced that Dinh, corporate counsel for Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, is the recipient of the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year. Dinh and Pool were nominated by officials at their own companies.
Kirkland’s Sarah Mallett on the SEC’s Whistleblower Efforts, Disclosures Involving AI and Challenges Facing the FWRO
In this Q&A with The Lawbook, Mallett discusses her time at the SEC, the challenges facing the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office, the SEC’s expansion of its whistleblower program and the impact on Texas businesses, and other SEC enforcement trends that impact companies and those in the financial investment world.