Diversity and inclusion must be personal. Making history and even just experiencing it can be difficult. Words followed up by actions on mandatory diversity by corporate general counsel equals progress and success. These were the messages that came from the Texas Minority Counsel Program’s two-day annual meeting.
Lauren Haller: A Leader in Diversity and Inclusion at Pattern Energy and Beyond
Lauren Haller is the the daughter of a Houston judge and the great-great-granddaughter of an emancipated slave who became a Texas legislator during Reconstruction. Now legal counsel for operations at Pattern Energy, Haller created and launched a cutting-edge effort in the recruitment, professional development and retention of professionals at one of the world’s largest renewable energy companies. She is also the recipient of the 2020 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards Nominations are Open
The Texas Lawbook and the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel are now accepting nominations for the 2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. GCs and in-house counsel faced challenges like no other year and they did it with great success. Now, it is time to recognize and celebrate those achievements.
CenterPoint Energy Associate GC Judy Liu – An ‘Air Traffic Controller’ Managing a 150 Case Litigation Docket
Judy Liu was 6 when she and her mom arrived in the U.S. from Taiwan. She learned English in less than three months, mainly by watching Sesame Street, but she also discovered that kids in Texas were not always so welcoming. Even so, Liu survived and thrived and is the quintessential immigrant success story. Four decades later, Liu one of the top lawyers at CenterPoint Energy, managing about 150 active lawsuits. She is also the 2020 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department.
Q&A: CenterPoint Associate GC Judy Liu
In a bonus Q&A for Premium Subscribers, Judy Liu shares with Lawbook founder Mark Curriden her views on litigation management, how she hires special counsel and what outside counsel needs to know about her.
Mergermarket: Two-Thirds of Law Firms Handled Fewer M&A Deals in 2020
The battle of law firms in Texas for M&A has been turbulent so far this year. Nine of the top 10 firms and 33 of the top 40 firms saw a decline in M&A activity during the first nine months. Kirkland is way down in deal count, but still way ahead of everyone else. Norton Rose Fulbright, McDermott, Porter Hedges and King & Spalding are up.
2020 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award Nominations
The COVID-19 pandemic and the crisis in the oil patch have meant difficult times for many businesses. Through all of this, corporate general counsel and senior counsel at companies across North Texas have been called upon to do the best legal work of their careers. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas/Fort Worth Chapter and The Texas Lawbook seek to identify and honor those in-house counsel for the great legal work and leadership they performed in 2020.
2020 Houston Corp. Counsel Award: How Mindy Harper Won the Mattress Wars
Mattress Firm senior counsel Mindy Harper had been on the job only a few months when the Houston bedding company became embroiled in a multi-year, bet-the-company dispute that was litigating in 14 states – all happening as Mattress Firm went through a $3 billion bankruptcy and restructuring. “Mindy was the quintessential ‘grace under fire’ since the date she started at the company,” Houston lawyer John Thomas said.
Q&A: Mindy Harper
The Texas Lawbook provides unique, substantive and exclusive content to our Premium subscribers. In the interview, Mattress Firm Senior Counsel Mindy Harper provides personal insight into her life, how she selects outside counsel and key things outside counsel should know about her.
Updated – Dallas LGBT Leader Gets Dallas Bar Board Seat
The Dallas Bar Association voted to make the leader of the Dallas LGBT Bar an ex-officio member of its board of directors. The full DBA membership will vote on the measure in November. The organization will have an advisory position to start with hopes of gaining official voting status in the near future.