© 2014 The Texas Lawbook.
By Brooks Igo
Staff Writer for The Texas Lawbook
(March 21) – Carrington Coleman announced Tuesday that it lured Bret Madole to lead its corporate and transactional practice. He joins the Dallas-based firm after practicing more than 20 years at David Goodman & Madole.
It is the latest move by the firm, which recently opened an office in East Texas and added an oil and gas expert.
“We have established middle market transactional expertise, and Bret’s addition substantially expands that capability and shows we are ready to grow,” Bruce Collins, managing partner at Carrington Coleman, said in a statement.
Madole says his goal is to build a corporate M&A practice to rival the firm’s strong litigation practice.
“The reputation of this law firm is fabulous,” he said. “And the opportunity to lead a corporate M&A practice at a firm like Carrington Coleman is once in a lifetime.”
A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, Madole is evidence that the pipeline from his alma mater to the 43-year-old Carrington Coleman appears to be alive and well. Firm founder Jim Coleman and firm alumna U.S. District Judge Barbara Lynn of Dallas are also graduates.
One of the biggest deals of Madole’s career involved another UVA law school graduate – billionaire Todd Wagner.
When Madole was the chair of the Dallas Bar Association’s Sports & Entertainment Law Committee, he connected with Doug Jarvie, the president and CEO of Texas-based Streetball Partners, to speak at one of the committee’s meetings. Madole began representing the company known for the popular 3-on-3 Hoop-It-Up basketball tournaments and eventually introduced Jarvie and his team to Wagner while he was doing the original intellectual property work for his UVA classmate’s Internet radio company with Mark Cuban, Broadcast.com.
Streetball Partners/HOST Communications later sold to Bull Run Corp. for around $100 million, a portion of which was equity in Broadcast.com.
More recently, Madole represented Dallas Cowboys Hall of Fame Running Back Emmitt Smith and his partners Brant Landry and Sharon Morrison in forming their most recent business venture, E Smith Realty Partners. Madole says the Dallas icon is trying to replicate the success of another Dallas Cowboys Hall of Famer turned real estate mogul, Roger Staubach.
Madole believes the key for business lawyers to be effective in today’s market is to understand the business terms of a deal.
“We have to think like business people, not just attorneys,” he said.
For the last 15 years, Madole has served as counsel pro bono for the DREAM Fund, which provides emotional and financial support to advertising, public relations and media professionals whose lives have been impacted by severe hardship.
“I tell people all of the time that my work with the DREAM Fund is the most fulfilling thing I do as a lawyer,” he said.
© 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.