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Walmart Inc., the largest corporate employer in the U.S., has named former Dallas prosecutor Erin Nealy Cox as its new chief legal officer. Cox, who has been a partner at Kirkland & Ellis in Dallas since 2021, will assume the job as the retail giant’s top lawyer April 13.
Chris Atmar has joined the management team of the largest livestock exhibition and rodeo in the world.
Dallas-based Jacobs has named Chasity Henry as its new general counsel, replacing Justin Johnson, who left last month to become the chief legal officer at Westinghouse.
Brinker, Children’s Health, Comerica, Energy Transfer, Match, PGA, Schwab, Solo Brands and Trintech were the big winners Thursday night at the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards. Eight of the 14 award categories, including Business Litigation of the Year, M&A Transaction of the Year and Corporate Legal Department of the Year, featured multiple finalists, with judges describing them as photo finishes. More than 360 of the most prominent general counsel, senior in-house counsel and law firm partners celebrated the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards at the George W. Bush Institute. This was the ninth year that the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook partnered on the awards event.
Fifth Third Bank's merger with Dallas-based Comerica was a complex mega-transaction put extraordinary pressure on the Comerica legal department, which was already being pushed to the limit on other matters. But the $10.9 billion transaction announced on Oct. 6 officially closed this morning at 12:02 a.m., a mere four months after the deal was announced. Citing their extraordinary accomplishments, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook this past Thursday night honored the Comerica legal department and its outside counsel at Wachtell Lipton with the 2025 DFW M&A Transaction of the Year.
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Von Hays discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
Heather Randall joined Dallas-headquartered cloud-based software solutions company Trintech in August 2023 and immediately found herself immersed in one of the biggest challenges of her two-decade legal career. Just a month earlier, Trintech had completed its largest-ever acquisition — a $230 million purchase of Fiserv’s fintech and payment-solutions operations. The integration of the highly complex carveout transaction was just as complicated, and it fell to Randall to make significant parts of it work. And her accomplishments in 2025 have been equally as significant.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Randall as one of three finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department.
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Heather Randall discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Elaine Rodriguez was looking for a new job in 2011 when a recruiter asked if she was interested in being the general counsel of Dallas Fort Worth International Airport.
“The more I learned, the more intrigued I became. And after years of doing annual reports and proxy statements, I thought it might be interesting to learn new things,” she said. “And, boy, have I learned new things,” Rodriguez told The Texas Lawbook.
The 14 years since have been filled with steep challenges and major achievements. And now the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook are honoring Rodriguez with the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Elaine Rodriguez discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Ginger Appleberry was a litigation partner at Locke Lord in Dallas when she received a call in December 2014 that an Irving-based biotech company was seeking an in-house lawyer.
“They think they want a contract lawyer,” the caller told Appleberry. “They think they want someone who can do hospital contracting. They don't. They need you. I think you should talk to them.”
Appleberry agreed, took the position and now, 11 years later, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Appleberry one of two finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (2-5 lawyers).
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Ginger Appleberry discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Nur Kara joined the corporate legal department at PepsiCo in January 2024 having never practiced marketing law.
But during the past two years, the native North Texan has played a monumental role in leading the legal efforts for major redesigns and portfolio transformations for more than 15 PepsiCo Foods brands, including top revenue-generating portfolios like Lay’s and Tostitos. Kara’s impact, according to PepsiCo executives, has been extraordinary.
Now the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Kara as one of two finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year.
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Nur Kara discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
As a teenager and college student, Chris Blevins watched his father — an accountant turned business entrepreneur — negotiate contracts, do deals with vendors and handle issues with clients and customers.
“I was taking a few business and law-related classes, and I started realizing that the things that frustrated him weren’t about the product or the customers, they were about navigating legal and contractual issues that felt foreign and risky,” Blevins said. “It clicked for me that I could be someone who helped businesses run better by removing the friction and risk around these issues, making things clearer and easier.”
For Blevins, the career strategy paid major dividends in 2025 when he scored some huge successes for Grapevine-based Solo Brands. As such, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook have named Blevins as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (two to five attorneys).
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Chris Blevins discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with him and more.
Shannon Cagnina, general counsel for Phillips Enterprises, is being honored with a 2025 Corporate Counsel Award for her pro bono and public service work on Trey’s Law and Texas camp safety legislation. Cagnina’s humility and faith-driven commitment to service have made her a quiet force behind reforms that are already reshaping protections for abuse survivors and camp goers.
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Phillips Enterprises’ Shannon Cagnina discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Toyota Managing Counsel Scott Young is being honored with a 2025 Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service in recognition of his lifelong commitment to service, shaped by his upbringing and early humanitarian work. Alongside major legal leadership roles at Toyota, including transformative development and manufacturing projects, Young has led and expanded the company’s pro bono efforts, providing legal assistance to vulnerable communities.
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Toyota’s Scott Young discusses the traits he seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel needs to know when working with him and more.
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