Last month, Matthews left the Dallas Stars to pursue another deeply-held passion: creating a business that focuses exclusively on custom-made luxury workwear for professional women.
Siltstone Capital’s Mani Walia Wins Houston Legal Innovation Award
When the Houston private equity firm Siltstone Capital decided to expand its investment portfolio beyond energy, minerals and real estate into the arena of litigation finance, it had the perfect advisor already in the house. Siltstone General Counsel Mani Walia has leveraged his background in Big Law, plaintiffs’ IP litigation and private equity to create a new model for litigation finance investments. Citing Walia’s creativity and achievements, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook awarded the 2022 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Legal Innovation to the Siltstone Capital general counsel.
Q&A: Mani Walia
Premium-Only Content: Mani Walia shares tips and pet peeves for outside counsel.
Archrock GC Stephanie Hildebrandt – A Lifetime of Achievements and a ‘Never-ending Education’
Stephanie Hildebrandt has been an in-house lawyer and general counsel at some of the nation’s largest energy companies and has been involved in some of the biggest and most complicated civil lawsuits and M&A transactions in Texas. For three decades, corporate executives from Texaco and El Paso Energy to Enterprise Products to Archrock have relied on Hildebrandt’s legal knowledge, ability to analyze an issue, wisdom and creativity to develop and execute a successful strategy.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook honor Hildebrandt with the 2022 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Q&A: Theresa Terrell
Premium-Only Content: Theresa Terrell discusses what she’d do if she won the Powerball lottery tomorrow and shares pet peeves regarding outside counsel.
Hines Real Estate’s Theresa Terrell is 2022 Houston Senior Counsel of the Year
Theresa Terrell was a rookie litigator at Jackson Walker when she realized the trial practice was not a good fit for her and a partner at the firm
encouraged her to try real estate. “I still remember the first project I worked on was reviewing leasing in connection with a portfolio acquisition of office buildings, and I never looked back,” she said. “I love that real estate transactions can feel non-adversarial – deals can get contentious, but both sides ultimately want to get to a mutually beneficial outcome.”
Sixteen years later, Terrell is still in the real estate law practice – only now as an assistant general counsel at Hines, a privately held real estate investment firm operating in 28 countries with $90 billion of investments under management. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook honor Terrell with the 2022 Houston Senior Counsel of the Year Award.
Schlumberger CLO Dianne Ralston is 2022 Houston General Counsel of the Year
Dianne Ralston had no lawyers in her immediate family and her father, a petroleum engineer, had been deposed a few times and had no fondness for the legal profession. But Ralston found law fascinating. Today, she is the chief legal officer at Schlumberger NV, where she oversees a team of 400 lawyers and compliance professionals operating in 60 countries. During the past two years, Ralston onboarded four new corporate directors, revamped and updated the global corporation’s enterprise risk management processes and dramatically reorganized her legal and compliance teams. ACC Houston and The Lawbook named her the 2022 Houston GC of the Year for a Large Legal Department.
Photo: Sharon Ferranti
Q&A: Schlumberger CLO Dianne Ralston
For Premium Subscribers Ralston, who previously served as the general counsel of two other energy companies – Weatherford International and TechnipFMC – talks about the path she took to the top tier of her profession, as well as her expectations of outside counsel.
Q&A: Niko Lorentzatos
Premium-Only Content: Niko Lorentzatos identifies what he looks for in outside counsel and recalls career mentors. Plus, Lorentzatos performing with his college band Lost in the Supermarket.
Forget Goats, Oasis GC Niko Lorentzatos is ‘The Buffalo’
Nickolas Lorentzatos faced 1,003 days of trials and tribulations and survived. The Oasis Petroleum general counsel had a tumultuous 33 months. There were the deaths of his father and mother. There was the Covid-19 pandemic and the crash of oil prices, which resulted in Oasis filing for bankruptcy. Lorentzatos in 2021 led a series of M&A deals, which included two $6 billion mergers.
“This time period pushed everyone to their limits and beyond, but the Oasis team answered the call time and again,” Lorentzatos told The Texas Lawbook. “I have never seen anything like it before and probably never will again.” The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook named Lorentzatos the 2022 Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department.