The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honored to announce the 2020 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards recipients. Eleven of the 13 winners are women. One-third are lawyers of color. One is a previous finalist and one is a back-to-back winner. Three winners are from the same business. Six of the in-house counsel work at energy related companies. Pictured: Veronica Foley of Precision Drilling.
‘STOP and Read this Story. This is my Black Son’s Life’
UPDATED: Sonic officials late Thursday apologized directly to the families of seven African-American teenagers for the discriminatory treatment they endured at one of the company’s North Dallas drive-in restaurants. The parents included a Dallas judge and several prominent in-house lawyers. Natalie Posgate’s update includes the full text of Sonic’s public statement.
Dykema Employer Survey Examines Return-to-Work Issues
Much has been written about what steps employers can and should take in the face of the global pandemic. In an effort to better understand what employers actually are doing, Dykema recently sent a flash survey to employers. Here is an analysis of the results.
GC Brandy Treadway Leads J.C. Penney into Chapter 11
On Page 15 of J.C. Penney Company’s bankruptcy filing Friday late afternoon, there is the signature of the corporation’s general counsel and corporate secretary, Brandy Treadway. “Attached hereto is a true, complete, and correct copy of the resolutions of the Board of Directors of the Company.” Here is a profile of J.C. Penney’s GC, who will play a critical role in the retailer’s restructuring.
Low Tax Revenues, Interest Rates Sap Legal Aid Funds
The two-fisted beating of an coronavirus shutdown and an oil market crash is begetting yet another crisis on the horizon in Texas: the need for legal aid. Zero interest rates and dwindling tax revenues are sapping low-income legal resources, even as the need for them is set to explode. “That’s the next big story,” says SCOTX Chief Justice Nathan Hecht. Janet Elliott explains.
Arnold Ventures’ Roxanne Almaraz – A GC doing ‘Personally Meaningful’ Legal Work
Roxanne Almaraz was four when she told her parents that she planned to be either a lawyer or a cardiothoracic surgeon. Thirty-five years later, she is the general counsel of a multibillion-dollar philanthropic and public policy-oriented LLC in Houston. Along the way, Almaraz worked on some major energy M&A transactions. This is her story.
Chasity Henry Joins CECO Environmental as GC
Chasity Henry, a veteran of the Kimberly-Clark and Dr Pepper Snapple legal departments, officially moved into the corporate C-suite Monday as a general counsel of Dallas-based CECO Environmental. At age 39, Henry is widely recognized as one of the leading voices on diversity in the legal profession.
Airline Bailouts and Bankruptcy – Not So Simple
The government is closing in on a $50 billion infusion of emergency aid to the airline industry in light of the extraordinary decrease in demand for air travel following the onset of COVID-19. While well-intended, the proposed package is insufficient to ward off catastrophic airline failures.
AT&T and Toyota GCs to Federal Courts: Fix Expert Witness Testimony Rules
The chief legal officers of 50 U.S. corporations, including the general counsel at Dallas-based AT&T and Plano-based Toyota, are asking federal judges to revisit the evidence rules regarding the admission of expert testimony.
Texas GC Forum Honors SMU’s Paul Ward
Southern Methodist University General Counsel Paul Ward received the 19th Annual Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law this week from the Texas General Counsel Forum. The Texas Lawbook has details.
Corporate GC Seeks Slice of Contingency Fee Agreement, Then Dies, Then Sues
Ruhrpumpen General Counsel Eugene Moore hired the Cokinos law firm to handle a patent infringement case on a contingency fee. Moore then wanted a share of the fee for himself. But Moore died without informing his bosses he made such a deal. Now his wife wants Cokinos to pay up. But the Dallas Court of Appeals has the final word.
Winners, Finalists Feted at ACC-DFW Awards
GALLERY ADDED With more than 100 nominations, 27 finalists and 13 separate categories, the DFW/ACC and The Texas Lawbook hosted more than 400 corporate lawyers at the 2019 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards.
Ann Bruder – Steady Hand, Multifaceted Skill Set Make Her a Top GC
Blucora Inc.’s journey last year to acquire Dallas-based competitor 1st Global Inc. for $180 million faced several obstacles. Those involved in the deal say Blucora CLO Ann Bruder’s steady hand and strategic maneuvering is the reason the transformational transaction closed.
Glen Hill – The Definition of a Heavy Lifter
An eight year veteran of the U.S. Army, Glen Hill had no idea what public finance was. But after a decade of training in the Bracewell muni-bond practice, Hill is the assistant general counsel at Preston Hollow Capital and has “touched” more than 80 financial transactions. He’s worked on 35 deals that have closed.
Curiosity, Precociousness and Hard Work Take Forterra’s Lori Browne to the Top
Lori Browne attended her first law school class when she was seven and she immediately gave up her dream of being a rock star in favor of practicing law. Three decades later, Browne is the GC of a pipe manufacturer that employs 5,000 people, operates 85 manufacturing facilities and has a market cap of $922 million. And she’s had a really big year.
Jim Plohg Races Cars and Closes Strategic Deals
Ashford Associate GC Jim Plohg played a critical role in 10 transactions, including a couple transformational deals last year for the publicly traded hospitality industry asset management firm. But you can also catch him frequently at the Eagles Canyon Raceway racing a Porsche 911 GT3 in near-bumper-to-bumper traffic at speeds of 160 MPH.
American Airlines’ Aundrea Holt: Making a Big Impact in a Short Time
Less than two years on the job, Aundrea Holt assumed legal support for the airline’s nationwide paid sick leave policy and administration, played an instrumental role in American’s nationwide sexual harassment prevention training and led the legal department’s move to its new corporate headquarters, Skyview 8 .She credits her parents and two federal judges for her success.
Noah Webster Had ‘a Very Busy First 18 Months’ as Zix GC
A West Point alum, Noah Webster led Zix through a transformational acquisition and capital raise last year. But his most interesting success for the security tech business involved a URL, an Oakland artist and past due garbage collection bills. Not bad for the son of a “toilet paper salesman.”
Neiman’s Tracy Preston ‘Handles Everything that Is Thrown at Her’
Seven years ago, Tracy Preston traded in her Levi jeans for Jimmy Choo shoes to become the GC at Neiman Marcus. Last year, she defeated a $1 billion lawsuit brought by a hedge fund, executed a complex transaction that extend the company’s funded debt and played a strategic role in the opening of Neiman Marcus Hudson Yards, the company’s first store in New York City. She has more to come in 2020.
Prosperity’s Rasche with Bracewell: Shepherding the Second Largest Bank Merger in Texas History
Prosperity was used to doing acquisitions, having completed 42 since its founding in 1983. But the LegacyTexas transaction was the largest in terms of sheer size and relative size to Prosperity – and came with challenges.
Pier 1, Bracewell Weather Massive Shareholder Class Action Storm
Pier 1 endured changes in style, changes in market, changes in judges and changes in its legal leadership to beat back stockholder charges of securities fraud in epic fashion. And as a result they are finalists for Litigation of the Year in the 2019 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards.
But in addition to those challenges, the company is now also coping with the untimely death of its general counsel.