Litigation spend by Texas companies with revenues of $1 billion or more reached an average of $3.9 million, according to Norton Rose Fulbright’s 19th annual trends survey of corporate general counsel. Two top lawyers from the firm discussed with The Texas Lawbook what is driving up the costs.
‘Many Lawyers Shrink in the Face of Crisis’ — Not LyondellBasell’s Brittany Ringel Walton
LyondellBasell senior counsel Brittany Ringel Walton had just put her children to bed in July 2021, when she received an urgent call about a leak at her company’s La Porte Complex. More than 100,000 pounds of acetic acid had been released. There were two fatalities, and another 30 people were taken to the hospital. Within minutes, Walton was on her way to the scene. Her first concern was the health and safety of her LyondellBasell colleagues at the La Porte facility but she also quickly comprehended the legal and regulatory issues that would come from the tragic event and immediately took the steps necessary to start investigating and addressing those issues and concerns.
The injuries and deaths of the workers — combined with the onslaught of governmental and civil investigations and lawsuits — exposed the companies to potentially hundreds of millions in legal claims and penalties. Instead, Walton’s thoughtful and proactive leadership that hot, humid night, the next day and throughout the legal processes during the past three years since the tragedy led to widespread praise and acclaim from company leaders, the board of directors and employees. Citing Walton’s success and leadership under pressure, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Walton a finalist for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department.
Phillips 66: Taking Two Deals to Take a Midstream Private
When Jenarae Garland arrived as a new managing counsel at Phillips 66, she could be excused for not being fully prepared for the part she would come to play in the $3.8 billion take-private purchase of DCP Midstream LP. She was the junior member of a three-attorney team leading the deal, ranking behind Deputy General Counsel Rob Task and Managing Counsel Maine Goodfellow. Along with their outside counsel Bracewell, the deal has also resulted in their nomination as finalists for 2024 M&A Transaction of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
Spire’s Sean Jamieson Diversifies Voices in the Natural Gas Industry
When you hear the phrase diversity, equity and inclusion, your mind probably goes to the boilerplate topics that are the subject of so many panel discussions in Corporate America — diverse candidate pool, hiring and retention practices, mentorship versus sponsorship, to name a few. But for Spire General Counsel Sean Jamieson, DEI became a life-or-death matter in the summer of 2021 as a whopper regulatory battle put an existential threat to the existence of one of Spire’s natural gas pipelines. Critics thought Spire only designed its STL Pipeline project to line its own pockets. Jamieson and Spire viewed the pipeline as a means to diversify the natural gas source in eastern Missouri to lower the cost of delivering reliable energy to the people who need it the most: a widely vulnerable, underrepresented customer base.
“This would have been bad for our business. But it would have been terrible for people,” Jamieson said. “I had spent the months before working with the technical analysts and modeling what it would mean if we didn’t have this pipeline, the number of customers we would potentially lose. I learned and internalized all the mechanics associated with what would actually happen.”
Jamieson’s sleepless, behind-the-scenes work to bring together diverse viewpoints to solve complex problems is why Spire’s STL Pipeline is still running. It’s also why he’s a finalist for the Association of Corporate Counsel and The Texas Lawbook’s 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
PURIS GC Thomas Gottsegen Gets Into the Weeds and Solves Problems
During his five years as general counsel at PURIS, Thomas Gottsegen has helped lead an acquisition of an equal-sized competitor that transformed the company in 2022 and 2023 and undertook a complicated streamlining of the organization that included eliminating corporate entities that were no longer necessary due to the merger. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Gottsegen as one of two finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department.
But Gottsegen’s journey to PURIS was initiated by a Category Five hurricane that destroyed his house and caused his family to flee New Orleans. This is his story.
First Reserve Litigation Team Notched Win for Entire PE Industry with TPC Victory
Erica Radcliffe and First Reserve teamed up with Vinson & Elkins in a landmark case to convince the courts that investors should not be held liable for the damages under state law. They prevailed and the Texas Supreme Court’s ruling provides a roadmap for other investors on how they can protect themselves from liability.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Radcliffe, First Reserve and its outside counsel at Vinson & Elkins as one of three finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Sara-Ashley Moreno ‘Takes Ownership of Every Aspect of Her Job’
In the three and a half years since joining Cardinal System Holdings, General Counsel Sara-Ashley Moreno has led several significant and highly complex financial transactions, including three projects in 2023. Some of the projects, such as an $185 million hybrid/synthetic lease structure in Florida, are highly complex because Cardinal’s holdings span across operators, real estate and venture investments. Citing her extraordinary work in 2023, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook named Moreno a finalist for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department.
Gindi Vincent: ‘Type-A Planner Chick’
Gindi Vincent has a website where she writes about her worries. She worries aloud about her weight. She leans into her faith. She worries about being too busy for her kids: three teens — triplets. She worries about how she will busy herself when they depart for college four years out. She is a self-described “Type-A Planner Chick” as well as serving as General Counsel for Integrated Supply Chain and Procurement for Honeywell’s Energy and Sustainability Solutions.
Vincent, Honeywell and their outside counsel Arnold & Porter have been named a finalist for M&A Transaction of the Year by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
Forum Energy’s ‘No-ego GC’ John Ivascu has ‘Banner Year’ in 2023
Forum Energy Technologies General Counsel John Ivascu remembers the moment outside counsel from Yetter Coleman, whom he had hired to defend against patent infringement claims, let him know they had found something that would likely change the outcome of the case.
“It was fairly early in the case that we discovered it … and it really kind of changed the path of the case,” he told The Texas Lawbook.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook have named Ivascu and outside counsel Yetter Coleman as one of three finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Mitsui GC Linda Primrose’s ‘Trailblazing Leadership a Precedent for Future Generations’
Linda Primrose has a passion for education. It is in her genes. She has a bachelor’s degree in biology, a master’s degree in environmental sciences, a law degree and a senior executive program certificate from the London Business School. “I love to learn … and would gladly still be in school obtaining additional degrees,” Primrose told The Texas Lawbook. “Unfortunately, that isn’t practical.”
Primrose discovered the second best thing: Being a lawyer at Mitsui & Co., an international company with 10 business divisions ranging from iron and steel products, mineral and metal resources and infrastructure projects to mobility business, foods and retail, wellness and IT and communication. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Primrose a finalist for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department.
Life After Lockstep: Understanding In-House Counsel Compensation
Law firm associates are often surprised at the lack of compensation transparency for in-house positions — particularly in states like Texas where disclosure is not required. But understanding a typical in-house counsel compensation package is a crucial part of considering a transition from a law firm to a corporate legal department.
Updated: ‘One Day Stands Out’ for Retiring Southwest CLO Mark Shaw
Mark Shaw has witnessed a lot of crises and successes during his 24 years as a lawyer for Southwest Airlines, but the day that stands out most is Sept. 13, 2001. “I will never forget seeing that first flight after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 taking off from Love Field,” Shaw told The Texas Lawbook in an interview Thursday. “It had been a horrible, tragic few days, but American flags were everywhere and seeing the spirit of everyone moving forward was amazing.”
Southwest announced Wednesday that Shaw, 61, is resigning as the company’s chief legal and chief regulatory officer on May 31 for family reasons. Shaw, who has been the general counsel since 2013, will remain with the company in an executive advisory role.
TGS GC Tana Pool is a ‘Leader by Example’
Tana Pool is a self-described “small town girl.” The adopted daughter of Texas panhandle cotton farmers, she had never traveled outside the U.S. before becoming a lawyer. Then, a decade ago, Pool became the general counsel of a global Norwegian-based energy data and intelligence corporation that has a $1.7 billion market cap. She now has offices in Oslo, London and Houston. She is doing M&A deals around the world.
During her 17 years at TGS and Quanta Services, Pool has done more than a dozen acquisitions and joint ventures, negotiated more than $1 billion in credit facilities and is now on the verge of closing TGS’ largest M&A transaction — the acquisition of Oslo-headquartered Petroleum Geo Services (PGS) for 9.3 billion Norwegian crowns (roughly $864 million) in a merger of equals. Recognizing her long list of extraordinary achievements, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding Pool with the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Ascend’s Adel Sander Ensures Women are ‘Not Just a Pretty Face at the Counsel Table’
Adel Sander has been driven to succeed and advocate for others from the time she could talk to present day as director and deputy general counsel at Ascend Performance Materials. As a 2-year-old growing up in Baku, Azerbaijan, she pointed out to her mom that her dad in fact did split some of the domestic labor by going to the market every week. As an in-house lawyer, she bats for women and diverse professionals every day, whether it’s a new mom needing a part-time schedule, a female outside lawyer up for partner, a father who wants to spend more time with his newborn or a job applicant shunned by other employers because of their criminal history.
“I really, really like to push people into being promoted to the next level and to give people opportunity,” she said. “At one point or another, someone gave me an opportunity, so I like to return the favor.”
Sander is one of three finalists for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston chapter and The Texas Lawbook’s 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. This is her story.
GC Hugo Testé is ‘an Indispensable, Hands-on Resource’ for Vopak
As a first-year lawyer at Mayer Brown in Houston, Hugo Testé was given a case that his partner told him he was “going to lose.” His new client was a 19-year-old Honduran mom and her three-year-old daughter seeking asylum. The son of Cuban immigrants, Testé said the case hit home right away. “After one meeting with my clients I knew that I couldn’t afford to lose,” he said.
Nineteen years later, Testé is the general counsel of Vopak, where he has guided the chemical, oil and gas and biofuels storage corporation through numerous transformation transactions. Testé’s 2023 successes are the reason that the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring him with the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (less than five lawyers).
GC Tabitha Bailey is ‘A Force to Reckon with for Many Years to Come’
For 18 months — from the last quarter of 2022 through the first quarter of 2024 — Tabitha Bailey faced trials and tribulations that few young corporate general counsel have encountered. As GC of Avantax, Bailey played a critical role in the $720 million sale of its TaxAct software business in October 2022. Days later, the Richardson-based wealth management firm became embroiled in an alleged data breach crisis that led to congressional inquiries, state and federal investigations, four class action lawsuits and hundreds of individual arbitrations, which required extensive communication with investors and the private equity fund buyer that was making noises about terminating the deal.
The excitement for Bailey was only starting. In the months that followed, Avantax faced its third activist challenge and proxy contest in three years, executed a $250 million tender offer, overhauled its executive compensation plan and successfully completed a $1.2 billion take-private merger with competitor Cetera. Earlier this year, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook honored Bailey with the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department. This is her story.
The Corporate Client: London Stock Exchange Head of Litigation Kay Lynn Brumbaugh
Kay Lynn Brumbaugh is a Dallas antitrust litigator who has been head of litigation for the London Stock Exchange Group since 2021. A former lawyer at Andrews Kurth and Strasburger & Price, Brumbaugh went in-house in 2017 and then became part of the London Stock Exchange legal team when LSEG purchased financial market data company Refinitiv, which had a market value of more than $20 billion.
Brumbaugh is also the focus of a new Texas Lawbook feature called “The Corporate Client,” which focuses on members of the Association of Corporate Counsel in Texas. In this Q&A, Brumbaugh discusses her position at LSEG, the challenges she faces, successes she has achieved and what her criteria are for hiring outside counsel.
Julia Simon Leaves Mary Kay C-Suite for Lynn Pinker
For 24 years, Julia Simon successfully navigated danger zones, intellectual property matters and litigation threats as the chief legal officer at Addison-based skincare and cosmetics company Mary Kay. On Wednesday, Simon started her new position as a partner at the Dallas litigation boutique Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann after retiring from Mary Kay.
“Twenty-three years is a long time. But when you love what you do and where you work, it seems like no time at all,” Simon told The Texas Lawbook in an exclusive interview. “That is especially true at a company like Mary Kay where I was able to use my legal knowledge and strategic thinking to protect entrepreneurial opportunities for women around the globe. I am proud of the compliance programs we built. I am proud of the important legal precedent we established through a complex litigation docket. I am most proud of the team that I led. They are absolutely incredible.”
Houston Corporate Counsel Unveils Rookie of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Winners
Cindy Dinh has been an in-house counsel for one year and nine months. Tana Pool has been a general counsel for two major companies spanning 17 years. Both are recipients of 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announced Tuesday that Pool, who is the general counsel of global seismic data analytics company TGS, will receive the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, ACC Houston and The Lawbook announced that Dinh, corporate counsel for Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, is the recipient of the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year. Dinh and Pool were nominated by officials at their own companies.
Houston GCs of the Year — Houston Corporate Counsel Awards Finalists
Phillips 66 General Counsel Vanessa Allen Sutherland and Vopak General Counsel Hugo Teste have been named the Houston GCs of the Year for large and small corporate legal departments, according to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook. ACC Houston and The Lawbook also announce that McDermott Chief Legal Officer Rachel Clingman and Mitsui U.S.A. General Counsel Linda Primrose have been named finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department, while Cardinal System Holdings GC Sara-Ashley Moreno and PURIS CLO Thomas Gottsegen are finalists for the Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department. The Lawbook previously announced the finalists for M&A Transaction of the Year, Business Litigation of the Year, Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion and Senior Counsel of the Year for small, midsized and large corporate legal departments.
Senior Counsel at DNOW, LyondellBasell, Phillips 66, Virage Capital — Houston Corporate Counsel Award Finalists
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have selected LyondellBasell Lead Litigation Counsel Brittany Ringel Walton and Phillips 66 Senior Counsel Kristina McQuaid as the two finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department. In addition, ACC Houston and The Lawbook have chosen DistributionNOW Deputy General Counsel Jordan Chester as the sole finalist and thus the recipient of the 2024 Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department and Virage Capital Management Director of Litigation Funding Leslie Hillendahl as the winner of the 2024 Senior Counsel of the Year Award for a Small Legal Department.