Q&A: Carolyn Benton Aiman

Premium-Only Content From being the first African American elected to be Queen Cardinal at Harlingen High School in 1980 to leading one of the most successful corporate diversity efforts at one of the world’s largest corporations to being named the new chief legal officer of Sempra Infrastructure earlier this year, Carolyn Benton Aiman has earned a global reputation for leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The Lawbook's Mark Curriden asked Aiman about the kinds of relationships she expects with outside counsel and what they might need to know about her.

January 10, 2022 Mark Curriden

Sempra CLO Carolyn Benton Aiman: ‘DEI Should Be in a Corporate Legal Department’s DNA’

[Diversity, equity and inclusion] "should be more than an initiative or a once-a-year conversation. This has to be part of the DNA, like safety in a corporation, like culture in any relationship,” said Sempra Infrastructure Carolyn Benton Aiman. “You must tend to it. Legal departments and law firm leadership should set an expectation, and leaders should be selected for their ability to develop people across all demographics. Leaders not only talk diversity, but their actions should match their words, including who they surround themselves with and with whom they work.”

The Association of Corporate Counsels Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook agree and have named Aiman as a finalist for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.

January 10, 2022 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Brad Hartz

Premium-Only ContentFor a decade, HP battled a Taiwanese CD-ROM maker over allegations of price-fixing.Beck Redden a $438 million victory, one of the biggest judgments upheld by the Fifth Circuit in a decade.In a Q&A with The Lawbook, Hartz elaborated on other significant achievements at HP, what he looks for in outside counsel and why he takes special pride in resolving disputes without litigation.

January 7, 2022 Mark Curriden

Charlotte Rasche Helped Prosperity Bank Survive PPP Avalanche

Charlotte Rasche and her team at Prosperity Bank worked days and nights in the early weeks of 2020 to integrate its $2.1 billion merger with LegacyTexas Bank. Then March came and Covid hit. With 273 banking locations across Texas and Oklahoma, Prosperity had to decide whether to close branches, require face masks or just operate drive-throughs. Each jurisdiction had different rules. And then the federal Paycheck Protection Program launched and 14,000 PPP loans with a combined value of more than $1 billion had to be processed. These were the challenges that faced Rasche as Prosperty's general counsel.

January 6, 2022 Mark Curriden

2021 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards Finalists Revealed

They led multibillion-dollar deals and won billion-dollar disputes. They are young lawyers who made their mark and seasoned leaders whose companies benefited from their wisdom. They used technology and good ole fashioned legal smarts to change the corporate law profession and how companies do business. They are the finalists for the 2021 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards, which recognizes the hard work and successes of the corporate in-house legal community in North Texas. The Texas Lawbook has the names.

January 5, 2022 Mark Curriden

EP Energy’s Jace Locke’s ‘Pretty Insane Time’

For 162 days in 2020, EP Energy General Counsel Jace Locke was in bankruptcy hell. In early March, Locke and lawyers at Weil convinced a bankruptcy judge to approve a highly contentious and complex multibillion-dollar plan to exit Chapter 11. Then Covid hit. The world went into lockdown. Saudi Arabia and Russia were in a feud that flooded the world with oil. Commodity prices plunged. The bankruptcy deal: Dead. All in 11 days.

Locke and Weil went "back to the drawing board.” There were negotiations and concessions. Cuts were made, losses were accepted and new funds were committed. A publicly traded oil company once worth billions was taken private. Restructuring successful. Locke and Weil are now finalists for the Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Transaction of the Year.

January 5, 2022 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Jace Locke

In a special Q&A for Texas Lawbook premium subscribers, Mark Curriden visited with Locke, a finalist for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Transaction of the Year, about what he learned from the Chapter 11 process, life changing experiences and pet peeves in hiring outside counsel.

January 5, 2022 Mark Curriden

LyondellBasell’s Andrew Gratz is a ‘Force of Nature’ in $2B M&A Deal

In the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, LyondellBasell Associate GC Andrew Gratz learned that South Africa-based Sasol wanted to sell 50% of an ethane and polyethylene operation in Louisiana for $2 billion, but there was a time crunch. Gratz, his in-house legal team and lawyers at Kirkland worked 16-hour days to accommodate the time differences between Houston and South Africa. Due diligence and negotiations over the JV's management and marketing took place virtually. Plus, it was difficult to build trust when negotiating teams are not face-to-face. But lawyers say Gratz was a force of nature that kept dealmakers moving forward and getting the transaction done. Thus, Gratz and Kirkland are finalists for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Transaction of the Year.

January 3, 2022 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Andrew Gratz

Premium-Only Content Andy Gratz oversees the vast legal work required at LyondellBasell, the petrochemical giant. The Lawbook's Mark Curriden interviewed him about his approach to the job, how his work in government relations helped shape that approach and his expectations of those who work with and for him.

January 3, 2022 Mark Curriden

Premium Subscriber Q&A with METRO GC Cydonii Fairfax

Premium-Only Content: Cydonii Fairfax is a finalist for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. The Lawbook’s Mark Curriden had a chance to ask her about what outside counsel need to know if they want her business and her efforts at the University of Houston to increase diversity in the legal industry pipeline.

December 29, 2021 Mark Curriden

METRO GC Cydonii Fairfax is ‘Building a More Equitable Foundation’

Cydonii Fairfax has emerged as a leader of the Houston corporate legal community and one of the most influential role models on diversity and public service in Texas. As general counsel of the Metropolitan Transit Authority of Harris County (METRO), Fairfax is playing a critical role in the implementation of a $7.5 billion transformation of one of the largest public transportation systems in the U.S. She also has implemented internal policies and practices that have led to substantive results. Nearly two-thirds of the lawyers in METRO’s legal department are women or ethnic minorities, including the top two posts. And she aggressively sends work to minority-owned law firms.

December 29, 2021 Mark Curriden

Q&A: David Rassin

Premium Subscriber Q&A SAExploration offered David Rassin the GC job in March 2020. There were a few things they thought he should know: the last GC and CEO had been fired

December 27, 2021 Mark Curriden

SAExploration GC David Rassin is a ‘Real Fixer Upper’

SAExploration offered David Rassin the GC job in March 2020. There were a few things they thought he should know: the last GC and CEO had been fired and faced federal criminal charges; the SEC was investigating the company for securities fraud; the company was restating five years of financials and faced being delisted by Nasdaq; and bankruptcy was a possibility. Rassin accepted the challenge and SAE is glad he did.

“It was the most intense year of my life,” said Rassin, who is a finalist for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards GC of the Year for a Small Legal Department.

December 27, 2021 Mark Curriden

Charlie San Miguel Does Billion-dollar Deals for Enterprise Products, GC of Texas Monthly

Only a year out of college, Charlie San Miguel was hit with a frivolous lawsuit by his former employer because he went to work at a competitor. He made $9 an hour but still had to hire a lawyer. The experience was painful but it also gave him the idea to go to law school. Today, San Miguel is now the VP of legal at Enterprise Products, where he recently completed a $2 billion M&A deal. He's also the GC of Texas Monthly and a musician who plays for two rock bands. He's also the recipient of the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department.

December 23, 2021 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Charlie San Miguel

Premium-Only Content: Charlie San Miguel is recipient of the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department. The Lawbook's Mark Curriden had a chance to ask him about the current issues facing in-house counsel and what he looks for in any relationship with an outside firm.

December 23, 2021 Mark Curriden

TechnipFMC’s Victoria Lazar Solves Billion-Dollar Problems

Victoria Lazar has designed, negotiated and closed numerous multibillion-dollar, high-profile M&A deals for corporate giants such as Electronic Data Systems and General Electric during her three decades practicing law. She worked on EDS’s separation from General Motors and GE Oil & Gas's $32 billion purchase of Baker Hughes. She worked in Russia for Baker Botts representing the Azerbaijan International Oil Co. She became an expert on evaluating the risks of offshore, deep-water drilling equipment following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon disaster. She guided Bristow Helicopter Group out of a multibillion-dollar bankruptcy. Now TechnipFMC's chief legal officer, Lazar recently completed a billion-dollar corporate spinoff.

But it was a pro bono divorce case Lazar handled when she was a young corporate transactional associate at Baker Botts in Houston that she considers her first memorable moment practicing law. Meet Victoria Lazar and her lifetime of achievements.

December 20, 2021 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Victoria Lazar

Premium-Only Content: During her three decades practicing law, Victoria Lazar has designed and negotiated multibillion-dollar, high-profile M&A deals for corporate giants like Electronic Data Systems and General Electric. Even as a young lawyer, she worked on the separation of EDS from General Motors in what was at the time the largest IPO in history. Here, Lazar shares her perceptions about the role of corporate counsel.

December 20, 2021 Mark Curriden

Mary Isensee is a ‘One-Woman Army at PROS’

Three years ago, Mary Isensee made some big changes in her career. After six years of practicing corporate law at three different large law firms in Houston, she decided to go in-house. Isensee went from oil and gas to technology and artificial intelligence - during a pandemic when PROS clients, many in the travel industry, were hit hard. “Mary is a young attorney practicing at an experience level beyond her years,” AZA's Todd Mensing says. Isensee is also the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year.

December 17, 2021 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Mary Insensee

In an exclusive Texas Lawbook Q&A with Mary Isensee, the technology counsel at PROS, Inc. explains the challenges facing in-house counsel, her pet peeves about outside counsel and what lawyers need to know about her if they want her business.

December 17, 2021 Mark Curriden

It’s Up to You! Leadership Lessons from the Ancients for GCs Today

The lessons of the ancients are as fresh and relevant today as they were thousands of years ago, perhaps even more-so as we face similar challenges brought on by war, pandemics (plagues), weather or social and political upheaval. Especially instructive for a general counsel today are the enduring leadership lessons of Alexander III (the Great) of Macedon, Marcus Aurelius of Rome, Socrates of Greece and Confucius of China.

December 15, 2021 Stratton Horres