Regina Gregory has been the top lawyer at Houston-based American Midstream Partners for only six weeks, but she has already overseen a $2 billion acquisition. A 1996 graduate of the University of Oklahoma School of Law, Gregory was named American Midstream’s new general counsel, corporate secretary and senior vice president in September.

AT&T General Counsel David McAtee, Associate General Counsel John J. O’Connor, Assistant General Counsel David Lawson and teams of lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell and Arnold & Porter are leading the communications giant’s efforts to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion.

AT&T General Counsel David McAtee, Associate General Counsel John J. O’Connor, Assistant General Counsel David Lawson and teams of lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell and Arnold & Porter are leading the communications giant’s efforts to acquire Time Warner for $85 billion.

In this edition of “Ten Things,” I search for the perfect arbitration clause. Alas, much like Moby Dick, El Dorado, Sasquatch, and honesty in politicians, the search comes up dry. But, with a little work, you can come up with a “really damn good” arbitration clause that will better suit your company’s interests and goals. It requires time and effort, such as taking a long look at the clauses you are using now and asking yourself some tough questions about what you really want to get out of an arbitration process. If you’re ready to roll up your sleeves, here are some things you need to consider and think through when drafting an arbitration provision.

Exxon Mobil General Counsel Jack Balagia has announced he is officially retiring as the Irving-based oil and gas giant’s top lawyer in three weeks. Balagia, who has been with Exxon Mobil for 18 years, says current assistant general counsel Randall Ebner will succeed him as the company’s chief legal officer.

Dallas billionaire Ray L. Hunt told 300 business lawyers Tuesday night attending the General Counsel Forum’s annual Robert H. Dedman Award for Ethics and Law that he’s not a lawyer and has “no clue what general counsel do, but I know that you could not have picked a better person [to honor] than David Hernandez.” In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Hernandez discusses his career, his worries about the legal profession and the reasons he became a lawyer. Plus, we have photos from the GC Forum gala.

It sucks being a cost center. General counsel can argue all day about the value the legal department is adding to the company, but it is still a cost center to the business. If executives see Legal as just a cost center, it could feel the budget axe when times get tough.

This edition of “Ten Things” discusses basic and straight-forward ways you can “market” the legal department to the business in order to help them understand what the department does and the value it brings to the company.

Dallas Cowboys General Counsel Jason Cohen helped negotiate eight-digit stadium naming rights with AT&T his first week on the job. The second week, he led legal talks for the Jones family on the development of the practice facilities and headquarters in Frisco. He has written contracts for Cowboys’ players and coaches, negotiated multimillion-dollar media and sponsorship deals, sued to enforce Cowboys intellectual property and represented the owners in discussions with the NFL over league policies and procedures. Did I mention he’s only 36?

Spencer, who is a private equity holder in the company, represented Coinsource last year as a partner at Akin Gump in Dallas.

Corporate legal departments have a common refrain: how do we get enough money to do the things we need to do to protect the company? A growing solution for many businesses is “litigation financing.” Like it or not, litigation financing is only going to become more prevalent. In-house counsel need to be able to provide guidance to the company and the senior management about whether it is something the company should explore further.