Lennox Int’l CLO John Torres – The ‘Gold Standard’ for Corporate General Counsel
© 2018 The Texas Lawbook. By Mark Curriden (April 2) – For John Torres, there was no inspirational story or significant life experience that led him to become a lawyer.
Sabre’s Top Lawyer, Rachel Gonzalez, Heads to Starbucks
Rachel Gonzalez, who has held senior in-house legal positions at several Texas companies, will no longer have to pay for a cup of coffee starting next month.
Dallas Lawyers, Including AT&T GC McAtee, Take Center Stage in Historic Antitrust Trial
This week, a potentially epic and landmark trial gets underway in a federal courtroom in Washington, D.C., pitting the mighty power of the United States government against telecommunications giant AT&T of Dallas. A handful of Texas lawyers, including several AT&T in-house counsel and partners in the Dallas office of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, are playing prominent roles in the litigation. The Texas Lawbook has details.
SEC Loses Three Senior-Level Enforcers to Dallas Financial Services Firm – Updated
SEC Associate Director Jessica Magee and two other key SEC lawyers are leaving the Fort Worth office to join the Beneficient Company Group, an alternative asset management firm led by Dallas financial titans Brad Keppner, Richard Fisher, Tom Hicks and others. The loss of the three senior SEC leaders leaves a huge void in the federal agency’s regional operations and could impact several high-profile prosecutions and investigations. The Texas Lawbook has full details, including interviews with SEC's Shamoil Shipchandler and BEN CEO Brad Keppner.
Q&A: Former American Airlines GC Gary Kennedy Discusses ‘Twelve Years of Turbulence’
For more than a decade, Gary Kennedy was a steady hand leading the corporate legal department at American Airlines, which faced tremendous turbulence and head winds - from the use of two of its plans by terrorists on 9/11 and the deadly crash of Flight 587 into a neighborhood in Queens to battles with its own labor unions and with Southwest Airlines over expansion at Love Field to its federal bankruptcy and merger with US Airways. In a new book to be released this week, Kennedy provides an extraordinary behind-the-scenes tour of these events and what really happened. Kennedy talked with The Texas Lawbook about the revelations in the book.
TX Lawbook & ACC-DFW Host CLE Featuring Former American Airlines GC Gary Kennedy
Gary Kennedy, in his new book Twelve Years of Turbulence, takes readers behind closed doors and into previously private, confidential meetings at the world's largest airline. From the decision to ground all plans on 9/11 and a secret lunch between legendary NFL QB and American Airlines board member Roger Staubach and Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison regarding expansion of Love Field to key confidential meetings involving AA's bankruptcy and merger with US Airways, Kennedy provides a front row seat for one of the most complex, expensive and successful corporate restructurings in history. The Texas Lawbook and the Association of Corporate Counsel's DFW Chapter give lawyers an exclusive opportunity to meet with Kennedy and hear the real story of American Airlines tumultuous journey.
Sally Beauty Names John Henrich as Interim GC
Denton-based Sally Beauty announced a change in the top of the company’s legal department last Friday. Matthew Haltom resigned as GC and received a $500,000 separation package. Deputy GC John Henrich is serving as interim general counsel.
Dr Pepper GC Jim Baldwin Leads $18.7B Deal with Keurig
Dr Pepper Snapple General Counsel Jim Baldwin and the soft drink maker’s in-house legal team - including assistant GCs Art Swanson and Wayne Lewis - led the Plano company’s $18.7 billion merger negotiations with Keurig Green Mountain. Morgan Lewis, Skadden Arps and McDermott are advising in the transaction, but none of the key lawyers are based in Texas.
Meet Frost Bank’s New GC: James Waters
James Waters, administrative partner of Haynes and Boone’s Dallas office, will start as the new general counsel and executive vice president at San Antonio-based Frost Bank at the end of February. He replaces long-time Frost GC Stanley McCormick. The Texas Lawbook has an exclusive interview with Waters.
Corporate GCs Pushing Law Firms on Diversity
Leaders at corporate legal departments in Texas appear ready to use their considerable influence to push – or possibly even force – law firms to recruit, retain and promote minority and women lawyers. Corporate general counsel – also known as the clients paying the bills of the lawyers – are growing impatient with the lack of law firm diversity and many are considering taking hard-line approaches against firms that are not aggressive enough. Corporate legal departments at AT&T, Kimberly-Clark, Liberty Mutual, MetroPCS and other major businesses are speaking out.
CHC GC Hooman Yazhari Finds Solutions & Survival in Chaos
Hooman Yazhari has an amazing story to tell. His family was forced to flee their native Iran in the revolution of 1979 or face imprisonment by the Revolutionary Guard. He's guided three billion-dollar businesses through bankruptcy and restructuring, including one where he discovered the CEO was stealing from the company. But Yazhari's amazing legal work in the CHC Helicopter restructuring earned him a spot as a finalist for the the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award for GC of the Year for a Small Legal dept.
Vistra’s Ashlie Alaman & Dan Kelly Lead by Example on Pro Bono
One could have forgiven the lawyers at Vistra Energy if they didn't go overboard on their pro bono requirements. With the the $45 billion bankruptcy, the spin-offs of Luminant and TXU Energy and the move from Downtown Dallas to Irving, it's not like there wasn't enough to do. But Dan Kelly, Ashlie Alaman and the rest of the Vistra legal department did far more than enough. They're now finalists in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. The Texas Lawbook shows how they give their volunteer work a personal touch.
David Monk is a ‘Great Boardroom and CEO Counselor’
Summary: Dave Monk's first work experiences included landscaping and roof maintenance for a multi-family housing complex in Louisiana. The experience caused him to value the benefits of an air-conditioned office job. Now, as General Counsel of Richardson-based RealPage, a global software provider, Monk not only enjoys air-conditioning, he is also a finalist in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read about Monk in The Texas Lawbook. Bonus: the story includes a rock band.
Juanita Harris is a ‘Force of Nature’ for Diversity
Her passion was evident years ago, when she mentored high school students while working as an accountant. None of that changed when she moved on to become a trial lawyer. Now, as senior legal counsel at AT&T, Juanita Harris heads all diversity and inclusion efforts for the communications giant. Harris is a finalist in the 2017 Outstanding Legal Counsel Awards, and in this Texas Lawbook profile, she describes how companies and law firms can make the legal profession truly diverse.
Wingstop’s Darryl Marsch Enjoys International Dealmaking & Boneless Wings with Hot Sauce
What do New Braunfels, David Crosby, Krispy Kreme, William Rehnquist and bone-in chicken wings have in common? Answer: 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards finalist Darryl Marsch. See how all that strings together in Mark Curriden’s profile of Marsch in The Texas Lawbook.
Tom Mason & Tonja De Sloover are Energy Transfer’s One-Two Punch
Tom Mason and Tonja De Sloover and their legal department at Energy Transfer Equity are finalists in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards for Business Litigation of the Year. And they’ve had a lot of that to deal with: In Delaware, a $33 billion fight over a failed merger: in North Dakota, endless legal struggles over the Dakota Access Pipeline; in Texas, they’re leading the battle to restore a $535 million jury verdict on appeal. Learn more about the philosophy behind their aggressive approach to litigation in The Texas Lawbook.
Michelle Brookshire: Preventing Litigation is Better than Winning
Michelle Brookshire says she had no idea what lawyers did. But her thoughtful approach to legal issues at LSG Sky Chefs has earned her a nod as a finalist in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. The Texas Lawbook has details of her work in an unusual and highly-regulated food services company.
EFH, Oncor, Vistra – A Corporate Restructuring for the Decades
In some ways, it was more saga than bankruptcy: A four-year-long, $45 billion corporate restructuring that included the elimination of more than $20 billion in debt, four corporate M&A divestitures valued at $18 billion each, heated battles with state regulators that caused two of those deals to collapse, and the $20 billion spin-off of two subsidiaries. And now its a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Mark Curriden describes the EFH journey through the courts in The Texas Lawbook.
Dena Stroh & NTTA’s Law Firms Finalists for Biz Litigation and M&A Deal of Year
Dena Stroh says she had no idea that government law could be fascinating. But in 2017, she guided the North Texas Tollway Authority through one of the largest government bond issues in the U.S., as well as a potentially major class-action lawsuit. For that, and more, she and what she calls her “excellent lawyers” are nominated in two categories of the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read the details in The Texas Lawbook.
Michael Sukenik is ‘Adept at Operating Across Diverse Markets’
Michael "Misha" Sukenik travels a lot. He's the legal officer behind two of the best known franchise names in the Yum! Brands inventory in 120 countries. He's also a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read about him in The Texas Lawbook.