Texas Lawyers Storm the Corporate Boardroom

When global investment firm PIMCO named former American Airlines GC Gary Kennedy to its corporate board, it was joining a national trend of publicly-traded companies adding lawyers as directors. The develop reverses a decades-old policy of corporations of ignoring lawyers for board positions because attorneys are viewed as too risk-averse and too narrow in their professional focus. But former Texas GCs Charles Matthews, Scott Rozzell and Jennifer Vogel are setting a new trend.

January 2, 2016 Mark Curriden

Shimabuku to Run USPTO’s Dallas Office

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office named Xerox Business Services Corporate Counsel Hope Shimabuku to be the first regional director of the agency’s newly-created Dallas office. A former lawyer at BlackBerry, Shimabuku will take office Jan. 4. She will be charged with building an office that will eventually include more than 100 examiners, judges, and outreach and administrative staff.

December 8, 2015 Mark Curriden

Exclusive: GC Forum’s Magna Stella Awards Go to…

Hewlett Packard, Tenet Healthcare, The Howard Hughes Corp. and Kinder Morgan were the corporate legal department winners at the General Counsel Forum annual meeting in San Antonio this week. The individual GCs honored were MetroPCS ‘s Chris Luna, Prophet Equity’s David Rex, Silicon Lab’s Nestor Ho, ABM Industries’ Lanesha Anderson and Texas A&M’s Ray Bonilla. The Texas Lawbook has exclusive coverage of the GC Forum meeting.

November 22, 2015 Mark Curriden

An Era Ends, Another Begins at AT&T’s Corporate Legal Dept.

Wayne Watts retires this Wednesday as GC at AT&T. Watts revolutionized the position of corporate general counsel. He guided the phone company through dozens of mega-mergers with a combined value of nearly $300 billion. He single handedly forced law firms to add more women and minorities to their lawyer ranks. In an extensive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Watts discusses why he became a lawyer, his 32 years at AT&T and why he handpicked David McAtee to secede him. Exxon Mobil GC Jack Balagia also dishes on Watts golf game. FYI: He hits the ball hard.

September 26, 2015 Mark Curriden

An Era Ends, Another Begins at AT&T’s Corporate Legal Dept.

Wayne Watts retires this Wednesday as GC at AT&T. Watts revolutionized the position of corporate general counsel. He guided the phone company through dozens of mega-mergers with a combined value of nearly $300 billion. He single handedly forced law firms to add more women and minorities to their lawyer ranks. In an extensive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Watts discusses why he became a lawyer, his 32 years at AT&T and why he handpicked David McAtee to secede him. Exxon Mobil GC Jack Balagia also dishes on Watts golf game. FYI: He hits the ball hard.

September 26, 2015 Mark Curriden

Ten Things: Explaining Litigation to the Board and the CEO

When facing a large lawsuit, corporate general counsel sometimes need to remember to the CEO and the board of directors informed about the litigation. Neither senior management nor the directors have much, if any, experience with litigation. GCs can avoid a lot of frustration and second-guessing by taking the time upfront to explain the litigation process to them and provide regular updates thereafter. Because GCs need sign-off from the CEO or board regarding many decisions, including settlement authority, alternative dispute resolution (e.g., mediation) and budgeting, GCs will avoid second-guessing by keeping senior management and the board fully informed. This column provides a check list for GCs.

September 17, 2015 Mark Curriden

Faith & Perseverance Helped Sidley Partner Close His Biggest and Most Important International Deal

Cliff Vrielink has represented some of the world’s leading energy companies in highly complex international transactions valued in the billions of dollars. But for four years, Vrielink and his wife tried to adopt two children from Haiti. A legal process that should have taken weeks became years. The couple took a dozen trips to Haiti. They hired lawyers in Haiti and sought help from U.S. officials in New York. Nothing they did helped or mattered. “I’ve done multi-billion-dollar global mergers and acquisitions involving multiple corporations and assets in multiple countries that were simpler than the adoption process we faced,” said Vrielink, a 20-year veteran of international M&A law. This is the story of Cliff and Ayse Vrielink’s efforts to adopt a boy and a girl from Haiti and why an antiquated international adoption system must be fixed.

September 8, 2015 Mark Curriden

Faith & Perseverance Helped Sidley Partner Close His Biggest and Most Important International Deal

Cliff Vrielink has represented some of the world’s leading energy companies in highly complex international transactions valued in the billions of dollars. But for four years, Vrielink and his wife tried to adopt two children from Haiti. A legal process that should have taken weeks became years. The couple took a dozen trips to Haiti. They hired lawyers in Haiti and sought help from U.S. officials in New York. Nothing they did helped or mattered. “I’ve done multi-billion-dollar global mergers and acquisitions involving multiple corporations and assets in multiple countries that were simpler than the adoption process we faced,” said Vrielink, a 20-year veteran of international M&A law. This is the story of Cliff and Ayse Vrielink’s efforts to adopt a boy and a girl from Haiti and why an antiquated international adoption system must be fixed.

September 8, 2015 Mark Curriden

EFH GC Stacey Doré: “The Smartest Person in the Room”

At age 43, Energy Future Holdings GC Stacey Doré is one of the few women corporate general counsel at a Fortune 500 company and she is certainly one of the youngest. She finds herself leading one of the largest business bankruptcies in U.S. history, even though she had no prior bankruptcy law experience. No business lawyer in Texas is under more pressure or scrutiny these days than Doré. But lawyers with intimate knowledge of the situation say that EFH’s executive leadership and board specifically chose Doré to be the general counsel in 2012 to lead the company through what it knew could be a long and contentious bankruptcy.

August 27, 2015 Mark Curriden

AT&T GC Wayne Watts Retires

AT&T says David McAtee, a former partner at Haynes and Boone, will replace Wayne Watts as its chief legal officer on Oct. 1. Watts, widely recognized as one of the most influential business lawyers in the U.S., was directly involved in negotiating dozens of mergers and acquisitions with a combined value of nearly $250 billion. He did the legal work on nearly every deal that transformed Southwestern Bell, the smallest of the Baby Bells, into the world’s largest communications business. Watts notes he was raised in southwest Dallas. “920 South Oak Cliff Boulevard,” Watts said this week in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook. “If you look at that house, nobody would have predicted my career.”

August 21, 2015 Mark Curriden

AT&T GC Wayne Watts Retires

AT&T says David McAtee, a former partner at Haynes and Boone, will replace Wayne Watts as its chief legal officer on Oct. 1. Watts, widely recognized as one of the most influential business lawyers in the U.S., was directly involved in negotiating dozens of mergers and acquisitions with a combined value of nearly $250 billion. He did the legal work on nearly every deal that transformed Southwestern Bell, the smallest of the Baby Bells, into the world’s largest communications business. Watts notes he was raised in southwest Dallas. “920 South Oak Cliff Boulevard,” Watts said this week in an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook. “If you look at that house, nobody would have predicted my career.”

August 21, 2015 Mark Curriden

10 Things: How to be a Successful In-House Counsel

Whether you are new to the in-house department or a long-term veteran, the general counsel or just a basic contract lawyer, there are a number of things that can help make you more successful in your career. Learn the business. Don't let the boss get surprised. And realize there's never going to be enough money, time or people. The GC Suite is a new column written by in-house lawyers and CLOs about their experiences, challenges and concerns.

August 14, 2015 Mark Curriden

JC Penney Slashes Corporate Legal Dept. Staff

The Plano-based retailer laid off about two-dozen lawyers and staff last week. The company had about 50 in-house lawyers just three years ago, but now has less than 25 after deciding to outsource most litigation, employment and labor law and tax law needs.

August 3, 2015 Mark Curriden

Texas Lawyers Differ on New US-Cuba Relations

Fluor Corp. General Counsel Carlos Hernandez vividly remembers Christmas Eve 1958. He and his family were huddled in their house in Cuba as warplanes flew overhead. Weeks later, they fled Cuba for the United States in fear of their lives. Hernandez admits there is a split among Texans of Cuban descent about the Obama Administration's softened stance toward his homeland. “We lost our freedoms. They took all of our property,” Hernandez says. “I am not yet prepared to forgive them. They should be held accountable for the atrocities they committed.”

July 21, 2015 Mark Curriden

Corporate Counsel Magazine: GC Compensation Inches Up

The general counsel at 20 of the largest Texas businesses earned $1 million or more during 2014, according to a new study conducted by Corporate Counsel magazine. Texas-based companies employ 13 of the 100 highest paid chief legal officers and 33 of the top 350. The general counsel at AT&T, Baker Hughes, Energy Future Holdings and Marathon Oil each earned more than $2 million a year in salary, bonuses and stock options.

July 20, 2015 Mark Curriden

Exclusive: EFH Bankruptcy Fees Top $230 million

Energy Future Holdings is spending more than $600,000 a day – including weekends and holidays – in legal and financial advisory fees and expenses as part of its restructuring efforts in federal bankruptcy court, putting the case on track to be one of the costliest bankruptcies in U.S. history. Since filing for reorganization under Chapter 11 in April 2014, lawyers and financial advisers have charged EFH $230 million through June 1. More than 50 lawyers, including 29 from Kirkland, are charging EFH more than $1,000 an hour.

July 5, 2015 Mark Curriden

AlixPartners Selects Kathryn Koorenny as New GC & Managing Director

Kathryn Koorenny was a star in-house lawyer at American Airlines. She guided the Fort Worth airline through the potentially crippling 9/11 litigation and the massive bankruptcy reorganization. Now, she’s the new general counsel at billion-dollar global consulting firm AlixPartners, running a legal department of 15 and dozens of outside counsel relationships. Only one question: Can she cook a world-class bowl of chili for AlixPartners Chili Cook Off? Koorenny answers all the questions.

June 24, 2015 Mark Curriden

AlixPartners Selects Kathryn Koorenny as New GC & Managing Director

Kathryn Koorenny was a star in-house lawyer at American Airlines. She guided the Fort Worth airline through the potentially crippling 9/11 litigation and the massive bankruptcy reorganization. Now, she’s the new general counsel at billion-dollar global consulting firm AlixPartners, running a legal department of 15 and dozens of outside counsel relationships. Only one question: Can she cook a world-class bowl of chili for AlixPartners Chili Cook Off? Koorenny answers all the questions.

June 24, 2015 Mark Curriden

Dena Stroh Settles in as NTTA GC

Exactly three months ago, the North Texas Tollway Authority named Dena DeNooyer Stroh its new general counsel. Stroh, the former GC at Murchison Oil & Gas and a former partner at two prominent Dallas law firms – Gruber Hurst and Carrington Coleman – said her first 90 days on the job have shown her the position is perfect for her.

June 21, 2015 Mark Curriden

DHLF Nets More than $106K at Annual Luncheon

More than 200 lawyers, judges, law school deans and law students were in attendance at the Belo Mansion Thursday to celebrate the future generation of Hispanic lawyers and veteran Hispanic lawyers at law firms and corporate legal departments that have “paid it forward.”

May 28, 2015 Mark Curriden