Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
For Blake Rice, the work day starts early. Though he is based in Dallas, the lifelines of Neuberger Berman, the fast-rising investment services company he represents, stretch across time zones from London to Hong Kong and beyond. His grasp of complicated global transactions has earned him both respect and a nomination for a 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award. Learn about him in The Texas Lawbook.
A 2014 East Texas jury verdict that Trinity Industries violated the False Claims Act resulted in a $663 million judgment against the Irving-based manufacturer of highway guardrails. Instead of cratering, Trinity launched a counter-offensive led by the company’s top legal officers, Theis Rice and Sarah Teachout. In 2017, the duo and their outside counsel scored an historic reversal—earning them nominations as finalists in three categories of the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. The Texas Lawbook explains.
Baltimore-born David Hernandez made his reputation in Texas as a tax lawyer and a strategic thinker. After years in the law firm trenches, he has emerged as a masterful in-house counsel at Hunt Consolidated and a trusted Hunt family adviser in a time of delicate transition. For this, and more, Hernandez is a finalist in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Learn more about him in The Texas Lawbook.
A massive data breach in 2014 could have been catastrophic for Michaels Stores. The arts and crafts company had to explain what happened to regulators, notify 2.6 million customers and fend off no less than five massive lawsuits. But Michaels has recovered, and many credit the rapid and transparent response by Janie Perelman, the company’s assistant general counsel. And now she’s a finalist in the 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read how she did it in The Texas Lawbook.
Kimberly Houston’s fascination with the law may have begun with “Matlock,” but it’s grown into an expertise on such weighty subjects as employment misclassification and regulatory compliance. As Corporate Counsel for Liberty Mutual, the insurance giant, Houston has wrestled with large-scale undertakings, from a class action defense to the development of the company’s new corporate campus in North Texas. And now she’s a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read about her in The Texas Lawbook.
Chris Luna, chief counsel at MetroPCS, has been a fixture in Dallas business and public life. He is an outspoken proponent of diversity in both the legal profession and the businesses they serve. His legal department is a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Find out why in The Texas Lawbook.
Stacie McNulty is a highly-respected authority on intellectual property. Her observations on the subject have been cited by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. But her long-standing commitment to programs dealing with HIV and other public health issues commands something close to awe. As a result, she’s a finalist in the upcoming Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Details in The Texas Lawbook.
When Oncor Electric Delivery Company and Dallas-based Sharyland Utilities swapped assets in 2017, it was more than another $400 energy distribution deal. It was a solution to a problem that had plagued and perplexed 60,000 rate payers. That’s one of the reasons the deal is a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read about what made it unusual and who made it happen in The Texas Lawbook.
Brittany Perez jumps horses in competition. As vice president and associate general counsel of Match.com, she's also involved in issues as diverse as consumer class actions and cybersecurity. She's a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards and her profile in The Texas Lawbook spells out why. Spoiler alert: She didn't meet her husband on Match.
Nicola Hobeiche is assistant general counsel at ORIX USA, but her office is often a minefield: of books or clothes or toys headed for a homeless shelter. Sure, she’s an experienced and respected trial lawyer, but she’s also a first-rate community servant and a finalist in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. Read about her in The Texas Lawbook.
Baron T. Oursler decided to become a lawyer as an 11-year-old boy. Now he's general counsel of a $1 billion trucking company. He's also among finalists in the Outstanding Corporate Counsel awards for 2017. Read more in The Texas Lawbook.
Keitha Wright was the first person in her family to graduate from college. Now the Howard University Law School grad is senior counsel at G2 Secure Staff. Because of her work inside and outside, she's a finalist in the diversity category of the Outstanding Corporate Counsel awards. More in The Texas Lawbook.
As the general counsel of American Airlines for a dozen years, Gary Kennedy has some stories to tell. In his new book, Kennedy gives readers unprecedented access to closed-door internal discussions with executives, confidential legal strategy meetings and secret – and many times contentious – negotiations between American officials, its labor unions and executives with US Airways. Most importantly, Twelve Years of Turbulence provides a provocative insider's description of the most successful corporate bankruptcy and restructuring in U.S. history.
For more than 13 years, Gil Friedlander led the EDS legal department. He masterminded some of the largest and most complex corporate transactions in Texas history. He showed that the general counsel was a critical strategic position within the business – not just a lawyer. And he championed diversity within the legal profession long before the cause was popular. The DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel and The Texas Lawbook named Friedlander the first ever Outstanding Corporate Counsel Lifetime Achievement Award.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are pleased to announce the finalists for the official 2017 Outstanding Corporate Counsel Awards. There are three new categories, including the Lifetime Achievement Award. Today, The Lawbook unveils the honoree and name the finalists for all award categories.
Chris Luna, a leading legal industry advocate for diversity, has new and expanded duties at T-Mobile's Richardson-based subsidiary, MetroPCS. He now serves on the wireless operator's senior leadership team, supervises the company’s governmental relations activities and has more management responsibilities. In an exclusive Texas Lawbook interview, Luna discusses the biggest legal issues he faces and his handling of outside counsel.
Patrick Shea has been busy since he joined the Waste Connections legal department in 2004. He's overseen 300 business acquisitions, 10 debt financings for more than $10 billion, two equity offerings that raised $800 million and helped engineer the company’s relocation from California to Texas. In an exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Shea, who recently won the Texas GC Forum's Magna Stella Award for GC of the Year for a Small Legal Dept., discusses Waste Connections' tremendous growth, his biggest legal needs and what he looks for in outside counsel.
Stroz Friedberg, a national corporate consulting firm, announced Monday that it has hired Dallas lawyer John Ansbach, the former GC at General Datatech, as its vice president of engagement management in Dallas. Ansbach is known throughout Texas for his expertise in cybersecurity and data privacy.
HOUSTON (Nov. 30) – Since becoming the GC of Halliburton in 2014, Robb Voyles has successfully guided the oilfield services giant through treacherous legal waters that included a mountain of lawsuits with billions of dollars at stake related to the Deepwater Horizon deadly explosion, a global securities class action lawsuit, a nine-figure tax dispute with its former KBR subsidiary and a $28 billion merger with Baker Hughes that went bad. In this exclusive interview with The Texas Lawbook, Voyles looks back at the last four years and discusses his wins, losses and the reason the Texas GC Forum recognized him in November for his accomplishments.
More than 300 of the most prominent in-house and outside corporate lawyers in Texas met in San Antonio Thursday and Friday as part of the annual meeting of the Texas General Counsel Forum. The Forum recognized eight lawyers and two legal departments for outstanding successes and achievements during the past year. The Texas Lawbook, which has an exclusive partnership with the GC Forum, has complete details.
© Copyright 2026 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.
