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GCs/Corp. Legal Depts.

Texas Mutual GC: Strategically Thinking Several Steps Ahead

Mary Nichols didn’t invent the Texas workers’ compensation system, but she may be its most ardent and aggressive defender. The article examines the 17 years Nichols has been GC at Texas Mutual, her landmark courtroom victories, and her relationships with outside counsel.

Mark Curriden

Robert Dedman Ethics Award Goes to Mark Berg of Pioneer

Berg has handled some of the most complex legal transactions in the global energy sector during the past few years. The energy deals, which valued in the billions and completely transformed the large, independent oil and gas exploration and production company and its investments. “We hire lawyers who know our company and want to partner with us. We still see this as a legal profession, not as a commodity and we treat it as such," says Berg. “The law firms that will survive in this new environment are those who go back and look at how the practice of law used to be."

Mark Curriden

Indian Minister Visits Dallas as Texas Business with Country Flourishes

S.M. Krishna, India’s Minster of External Affairs and a 1959 graduate of the SMU Dedman School of Law, is returning to his alma mater Wednesday. The highest-ranking Indian official to ever visit Dallas, Krishna’s presence comes at a time when Texas-based companies are doing more and more business with their counterparts in India. During the past two years, businesses in Texas, including Fluor Corp, Pioneer Natural Resources, Atlas Energy and ConocoPhillips, have inked more than a dozen deals with companies in India. In addition, Indian-based companies are hiring Texas-based law firms, including Thompson & Knight, Vinson & Elkins and Akin Gump, to handle their complex legal transactional work in Texas and globally.

Mark Curriden

Managing a Crisis: Oil Spill Case Tests Sutherland’s Rachel Clingman

Hired by rig owner Transocean just days after the deadly Deepwater Horizon explosion, Rachel Giesber Clingman approached the case with her trademark relentless preparation. Her early work proved critical, as she faced a maze of complex litigation, Congressional hearings and the challenge of leading a team of independent trial lawyers. For Clingman, the case she is reluctant to discuss is the high point of a 20-year career, showcasing, and at times testing, the skills that have propelled her from a small Texas Hill Country town to her current position, at age 45, as the go-to defender of energy companies in trouble.

Mark Curriden

Marathon Oil’s Richard Horstman is Poster Child for Pro Bono – UPDATE

Richard Horstman, who is widely recognized as one of the leading lawyers for international oil exploration and production, didn’t do much pro bono during his first 30 years at Marathon Oil. Five years ago, the energy giant implemented a formal pro bono effort. The assistant GC now performs more than 200 hours of pro bono a year handling child immigration cases. “Pro bono certainly changed my view of myself as a lawyer,” says Horstman. “I realized that I am one of the few who can do this because of my expertise as a lawyer.”

Mark Curriden

Murchison Oil Names Dena DeNooyer Stroh Its GC

At age 38, Stroh is one of the youngest general counsels in the oil and gas sector. A former partner at Gruber Hurst, Stroh specializes in complex civil litigation and appellate law. “I’ve basically changed positions – from lawyer to a businesswoman,” she says. “My job is to identify problems early so that I can nip them in the bud or fix it before it becomes a bigger problem.”

Mark Curriden

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