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GCs/Corp. Legal Depts.

DFW Senior Counsel of the Year Finalists: City Electric, Ecobat, Envoy Air, Jacobs

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announce two winners and two finalists for the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year. Corporate legal departments and law firms submitted more than 60 nominations in 13 different categories for this year’s DFW Corporate Counsel Awards, which recognize the successes and leadership demonstrated by in-house counsel in North Texas. During the past week, The Lawbook has announced finalists for M&A Deal of the Year, Corporate Secretary/Legal Counselor of the Year, Pro Bono and Public Service and Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. The full details on the finalists are in The Lawbook.

Mark Curriden

Matador Resources, MoneyGram, Pioneer Natural Resources Finalists for DFW Corporate Counsel Awards

In a year of huge M&A deals, in-house lawyers at Pioneer Natural Resources, MoneyGram and Matador Resources stood out. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announce that the two finalists for the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for M&A Deal of the Year are Matador Resources and MoneyGram. ACC-DFW and The Lawbook also announce that Pioneer Natural Resources’s Akshar Patel is the sole finalist and recipient of the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Corporate Secretary/Legal Counselor of the Year.

Mark Curriden

Pro Bono and DEI Awards Go to Counsel at Nexstar Media, Toyota

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook received dozens of nominations for the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards, which recognize the successes and leadership demonstrated by in-house counsel in North Texas. ACC-DFW and The Lawbook put together an independent group of judges to review the nominations and select the best of the best in 13 categories. During the next 10 days, The Lawbook and ACC-DFW will announce the finalists for GC of the Year, Senior Counsel of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Business Litigation of the Year, M&A Deal of the Year, Corporate Secretary/Legal Advisor of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.

Natalie Posgate & Mark Curriden

Texas GC Forum Honors Eight Corporate Counsel for Leadership, Successes

Eight general counsel and senior counsel from Baker Hughes, Beneficient, Cart.com, City of Grand Prairie, McDermott, Transocean, Trillium Flow Technologies and Westlake Chemical, were honored Thursday night in Austin by the Texas General Counsel Forum for their accomplishments and leadership in 2022 and 2023. The 17th annual Magna Stella Awards went to four women and four men on topics ranging from major transaction and major litigation of the year to general counsel for large and small corporate legal departments. The Texas Lawbook was there and has full details.

Photo: Andres Sotomayor

Mark Curriden

From the Courtroom to the Classroom to ADR: An Austin-Based Attorney’s Professional Journey

Now in my third "career" as a JAMS neutral, I've had a front row seat to the rise of alternative dispute resolution as a litigator and a professor at the University of Texas School of Law. The unknown of what the state business court will look like, an increasing reliance on artificial intelligence and a growing focus on ESG are a few reasons to be bullish on ADR.

Tracy Walters McCormack, Esq.

Three Senior In-House Lawyers on How to Gain (and Lose) their Business

During a panel discussion last Friday at the Texas Minority Counsel Program’s 31st annual conference in Houston, the three high-ranking in-house lawyers at Goldman Sachs, Energy Transfer and Republic National Distributing went into detail on what they look for in outside counsel, and also offered a plethora of ways law firms could immediately land in the doghouse — if not lose their business immediately. 

Natalie Posgate

TMCP Panel: Diversity Fatigue Rampant on Both Sides of the Corporate Aisle

White lawyers, a word of caution: Your colleagues of color are sick of having to constantly educate you on racial issues and the nuances of diversity, equity and inclusion. Lawyers of color: We know you are exhausted, but there are still benefits — both institutional and personal — in continuing to play the game.

These were the two main takeaways during a panel discussion of law firm partners Thursday afternoon at the Texas Minority Counsel Program’s 31st annual conference in Houston.

Natalie Posgate

Four Texas GCs: ‘The Why for [DEI] is Especially Important’

Four Texas-based general counsel — Justin Johnson of Jacobs, Monica Karuturi of CenterPoint Energy, Aparna Dave of the Texas Dow Employees Credit Union and Clay Allen of the Houston Rockets — kicked off the 31st Annual Texas Minority Counsel Program conference discussing the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion to them personally and how it comes into strategic play at their organizations. The four GCs also talked about their preferences and dislikes about law firm business development efforts. Texas Lawbook pro bono, public service and diversity reporter Natalie Posgate is at the event and filed this report.

Natalie Posgate

Corporate Policies on the Use of AI Tools: A Q&A with Yokogawa’s George Niño

While this exciting new AI technology is at the core of several useful applications, it is still developing and can provide inaccurate results. The use of these AI tools by companies also raises a number of legal, ethical, privacy and security risks. George Niño, the general counsel and corporate secretary for two Yokogawa companies, in this Q&A goes behind the scenes of the development of Yokogawa's corporate AI policy.

Brad Weber

Sempra Infrastructure CLO Carolyn Aiman: A Leader in ‘Extraordinary Times’

During her three decade career, Carolyn Aiman practiced litigation at a national corporate law firm, handled employment law at former oil giant Texaco, served as managing counsel over corporate governance and capital markets at global energy titan Shell and is now chief legal officer at Sempra Infrastructure. Along the way, Aiman has shepherded some groundbreaking energy initiatives, including Sempra Infrastructure’s $13 billion joint venture to develop, build and operate a project that would supply liquified natural gas to Europe. In addition, Aiman has pioneered innovative and highly successful diversity and inclusion efforts at Shell and Sempra.

In May, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook recognized Aiman’s successes by honoring her with the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. This is her story.

Mark Curriden

Talen Energy GC Moves Up, New GC Moves In, V&E Gets New GC

Three weeks after exiting bankruptcy, Talen Energy announced that GC Andrew Wright will be the company's next chief administrative officer and V&E partner John Wander will be the energy firm’s next GC effective June 19. Wander also served as V&E’s internal GC. With his departure, the firm announced that partner Vanessa Griffith will be the Houston-based law firm’s new GC.

Mark Curriden

New Law Will Reshape Privacy Regulation in Texas

Over Memorial Day weekend, the Texas legislature passed the Texas Data Privacy and Security Act. Texas is now poised to join a rapidly growing list of U.S. states that have passed “comprehensive” privacy regulations, a trend that began in 2018 with the enactment of the California Consumer Privacy Act. The TPDSA will likely have a much broader impact than the similar laws enacted in Virginia, Utah, Colorado and Connecticut.

Michael H. Rubin & Robert W. Brown II

Meaningful Change Requires Personal Investment

As female attorneys who have worked in-house and in various firm environments, we have seen firsthand the challenges that women and marginalized communities face in the legal profession.

While there has been progress in recent years, there are still far too few female partners and other underrepresented leaders in the field, such that we can’t rely on structural and institutional change alone. More progress cannot occur without lawyers across the spectrum investing in the next generation of lawyers from underrepresented communities.

Meyling Ly-Ortiz & Britta Stanton

Joe Davidson – ‘A Proud Rice Owl’ Making a Difference

For 28 years, Joe Davidson has worked as an in-house lawyer at Rice University and is GC of Rice Management Company, the entity that includes Rice’s $7.8 billion endowment, which provides about 40 percent of the university’s operating revenues. His list of successes is long. “My biggest accomplishments have been to be able to facilitate and support the big visions and thinking of Rice’s faculty, students and administrators — supporting them in obtaining research funding, conducting fieldwork, publishing their results and licensing them for further research and commercial development,” Davidson told The Texas Lawbook.

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook honored Davidson on May 4 with the 2023 Houston General Counsel of the Year Award for a Nonprofit Institution. This is his story.

Mark Curriden

Expert Voices: ‘Dear GC, You May Need to Amend Your Form Natural Gas Contracts’

The Uniform Commercial Code — in all its forms — tells us that the increased or unforeseen cost of selling a good alone does not excuse performance. After all, a rise in prices or the collapse of a given market is no justification, the UCC states, “for that is exactly the type of business risk which business contracts made at fixed prices are intended to cover.” But recent case law puts a finer point on the issue and may require lawyers to refine their form natural gas purchase and supply contracts to redefine force majeure in certain circumstances.

James Rogers & Sofia Colorado

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