The Texas Lawbook visited with the new Houstonian to learn more about how she was “primed for Texas,” the Chapter 11s she has participated in recently and the prospects of a coming recession.
Latham Picks Up Another Willkie Dealmaker in Houston
Just weeks after hiring Bruce Herzog, Latham has announced the addition of Scott Miller.
Dawud Crooms Joins Atlantic Aviation as GC
Dawud Crooms, an in-house lawyer who led Dallas retail giant 7-Eleven through 15 acquisitions with a combined deal value of about $30 billion during the past seven years, is the new general counsel at Atlantic Aviation, a private airline support-services operation. During his seven years at 7-Eleven, Crooms played a leading role in the convenience store chain’s purchase of Sunoco for $3.3 billion and its 2020 acquisition of Speedway for $21 billion.
Jackson Walker Adds Bankruptcy Depth from Kirkland
The two firms have developed a close working relationship through the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Houston over the past several years.
K&L Gates Hires IP Partner in Houston
Collin Rose has joined the Houston office of K&L Gates, the firm announced Monday. Rose, who joins from Chamberlain Hrdlicka, was chair of his prior firm’s intellectual property practice group.
Texas Mutual’s GC Retires After 26 Years as Workers’ Comp System’s Most Ardent Advocate
Mary Barrow Nichols retires Friday after 26 years as general counsel with a new startup building upon the wreckage in the mid-1990s of the Texas workers’ comp system. The new startup? Texas Mutual Insurance Co. “You are now the person who cares more than anyone else about how the new Texas workers’ compensation law works,” her then-mentor, David Brown, told her as she left Vinson & Elkins. “It turns out,” she says, “he has been right for 26 years.”
Former SEC Enforcement Lawyer Looks Back and Forward
Federal regulators will focus more resources on special purpose acquisition companies seeking to go public because the increased frequency of so-called de-SPACing could lead to a jump in improper accounting, financial misstatements and even fraud. That’s according to Rebecca Fike, who spent the past 10 years at the SEC’s Fort Worth Regional Office prosecuting violators of accounting and financial fraud, who said cryptocurrency, corporate governance and de-SPACing are “ripe for potential securities issues” to be investigated by the federal agency.