There were no lawyers in Glen Hill’s family. He didn’t even consider law school until he was serving in the U.S. Army as a company commander at Fort Sam Houston.
“Being in San Antonio and the downtown Riverwalk, we had several problems arise with alcohol and soldiers – things would happen that should not have happened,” Hill says. “I was responsible for maintaining good order and discipline for my unit, which meant that I spent a not-so-insignificant amount of my time in consultation with the assigned judge advocate general.”
As a result, Hill became “very familiar” with the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
“Law school seemed a reasonable next step after I decided to separate from active duty status,” he says.
More than 15 years later, Hill is the assistant general counsel at Preston Hollow Capital, an independent municipal finance company with more than $2.6 billion in investment capacity.
In only two years in the position, Hill has “touched” more than 80 financial transactions. He’s worked on 35 deals that have closed. He closed a deal in December involving the city of Gary, Indiana. Earlier last year, he worked on two transactions for Howard University, including renovating the women’s dormitory.
“I’ve seen more unique and complex transactions in less than two years at Preston Hollow than I did in nine years practicing at law firms,” he says.
“There are no law school courses on public finance. But I quickly learned to really enjoy public finance work because all the stakeholders want the deal to happen.”
DLA Piper partner Richard Cheng says it is clear that Preston Hollow executives trust Hill’s judgment as a problem-solver.
“Glen is the true definition of the ‘heavy lifter’ at PHC, assuming multiple duties in a myriad of legal issues and taking on leadership roles within the company,” Cheng says.
Hill is a finalist for the 2019 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel’s Rookie of the Year award, which recognizes lawyers who have been in-house counsel for two years or less. The award ceremony will take place tonight at the George W. Bush Institute.
“Having known Glen in professional and social roles for more than five years, I have no doubt that his dedication to his transition to in-house legal practice stems from his core belief that no one achieves anything noteworthy without hard work and adaptability,” says Cheng, who nominated Hill for the honor. “He has acted on that core belief, both in and outside of leadership capacities, even prior to his legal career.”
Hill grew up on a farm 70 miles south of Atlanta. His father has a Ph.D. in agricultural sciences. His mother taught middle school and high school. Both are active in Georgia politics.
In 1996, Hill graduated from Florida A&M with a bachelor’s degree in biology and then enrolled in the U.S. Army, where he spent nearly eight years serving his country.
In 2005, Hill received his MBA from Webster University and then attended law school at the University of Texas in Austin.
Vinson & Elkins recruited Hill and he joined the firm’s commercial real estate practice in Dallas in 2008.
But the economy was slipping into a recession. No commercial real estate projects were being done, so legal work was scarce. Fortunately for Hill, V&E rotated its associates to various practice groups, and he landed in public finance, which needed assistance.
“I had no idea what public finance was,” he says. “There are no law school courses on public finance. But I quickly learned to really enjoy public finance work because all the stakeholders want the deal to happen.
“I also like that the proceeds from the bonds build things that help people – airports, schools, hospitals, roads and other things,” he says.
When the public finance group moved its practice from V&E to Bracewell, Hill went with them. During his nine years with the team, he handled projects with the Dallas Independent School District, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Cook Children’s Hospital in Fort Worth and Texas Health Resources.
Hill also had the honor of working with legendary public finance lawyer Ray Hutchison, who led the bonds for building DFW International Airport, Parkland Hospital and the AT&T Performing Arts Center. Hutchison died in 2014.
“The opportunity to work with Ray was unbelievable,” Hill says. “He literally wrote the laws that we use.”
Bracewell partner Rob Collins, who worked with Hill in the firm’s public finance practice, says Hill’s “passion and a desire to help carry the client’s burden for them throughout a project” sets him apart from many in-house counsel.
“Glen has a unique ability to connect with people regardless of background,” Collins says. “As a result, he is able to quickly gain the confidence of clients and colleagues, which when combined with his legal knowledge and passion for being a lawyer is a powerful tool.”
In December 2017, Preston Hollow executives contacted Hill about joining the team.
“I was struck by the complexity of the transactions they were doing,” Hill says. “My wife and I talked about it, and we agreed it would be an excellent opportunity to learn a new life experience.”
Hill works directly with Preston Hollow’s originations group to facilitate the structuring of potential municipal finance transactions and with PHC’s credit and underwriting sections to determine risk profiles and review project surveillance and disclosure requirements.
Working with outside counsel, governmental stakeholders and securities issuers, Hill shepherds a project throughout its life cycle – from initial confidentiality provisions through negotiation of critical transaction terms and finally to the transaction’s completion.
“Glen truly cares about his clients and their projects,” Collins says. “He is a deep thinker who works hard to evaluate all legal avenues for a project and the relative strengths and weaknesses of each avenue. Sometimes the result is to still handle the matter in a ‘customary’ manner. Other times Glen’s thoughtfulness brings a fresh approach to a project which clients appreciate.”
Hill is extremely active in public service. He participates in several mentoring programs, including Big Brothers Big Sisters, Dallas Bar Association Summer Law Intern Program, DBA’s Minority Participation Committee and the State Bar of Texas Standing Committee on Diversity in the Profession.
“Importantly, Glen was able to leverage his personal network of colleagues across Texas to facilitate the drafting and filing of an amicus curiae brief in connection with the State Bar of Texas’ response to MacDonald et al. v. Longley,” says Cheng.
The federal lawsuit filed in United States District Court for the Western District of Texas challenged the state bar’s programs promoting diversity and inclusion, access to justice and veteran legal support initiatives.
Hill is passionate about diversity and believes mentoring efforts will help improve the pipeline.
“AmLaw 100 firms have a long way to go to make sure that they have diversity and inclusion,” he says. “We staff projects with people we know, and I happen to have a diverse group of people around me. But that is not true for most lawyers.”
Hill says large businesses, such as AT&T, American Airlines and Toyota must “make it a priority” by requiring their outside legal teams to be diverse if the problem is to be solved.