Phillips 66 General Counsel Vanessa Allen Sutherland and Vopak General Counsel Hugo Teste have been named the Houston GCs of the Year for large and small corporate legal departments, according to the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
ACC Houston and The Lawbook also announce that McDermott Chief Legal Officer Rachel Clingman and Mitsui U.S.A. General Counsel Linda Primrose have been named finalists for the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department, while Cardinal System Holdings GC Sara-Ashley Moreno and PURIS CLO Thomas Gottsegen are finalists for the Houston General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department.
The Lawbook previously announced the finalists for M&A Transaction of the Year, Business Litigation of the Year, Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion and Senior Counsel of the Year for small, midsized and large corporate legal departments.
This is the sixth year that ACC Houston and The Lawbook have partnered on the annual Houston Corporate Counsel Awards, which recognize the hard work, legal successes and leadership skills of general counsel and senior counsel at Houston area businesses. This year, ACC Houston and The Lawbook received more than 60 submissions.
“The contenders for this year’s Houston Corporate Counsel Awards shine a spotlight on the contributions legal professionals offer to their organizations’ strategic goals,” said ACC Houston Chapter President Melanie Kolterman, who is the general counsel at Five Star Management. “With representation across various industries and accomplishments, this collective underscores the rich tapestry of talent within our community. Congratulations to all the finalists.”
ACC Houston and The Lawbook will honor the finalists and announce the winners at a ceremony on May 15 at the Four Seasons Hotel in downtown Houston. In-depth profiles of each finalist will be published in April and May.
Net proceeds from the Houston Corporate Counsel Awards goes to fund The Texas Lawbook’s full-time pro bono, public service and diversity reporter and writer. More details can be found at TexasLawbookFoundation.org.
“I look forward to the corporate counsel awards each year because it’s a time for our profession to honor our colleagues outstanding achievements,” said Marc Krasney, vice president of legal affairs at Bluepeak and a member of the ACC Houston board of directors. “I always say, as an in-house counsel myself, it’s a great compliment when one of my business leaders thinks all things legal just get done or look easy. We, lawyers, know the job is much more complex and varied. It’s an even better compliment when the legal profession and The Texas Lawbook honors a fellow in-house counsel with an award for their excellence in getting things done and making the job look easy. And, at the Association of Corporate Counsel, we applaud every nominee and winner for their amazing achievements.”
The 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award finalists announced so far include:
General Counsel of the Year for a Solo Legal Department
- Cardinal System Holdings General Counsel Sara-Ashley Moreno, who was nominated by Hunton Andrews Kurth; and
- PURIS Chief Legal Officer Thomas Gottsegen, who was nominated by Shearman & Sterling.
General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (2-5 lawyers)
- Vopak General Counsel Hugo Teste, who was nominated by Vopak Corporate Counsel Nadia Barrow and lawyers at Hunton AK.
General Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (6-20 attorneys)
- McDermott Chief Legal Office Rachel Clingman, who was nominated by Kirkland & Ellis; and
- Mitsui U.S.A General Counsel Linda Primrose, who was nominated by Blank Rome.
General Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department (21 or more lawyers)
- Phillips 66 General Counsel Vanessa Allen Sutherland, who was nominated by Michael Voutsinas, director of legal operations at Phillips 66.
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (five lawyers or fewer)
- Virage Capital Management Director of Litigation Funding Leslie Hillendahl, who was nominated by the AZA Law Firm.
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (6-20 lawyers)
- DistributionNOW Deputy General Counsel Jordan Chester, who also was nominated by AZA.
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department (21 or more lawyers)
- Phillips 66 Senior Counsel Kristina McQuaid, who was nominated by her legal team at Phillips 66.
- LyondellBasell Lead Litigation Counsel Brittany Ringel Walton, who was nominated by the lawyers at AZA.
Houston M&A Transaction of the Year
- Gindi Vincent, general counsel for Honeywell International’s integrated supply chain and procurement, and its outside lawyers at Arnold & Porter. Dionne Hamilton, Honeywell GC for Smart Energy and Thermal Solutions, nominated Vincent for the award.
- Phillips 66 Deputy General Counsel Robert Task, P66 Managing Counsel Maine Goodfellow and P66 Assistant Deputy GC Jerarae Garland, and their outside counsel at Bracewell.
Houston Business Litigation of the Year
- First Reserve General Counsel Erica Radcliffe, who was nominated by Vinson & Elkins;
- Forum Energy General Counsel John Ivascu, who was nominated by Yetter Coleman; and
- SilverBow Resources Associate General Counsel Jennifer Cadena, who was nominated by the AZA law firm.
Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion
- Adel Sander, Ascend Performance deputy general counsel, who was nominated by Foley partner Rachel Steely;
- Hector Pineda, Shell USA associate general counsel for downstream and renewables, who was nominated by Shell senior counsel Eric Maddock; and
- Sean Jamieson, general counsel at Spire Resources, who was nominated by Vinson & Elkins partner Quentin Smith.
To purchase a table to celebrate the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award finalists, please contact Texas Lawbook Publisher Brooks Igo at brooks.igo@texaslawbook.net.