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Dentistry Dreams to Megadeals: Dallas Native Powers AI Infrastructure Gold Rush

Melissa Kalka once imagined herself in a white dentist’s coat, peering into mouths across bicuspids and middle molars.

Instead, now she examines balance and term sheets, drilling into multibillion‑dollar deals for hidden risk and opportunity. A transactional partner at the richest law firm in the world, she has become one of the firm’s go‑to architects for complex, capital‑intensive energy and infrastructure deals.

The Texas Lawbook caught up with her about her upbringing and career and the deals she’s leading now.

CDT Roundup: AI, Energy and Giant Deal Shape Diverse Week

Three AI-related deals. A soon-to-be-Japanese-owned digital infrastructure provider sopped up a major alternative energy investor. A Miami-based PE firm bought 10 data centers. You get the idea.

For the week ended May 30, the CDT Roundup reported on 14 transactions valued at a nearly $19.9 billion.

That falls short of last week’s 15 deals for $75 billion, but within shouting distance of the 19 transactions valued at $23 billion at this time last year.

That and more in this edition of CDT Roundup.

Catching Up with Kelly Rentzel as In-house Veteran Joins Bradley’s Dallas Office

Bradley continues to expand its presence in Dallas by hiring Kelly Rentzel as counsel in the firm’s banking & financial services practice group. A financial services in-house veteran, she brings rare firsthand experience managing internal legal operations, capital markets transactions and complex M&A.

The Texas Lawbook caught up with Rentzel about her move to Bradley, the trends she’s seeing and more.

Texas Supreme Court Orders Dallas Judge to Lift Mask Mandate

The Texas Supreme Court issued an order Friday instructing Dallas County at Law Judge D’Metria Benson to immediately rescind her standing court order requiring lawyers, witnesses, jurors and others in her courtroom to wear masks.

“The Court disapproves of any such policy in any Texas courtroom,” a three-page order signed by all nine justices released Friday states.

Chevron Appoints Scott Keller as Next GC

Chevron announced Friday that Austin appellate lawyer and former Texas solicitor general Scott A. Keller will be the Houston energy giant’s new general counsel starting July 1 and will take over as chief legal officer when current chief legal officer, R. Hewitt Pate, retires next year.

Pate has been the chief legal officer at Chevron for 17 years.

Haynes Boone Associates Get a Trial Run

Haynes Boone attorneys from across the country came to Dallas this week to participate in the firm’s second annual Trial Academy. The training gives younger attorneys an opportunity to try a mock case and get immediate feedback from experienced partners.

P.S. — Dallas Lawyers Launch Nonprofit to Keep Kids in Competitive Soccer 

When Sarita Prabhu and Jacque Kruppa first enrolled their sons in recreational soccer, it cost about $80. 

But as the boys advanced into more competitive leagues, the price tag climbed to upwards of $5,000. 

They saw other kids drop out because their families could not keep up with the rising costs. 

Prabhu, managing vice president and legal counsel at Gartner, and Kruppa, a partner and transactional lawyer at Bradley Arant Boult Cummings, occasionally made donations to their nonprofit soccer club to bridge the gap. But they also began thinking about how they could make a broader impact after seeing the value soccer provided their kids beyond the field – leadership, teamwork, strategy, grit and exposure to diverse groups of kids. 

The result was Dallas Soccer Scholars, which launched in July, obtained 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status in January, and has accepted 12 scholars into the program. Additional applications are pending for the 2026-2027 season. The organization has also sponsored two soccer tournament teams to ease travel costs.

That and more in this edition of P.S.

As Austin Business Skyrockets, So Too Does Reliance on Modern Dispute Resolution  

As the city has grown rapidly, this thriving business hub has seen increased complexity in legal disputes tied to technology, construction, energy, healthcare, and employment matters, just to name a few. With this increase, the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services has also steadily risen. Fortunately, Austin has long enjoyed a sophisticated ADR marketplace, serving this expanding business community for approximately three decades.

ConocoPhillips’ Scott Kelly: 2025 was ‘Most Challenging and Rewarding Year Ever’

Scott Kelly accomplished more in his first year at ConocoPhillips than many in-house counsel accomplish in decades of service. Kelly joined the ConocoPhillips legal department in December 2024 but has already won three major trials, defeating $250 million in claims against ConocoPhillips and recovering $12 million in damages. And he settled a fourth case that involved multiple fatalities.

Citing these huge courtroom victories, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are awarding the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year Award for a Large Legal Department to Kelly.

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