Sarah Payne went to college and graduate school to be a journalist covering the music industry with the dream of writing for Rolling Stone. Her father, then a Houston trial lawyer, had other ideas. “I was worn down by my tenacious father over the course of two decades,” Payne told The Texas Lawbook. “My entering the profession was likely inescapable. It’s in my veins for better or worse.” Payne recently led her employer, Maverick Natural Resources, to a huge courtroom victory after a four-year contract dispute with XTO Energy regarding revenue sharing as part of a joint venture. Citing the jury trial success, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook named Payne the 2025 Houston Corporate Counsel Award recipient for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department.
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Premium Subscriber Q&A: Sarah Payne
In this Q&A with The Texas Lawbook, Sarah Payne discusses the traits she seeks in outside counsel, what outside counsel need to know when working with her and more.
Real Estate Veteran Nick Buehner Returns to V&E as a Partner
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Dorsey Hires Former Federal Prosecutor Edward Loya
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GT Bolsters Franchise & Distribution Practice with Cross-Border Adviser Mo Alturk
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Healthcare Fraud Prosecutor Leaves DOJ for Hicks Thomas
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Bradley Adds Veteran White-Collar Partner in Dallas
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Sunoco to Purchase Parkland Corp. for $9.1B
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We saw a major DFW brand, Sabre, make a $1.1 billion divestiture, a shipping logistics acquisition, a good-sized banking deal, funding for a social care navigation platform, the acquisition of a Mexico-based supply chain platform and a $400 million PE commitment to a new E&P.