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Houston Corporate Counsel Unveils Rookie of the Year and Lifetime Achievement Winners

Cindy Dinh has been an in-house counsel for one year and nine months. Tana Pool has been a general counsel for two major companies spanning 17 years. Both are recipients of 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards.

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook announced Tuesday that Pool, who is the general counsel of global seismic data analytics company TGS, will receive the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. In addition, ACC Houston and The Lawbook announced that Dinh, corporate counsel for Sumitomo Corporation of Americas, is the recipient of the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year. Dinh and Pool were nominated by officials at their own companies.

CDT Roundup: 23 Deals, 14 Firms, 222 Lawyers, $22.6B

We know it’s routine for to push some older deals our way at the end of each quarter. Here at the CDT Roundup we sometimes imagine firms pulling out pockets and searching under seat cushions for league table qualifiers they might have missed. But sometimes in the late-arriving flotsam we find deal work worthy of mention, even though it has appeared on our doorstep a tad late. Such is the case of Justin Hoffman, a partner at Winston & Strawn in Houston, whose work leading more than a few capital markets transactions attracted our attention. We look at a few of those deals and a take in a few observations about his practice along with the usual summaries of last week’s transactions and the lawyers behind them.

Litigation Roundup: Fifth Circuit Undoes Transfer of Chamber, CFPB Suit; Souki Owes $100M

In this edition of Litigation Roundup, split panels of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit hit pause on the transfer of a lawsuit challenging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s plan to cap credit card late fees and nix a nearly $240,000 sanction against the former CEO of Highland Capital Management. In lower courts, Texas reaches a $6.6 million settlement over a 2019 petrochemical fire and Charif Souki is found by a bankruptcy judge to owe at least $100 million to his creditors.

Texas Leading Dealmakers — CDT List Names, Firms, Genders, Locations and More

Nearly 500 Texas lawyers led M&A transactions in 2023. The Texas Lawbook’s exclusive Corporate Deal Tracker has the complete list, ranking them by deal count and deal value, by law firm, city and gender. There are a few surprises, such as the number of associates who led or co-led mergers, acquisitions and joint ventures for buyers, sellers and targets. There are a few new names in the top 50, including at No. 1.

But the CDT lead dealmakers list provides some data that has become expected, including how a lot of the lead legal advisors work at only a handful of law firms or how the dealmakers in one city dominate all the other metros combined. And, of course, there is the issue of diversity — or lack thereof — of those who lead M&A transactions in Texas. This article documents the lead and co-lead Texas lawyers for buyers, sellers and targets and is the result of months of data research and reporting by Christi Trammell, Allen Pusey and Jeff Schnick. It was written by Mark Curriden.

Who the Hell is Kevin Henderson?

If ranking at the top of The Texas Lawbook’s deal lists pisses off a few lawyers at Big Law firms in Texas, Kevin Henderson can live with that. In a way, he planned on it. He closed 30 transactions last year in an M&A space most of them wouldn’t bother with, creating a space of his own with an unusual firm structured in an unusual way for an unusual market.

U.S. Fifth Circuit Rejects Environmental Complaints Against Offshore Oil Transfer Platform

In a decision filed Thursday, the U.S. Fifth Circuit upheld the federal permitting for the Sea Port Oil Terminal project, a massive crude pipeline network and storage facility to be located off the Texas coast. The appeals court refused a demand by environmental groups that the U.S. Maritime Administration revisit the environmental impact of the project for its potential harm to the ecological balance in the Gulf of Mexico and the possible extinction of the endangered Rice’s whale.

P.S. — A Legal Line, A New DRC Board Member, A CLE-Accredited Criminal Justice Talk

This edition of P.S. features a Barnes & Thornburg lawyer who joined an esteemed board of key business leaders in Dallas; an upcoming CLE that includes a conversation with a corporate lawyer turned criminal justice reformer who founded three nonprofits, achieved clemency for seven pro bono clients, did a TED Talk and wrote a memoir about her experience growing up with her mother behind bars; and upcoming dates in April when those in need of free legal services can receive pro bono legal advice by phone. 

Other firms and corporate legal departments featured this week include Carrington Coleman, Southwest Airlines, Locke Lord, Haynes Boone, Jones Day, Match Group and Winstead.

Texas Lawbook Foundation Annual Report

The legal community in Texas is facing some huge issues in 2024 that require significant thought, in-depth research, strong leadership and an open discussion. There is the immigrant crisis on the border and how state, local and federal governments and the courts are handling it — or not handling it. Diversity and inclusion efforts have never been more important, more complicated or more controversial. Legal aid for the poor is at a critical stage, as veterans, single mothers, tenants and the elderly face significant perils without the assistance of lawyers. The need for a full-time reporter and writer covering pro bono, public service and diversity in the Texas legal profession has never been greater.

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