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One month before the Texas Supreme Court revived a novel lawsuit SilverBow Resources Operating lodged against Energy Transfer alleging it had interfered with its drilling rights via underground contamination linked to an injection well, Jennifer Cadena was promoted to become the company’s assistant general counsel and senior land manager after three years as senior exploration and production counsel.

She worked alongside outside counsel at Ahmad, Zavitsanos & Mensing to ensure when the McMullen County jury finally got to hear the case, they would agree SilverBow was entitled to damages from Energy Transfer.

When the jury awarded SilverBow $24.5 million in damages in February 2023, it was a hard-fought result eight years in the making.

Leslie Hillendahl wanted to be a lawyer since the fifth grade, but she faced an obstacle. Her father, a Houston police officer, “was quite adamant about steering me away from a legal career. He insisted that if I were to pursue law, I needed to first obtain what he called a ‘solid’ degree in accounting or finance.”

“While I initially resisted, I now appreciate his guidance, as it ultimately led me to a fulfilling career path that I love,” Hillendahl told The Texas Lawbook. Hillendahl earned degrees in accounting and law and is now the assistant general counsel at Virage Capital Management, a Houston-based litigation funding operation with an estimated $1 billion in assets. During the past two years, she and outside counsel have scored several multimillion-dollar courtroom victories and she currently manages more than $350 million invested in disputes spanning several states. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Lawbook have named Hillendahl the winner of the 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department.

In her role as senior counsel at Phillips 66, Kristina McQuaid is asked to do more than M&A. Much more.

“At first, I did not want to be a lawyer. I really enjoyed math and wanted to be a stockbroker,” she says.

Now she finds herself nominated as a 2024 finalist for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.