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The Texas Lawbook

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ACC-DFW and The Texas Lawbook Celebrate In-House Corporate Counsel Award Winners

Nearly 250 prominent general counsel, senior corporate counsel and partners at Texas law firms gathered Thursday night at the George W. Bush Institute to celebrate the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards, which recognizes extraordinary work and success of in-house counsel during the past year. Co-hosted by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook, 15 corporate in-house legal departments were honored and 12 were presented with awards. More than half of the finalists were women and more than one-fourth were ethnic minorities — all demonstrated incredible achievements during 2023. The DFW Corporate Counsel Awards is the signature event in the partnership between ACC-DFW and The Texas Lawbook. The two organizations also co-host CLEs throughout the year. Three of the dozen award categories were contested. In each of the three categories, all of the finalists were qualified to win. But, of course, only one could. This story includes the details and lots of photos from the event.

January 26, 2024 Mark Curriden

P.S. — Charity Fair, New AABA of Houston Leadership, Final Days of DBA’s EAJ Campaign

This week’s edition of P.S. includes information on a Munck Wilson Mandala shareholder who has been elected to the alumni board of TSU’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, February dates for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s pro bono clinics, 2024 officers of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston and how to donate during the final days of a campaign that supports civil pro bono legal services in Dallas.

January 26, 2024 Natalie Posgate

Skadden Nabs ‘Go-To’ Energy Litigator Michelle Scheffler 

Michelle Scheffler, formerly of Haynes Boone, joins Skadden as a litigation partner in its Houston office. Scheffler has led high-profile energy litigation across the country.

January 26, 2024 Krista Torralva

Q&A: Rachel Morgan of Nexstar

For Premium Subscribers She’s handled pro bono cases for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program for 20 years. She sits on the board of a very large foundation. She’s led a

January 24, 2024 Natalie Posgate

Rachel Morgan: Pro Bono ‘Should Be the Highest Priority Work that We Do’

She’s handled pro bono cases for the Dallas Volunteer Attorneys Program for 20 years. She sits on the board of a very large foundation. She’s led a series of successful fundraisers, her most recent a record-breaking $1.3 million. She’s helping kids afford college at her alma mater. She saved a rescue dog named Ricky Bobby who does not have chemical burns, but does have bad skin.

Oh yeah, and her day job is general counsel of the country’s largest television station owner. But Nexstar Media Group’s Rachel Morgan has traveled down a long path to get to where she is today, hustling every step of the way.

For all of her achievements, The Texas Lawbook and the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter have named Morgan the recipient of the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service.

Here is her full story.

January 24, 2024 Natalie Posgate

Judge Higginbotham Drills Down on ‘Impermissible Gloss’ of Court’s ‘Moment of Threat Doctrine’ in Qualified Immunity Case

Judge Patrick E. Higginbotham authored the panel opinion and a concurrence, saying the court was bound to follow its own precedent in this case while also calling on the Fifth Circuit or the U.S. Supreme Court to “revisit the doctrine” that is “deployed daily across this country” in police shooting cases. The case involves the shooting death of Ashtian Barnes, who was stopped for having outstanding toll violations — a non-arrestable offense — and was killed by Officer Roberto Felix Jr. when he attempted to drive away.

January 24, 2024 Michelle Casady

Pioneer’s Akshar Patel Counseling the Board on the Biggest M&A Deal of 2023

Akshar Patel has always been a prodigy, graduating summa cum laude at 19 and law school at 21, where he was an editor at SMU Dedman School of Law’s International Law Journal. He had four years of corporate law practice on his resume and was associate general counsel at Flowserve Corporation at 26. Now a ripe old 38, Patel is the corporate secretary and vice president of legal at Pioneer Natural Resources, where he played a critical role in the October 2023 $64.5 billion acquisition of Pioneer by Exxon Mobil.

“He played an instrumental role in orchestrating the largest deal signed in the entire world in 2023,” said Gibson Dunn partner Jeff Chapman. “To quote the great sage Adam Sandler, ‘Not too shabby.’”

Citing his extraordinary work on the Exxon Mobil deal, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring Patel with the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Corporate Secretary/Legal Counselor of the Year.

January 24, 2024 Mark Curriden

Q&A: Akshar Patel of Pioneer Natural Resources

Akshar Patel has always been a prodigy, graduating summa cum laude at 19 and law school at 21, where he was an editor at SMU Dedman School of Law’s International

January 24, 2024 Mark Curriden

CDT Roundup: 14 Deals, 12 Firms, 109 Lawyers, $4B

Professional sports, once the domain of rich guys who made their money in steel or automobile dealerships, has become its own source of cross-industry partnerships, once-verboten relationships and even M&A. The CDT Roundup looks at how a couple of Texas billionaires and a South Texas bankruptcy are accelerating those changes — along with the lineup of last week’s deals.

January 24, 2024 Allen Pusey

Fifth Circuit: Police Immune for Arresting Journalist Just for Asking Questions

Laredo officials who arrested a citizen-journalist in 2017 for asking for information deemed nonpublic cannot be sued for violating the First Amendment rights of the reporter because the officers have qualified immunity because they believed they were following a Texas law — even though the law had never been successfully used in a prosecution and has been declared unconstitutional, a hotly divided U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled late Tuesday. The en banc court of the Fifth Circuit ruled 9-7 that police and prosecutors should not be required to know whether a state law is constitutional or not when enforcing laws.

But seven Fifth Circuit judges in four different dissents blasted the majority’s decision because it turns routine questioning by news reporters into probable cause for committing criminal activity and shows how screwed up the Fifth Circuit is when it comes to granting immunity to government officials who abuse their power.

(Editor’s Note: A previous version of this article states that the en banc vote was 10-7 instead of 9-7. The Lawbook regrets the error.)

January 24, 2024 Mark Curriden

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Features

  • P.S. — Nearly $1.4M Raised for Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program - In this edition of P.S., we report on the Dallas Bar Association’s impressive $1.4 million fundraising campaign to support the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. Coming up, you can watch your favorite lawyer-led musical bands while donating to charity at the Feb. 26 Law Rocks Dallas. And a pro bono legal intake clinic hosted by lawyers from Baker Botts and Toyota North America returned to New Friends New Life. February 13, 2026Krista Torralva
  • P.S. — ‘This is Our American Dream,’ DFW Corp. Counsel Award Winners Share Inspiring Acceptance Remarks - Last week, The Texas Lawbook had the honor of co-hosting the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards with the Association of Corporate Counsel DFW Chapter. The words shared by the four honorees in the Diversity and Inclusion and Pro Bono and Public Service categories are still resonating with us and are well worth sharing with readers in this column.

    In this edition of P.S., we also report that Dallas-based Attorneys Serving the Community held a record-breaking fundraising event for Shared Housing Center and a Paul Hastings Texas partner has joined the advisory board of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law.
    February 6, 2026Krista Torralva & Elle Grinnell

GCs, Lawyers & Firms

  • Houston Trial Boutique Sorrels Law Adds Experienced Trial Lawyers - Jim Martin and Sam Kinne have joined Sorrels Law in Houston, continuing the plaintiff-side litigation firm’s expansion.
  • Latham Hires Trial Superstars Expected to Eventually Launch Dallas Office
  • Austin Energy Projects Partner Moves from Greenberg Traurig to Baker Botts
  • TechnipFMC’s Former Head of Litigation Joins Fletcher Held
  • Kilpatrick Bolsters Houston Office
  • Paul Weiss To Open Houston Office with Longtime M&A Dealmakers
  • Melsheimer, Stodghill Lead Nine-Partner Litigation Team to King & Spalding
  • Groundhog Day: More Competition for Texas Talent
  • Weil Opens New Austin Office as Firm Now Has Three in Texas
  • Smith, Gambrell & Russell Expands Texas Reach with New Addition
More GCs, Lawyers & Firms

Lawyers in the News

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Chip Babcock
Chris Bankler
Jamie B. Beaber
David J. Beck
Bill Benitez
Jessica Berkowitz
Brent Bernell
Tyler Bexley
Shawn Blackburn
Michael Blankenship
Jeffrey Brill
Anita Brown
Ian Brown
Stuart Campbell
Jack Chadderdon
Paul Clement
Erin Nealy Cox
Scott Craig
Kevin Crews
Shamus Crosby
Hannah M. Crowe
Geoffrey Culbertson
Sean Cunningham
John Daywalt
Rajiv Dharnidharka
James Ducayet
Brian K. Erickson
Scott Everett
Weiru Fang
Elizabeth Freeman
Tad Freese
Melanie Fry
Geoff Gannaway
Paul Genender
John J. Gilluly III
Rodney Gilstrap
Andrew Gorham
John Greer
Joseph Grinstein
Matthew Haddad
Colleen Haile
Breen Haire
Shahmeer Halepota
Dionne Hamilton
Troy Harder
Rusty Hardin
Michael Hawes
Nathan Hecht
Stephen Hessler
Hillary Holmes
Marc Jaffe
Lauren Jenkins
David Jones
Atma Kabad
Susan Kennedy
David Kinder
Justin King
Allan Kirk
Melanie Koltermann
Doug Kubehl
Joe Laurel
Sang Lee
Steven Lockhart
Arthur Lotz
Barbara Lynn
Mike Lynn
Nora McGuffey
Stephanie McPhail
Mark Melton
Jeri Leigh Miller
Kimberly A. Moore
Mark Moore
Shelby Morgan
Alia Moses
Davis Mosmeyer III
Darren Nicholson
Eamon Nolan
Ivy Nowinski
Holland O’Neil
George Padis
Ian Peck
Jonathan Platt
Chase Proctor
Doug Rayburn
Joel Reese
Kevin Richardson
Andrew Rodheim
Seth Rubinson
Mazin Sbaiti
Ana Sanchez
Vincenzo Santini
Jeffrey Scharfstein
Robert Schroeder III
Scott Seidel
Steven Sexton
Ahmed Sidik
Robert Slovak
Emily Smith
Melissa R. Smith
Jonathon Soler
Robert Soza
Lande Spottswood
Craig Stanfield
Justin Stolte
Josh Teahen
Kelly Tidwell
Linda Tieh
Rafael B. de Toledo
Monica Uddin
Rhett Van Syoc
Rahul Vashi
Gabe Vazquez
Patrick Venter
Sarah Walden
Kandace Walter
Kyle Watson
Mikell Alan West
Noël Wise
Meng Xi

Firms in the News

Hover right to show full list

AZA
Baker Botts
The Bandas Law Firm
Beck Redden
Boies Schiller Flexner
Bracewell
Bradley Arant
Burns Charest
Clement & Murphy
Condon & Forsyth
DLA Piper
Dykema
Foley & Lardner
Gibson Dunn
Gillam & Smith
Haynes Boone
Holland & Knight
Jackson Walker
King & Spalding
Kirkland & Ellis
Latham & Watkins
Lynn Pinker
Mayer Brown
MoloLamken
Pamela Welch PLLC
Patton Tidwell Culbertson
Paul Hastings
Porter Hedges
The Probus Law Firm
Reese Marketos
Rusty Hardin & Associates
Sbaiti & Company
Sidley Austin
Simpson Thacher
Skadden
Squire Patton Boggs
Sullivan & Cromwell
Susman Godfrey
Troutman Pepper Locke
Vinson & Elkins
Weil
Willkie
Winston & Strawn

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