The Texas Lawbook recently spoke to labor and employment lawyers in Texas about the proposal and what it would mean for both their employer clients and the litigation landscape statewide should the rule go into effect. The comment period, which was extended for an additional month because of the number of comments received, closed April 19 and garnered 26,814 responses.
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Q&A: Mark Chavez, GC Ocean Point Terminals
When Mark Chavez was brought on board as general counsel at Ocean Point Terminals in June 2021, he knew he had his work cut out for him. Its major client, a refinery on the island of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands, had been shut down by the EPA after a series of environmental incidents and was barreling towards bankruptcy. As a result of his work during a critical time in Ocean Point’s history, Chavez has been named a finalist in the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards as GC of the Year for a Small Legal Department (five or less lawyers).
Mark Curriden, founder of The Texas Lawbook, had a chance to discuss with Chavez some of his remarkable life experiences, the challenges of 2022 and what he expects from outside counsel when he seeks their help.
Q&A: Marilyn Moore Basso of TPC Group
For Premium Subscribers Executives at petrochemical processor TPC Group woke the morning of Nov. 27, 2019, to tragic news. Its refinery in Port Neches, Texas, had experienced a major explosion
Marilyn Moore Basso’s ‘Drive and Intelligence Put Her in the Top Tier of GCs’
TPC General Counsel Marilyn Moore Basso has faced some challenges the past couple of years. The petrochemical processor experienced a major explosion at its refinery in Port Neches. Next came the Covid-19 pandemic, followed by an unforeseen economic recession and a plunge in commodity prices. In February 2021, there was Winter Storm Uri, which brought subzero temperatures to Texas.
In June 2022, TPC Group filed for Chapter 11. Marilyn and her small legal team at TPC steered the company through a full restructuring in just six months. Her leadership and efforts on these matters have earned her the recognition of being named a finalist for the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department.
CDT Roundup: 23 Deals, 18 Firms, 135 Lawyers, $3.7B
If oil and gas producers (and their lenders, and their investors) seem ill-at-ease these days, it’s not imaginary. Haynes Boone’s Spring 2023 survey of the O&G deal community suggests they are pessimistic about the near-term availability of capital and are looking at a variety of sources to maintain growth and profitability — sources that increasingly include their own cash flow. This week’s CDT Roundup has the specifics of the survey, which included 96 top executives from the industry and the banks that lend to them. And, as usual, there are the names of the Texas firms and lawyers behind the 23 deals reported last week.
Mitsubishi’s Hakim Effiom-Dauw – ‘An Extraordinary Deal Lawyer’ Who Sets the Standard for Young In-house Lawyers
When Mitsubishi entered into a novel multibillion-dollar joint venture agreement with two other energy giants to develop and build a project that captures, transports and stores carbon dioxide, the global giant turned to a rising star in its legal department, Hakim Effiom-Dauw to help it identify and address risks and challenges. The development of Hackberry Carbon Sequestration is only one of several successes for Hakim during the three years with Mitsubishi and one of the reasons ACC’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook honor Effiom-Dauw with the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year.
Q&A: Hakim Effiom-Dauw of Mitsubishi
One year ago, Mitsubishi Corporation entered into a joint venture agreement with two other energy giants — Sempra Infrastructure and TotalEnergies — to develop and build a project that captures, transports and stores carbon dioxide to help produce cleaner liquefied natural gas for Mitsubishi’s business partner Cameron LNG. Lawyers involved in the monumental multibillion-dollar initiative say Mitsubishi’s point person for all things legal and compliance has been the company’s rising star corporate counsel Hakim Effiom-Dauw.
Lawbook founder Mark Curriden had the opportunity to ask Effiom-Dauw about his rookie year at Mitsubishi and what he looks for when dealing with outside counsel.
Q&A: Rob Ellis of Southwestern Energy
For Premium Subscribers As assistant general counsel of Southwestern Energy, Rob Ellis has notched big victories. None bigger than last October when Ellis and his team of lawyers at Yetter
Litigation Roundup: $105M IP Win Reduced to $3 For Austin Co., SCOTX Clarifies Life Insurance Rules
In this edition of Litigation Roundup, a widow asks the Texas Supreme Court to decide that she owns space artifacts that belonged to her astronaut husband, the high court clarifies the contours of when insurers can avoid liability under life insurance policies and a huge win for an Austin company gets undone by a federal judge in Michigan.
Southwestern Energy’s Rob Ellis: ‘An Impressive Mix of Smarts and Emotional Intelligence’
As assistant general counsel of Southwestern Energy, Rob Ellis has notched big victories. None bigger than last October when Ellis and his team of lawyers at Yetter Coleman sued a chemical company whose operations on the West Virginia side of the Ohio River allegedly trespassed and interfered with the underground drilling operations of a Southwestern Energy subsidiary. A three-week trial resulted in a unanimous verdict awarding Ellis’ company $70 million in damages. Citing the huge courtroom victory and his service to the greater Houston community, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston chapter and The Texas Lawbook have awarded Ellis the 2023 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (five or fewer lawyers).