Julie Greenberg visited with Texas Lawbook pro bono, public service and diversity and inclusion reporter Natalie Posgate about the biggest challenges facing corporate legal departments and law firms regarding diversity, which diversity programs she thinks are effective and the significance of the pipeline.
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For GM’s Juli Greenberg, DEI is ‘Part of her DNA’
General Motors counsel Juli Greenberg was sitting in a conference room in 2018 getting CLE ethics credit when everything changed. What she learned sent her on a quest to create DEI initiatives and do her part to improve the diversity pipeline in the legal profession.
Fast forward nearly five years, and the product of Greenberg’s work has reached hundreds of people from every stage of the pipeline. She’s also the recipient of the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
Forney Corp.’s Chelsea Casiano’s ‘Attention to Detail is Impeccable’
Only three years out of law school at the University of North Texas, Chelsea Casiano is the general counsel of the Forney Corporation, a 95-year-old Addison-based manufacturer of front-end combustion components. In 2022, she negotiated more than 100 contracts, implemented a new signature designation policy, updated the company’s noncompete agreements and wrote the business’ new human rights policy to regulate compliance internally and to set expectations for its suppliers and vendors.
“Chelsea has been amazing,” said Forney CEO Tom Demrick. Casiano is also a finalist for the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year, which goes to lawyers who have been in-house counsel for three years or less.
Texas M&A in 2022: ‘Halting, Cautious…and Busy’
2023 was a year of contrasts: deals were up, but values were down; interest rates were up, but the energy sector was vibrant; dealmakers were cautious, but their lawyers were busy, busy, busy. The Corporate Deal Tracker has the year-end tally and analyses by our Texas experts from every corner of the market.
Q&A: Chelsea Casiano, Forney GC
Premium Subscriber Content: A Q&A with Forney GC Cheslea Casiano, who discusses how she hires outside counsel and negotiates rates, her pro bono efforts and the day last September when she had to be rushed to the emergency room.
Trial Begins in $500M Wrongful Death Case Against Bobcat
Opening statements came Thursday morning in a trial that’s expected to last three weeks and seeks to hold Bobcat of Houston and its parent company responsible for the incident that killed Ricardo Garza in October 2017. Plaintiff’s lawyer Chrysta Castañeda told jurors the family’s patriarch had been “flayed alive” by a piece of forestry equipment.
OpTic Gaming’s Johnathan Jordan Handles ‘Everything Under the Sun and Then Some’
Back in middle school, Johnathan Jordan played Halo, a military science fiction game set in the 26th century in which the player controls a technologically created super soldier to battle evil aliens. But young Jordan also knew he wanted to follow in his father’s footsteps and become a lawyer. Never did he think the two passions — law and gaming — would come together.
Last year, Jordan became the first GC in Texas of an esports and gaming business, OpTic Gaming. The legal work he has done since has been groundbreaking and the reason he is a finalist for the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Rookie of the Year. This is his call to duty.
UPDATED Chesapeake Sheds Eagle Ford Assets to WildFire for $1.425B
Haynes and Boone advised the seller while Locke Lord assisted the buyer.
Ocwen Financial’s Joel Israel is ‘The Gold Standard’
Joel Israel oversees about 500 mortgage foreclosure-related lawsuits as the assistant GC at mortgage giant Ocwen Financial. He tries to foster a compassionate approach as most are single-plaintiff cases with customers in unfortunate financial distress. But there are lawsuits by those abusing the system, fabricating facts and just seeking nuisance settlements.
Using innovative research techniques and an aggressive litigation strategy, Israel and his outside counsel at Womble convinced California judges to reject two such lawsuits. In doing so, they sent a message that frivolous litigation would not be tolerated. They also are finalists for the 2022 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Q&A: Ocwen’s Joel Israel
Using innovative research techniques and an aggressive litigation strategy, Israel and his outside counsel at Womble convinced California judges to reject two such lawsuits. In doing so, they sent a message that frivolous litigation would not be tolerated.
Israel found time for Mark Curriden, founder of The Texas Lawbook, who asked him about his views and expectations of outside counsel, lessons learned from the pandemic and, as a proud Duke alum, how he has coped with the retirement of the school’s legendary basketball coach, Mike Kryzewski.