Phoenix-based Snell & Wilmer is the latest new entrant — and the first of 2022 — in Texas.
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CenterPoint’s Dynamic Duo Karuturi & Ryan: Pro Bono is in their Bones
Monica Karuturi and Jason Ryan remember their first pro bono cases. Karuturi, now the GC at CenterPoint Energy, represented a middle-aged woman who had been violently assaulted by her long-time boyfriend. Ryan, now CenterPoint’s top regulatory and governmental affairs leader, handled a family law case involving a child-custody dispute. These were cases that deeply impacted them as lawyers. Both said their parents instilled in them a passion for community service and that they have not lost their commitment for helping those who are less fortunate and in need of legal services.
Last week, CenterPoint promoted both lawyers to executive VP of the $17.5 billion energy giant. Karuturi and Ryan are the recipients of the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service.
Q&A: Monica Karuturi and Jason Ryan of CenterPoint
The two top legal officers at the Energy Giant explain what they expect from outside firms they hire, aside from expertise. And it’s not just about pro bono.
Dallas Civil Courts, Facing Omicron, Pause Jury Trials
Civil jury trials in Dallas County were halted Monday until Jan. 28 in light of the “high number of Covid cases and the wildfire spread” of the Omicron variant and other Texas courts were proceeding with restraint.
Southwest Airlines’ Chief Legal Officer Mark Shaw – A Lifetime of Achievements
Since Mark Shaw joined Southwest Airlines 22 years ago, he has faced some monumental challenges, including the repercussions from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; the 2008 financial crisis; the $1.4 billion acquisition of AirTran Airlines in 2010; litigation with the grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes in 2019; and the Covid pandemic, which led SWA to raise an extraordinary $18.5 billion in capital from multiple securities offerings of debt, equity and convertible notes, as well as loans and grants from the federal government. To be sure, Shaw is not close to being finished.
Even so, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are pleased to announce that Shaw is the recipient of the 2021 DFW Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.
Q&A: Carolyn Benton Aiman
Premium-Only Content From being the first African American elected to be Queen Cardinal at Harlingen High School in 1980 to leading one of the most successful corporate diversity efforts at one of the world’s largest corporations to being named the new chief legal officer of Sempra Infrastructure earlier this year, Carolyn Benton Aiman has earned a global reputation for leadership in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI). The Lawbook’s Mark Curriden asked Aiman about the kinds of relationships she expects with outside counsel and what they might need to know about her.
Enterprise buys Warburg-backed Navitas for $3.25B
The transaction, which surprised analysts, continues a wave of consolidation in the midstream industry. The Lawbook’s Claire Poole has all the lawyers involved in the deal.
Sempra CLO Carolyn Benton Aiman: ‘DEI Should Be in a Corporate Legal Department’s DNA’
[Diversity, equity and inclusion] “should be more than an initiative or a once-a-year conversation. This has to be part of the DNA, like safety in a corporation, like culture in any relationship,” said Sempra Infrastructure Carolyn Benton Aiman. “You must tend to it. Legal departments and law firm leadership should set an expectation, and leaders should be selected for their ability to develop people across all demographics. Leaders not only talk diversity, but their actions should match their words, including who they surround themselves with and with whom they work.”
The Association of Corporate Counsels Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook agree and have named Aiman as a finalist for the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
Blackstone Plows $3B into Invenergy
Blackstone Infrastructure said Friday that it is investing $3 billion into Invenergy Renewables Holdings. Blackstone says the price tag represents one of the largest investments into renewables in North American history. Claire Poole has the names of the Texas lawyers involved.
HP’s Hartz: ‘People Were Going to Jail. We Knew We had a Great Case’
For a decade, HP battled a Taiwanese-based CD-ROM maker in courts from Texas to California over allegations of price fixing. HP senior counsel Brad Hartz and his team worked several thousand hours on objections, motions to dismiss, depositions and intense fights over discovery. HP’s outside counsel, Beck Redden, worked another 5,000 hours. It all paid off on June 5, 2020, when a federal appeals court handed Hartz and Beck Redden a $438 million victory. This is the behind the scenes story of one of the biggest judgments upheld by the Fifth Circuit in a decade and the 2021 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Business Litigation of the Year.
Photo (credit Dylan Aguilar): Brad Hartz (center right) with attorneys from Beck Redden