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Plains All American GC Richard McGee — Pole Vaulting into a Lifetime of Achievements

In the world of oil and gas, Richard McGee has seen it all — and he’s done most of it. As a corporate transactional lawyer for Vinson & Elkins, he represented some of the biggest players in the oil patch, including Enron. In 2001, he joined Duke Energy, first as a lawyer and then as president of its international operations. Houston-based Plains All American hired McGee in 2009 and became its general counsel in 2012. Along the way, he led or was heavily involved in more than 100 M&A transactions totaling in the tens of billions of dollars. This month, he is working to close the $3.8 billion sale of Plains’ natural gas liquids business to Canadian-based Keyera.

The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named McGee as the recipient of the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement.

GC Will Marsh Helps Cactus ‘Transform into a Truly Multinational Business’

As general counsel of Cactus Inc., Will Marsh is experiencing a second (or third) career, depending on how you count. Wherever it fits in his 37-year legal career, Marsh is making the most of it, and so is Cactus, the Houston-based designer and manufacturer of oilfield equipment.

In 2023, Cactus expanded its offerings with the $621 million acquisition of FlexSteel Technology Holdings, a deal led by Marsh that earned him and Cactus the 2023 M&A Transaction of the Year from The Texas Lawbook and ACC Houston. Now they’ve done it again, winning the 2026 award for their $344.5 million purchase of a controlling interest in the surface pressure control business formerly owned by Baker Hughes.

DOJ, Four Law Firms Clash at D.C. Court of Appeals

Federal courts cannot review President Donald Trump’s executive orders denying security clearance to anyone or any group of people, even if those orders target all Asians or Hispanics, Catholics or Jews, a lawyer for the Trump administration told a federal appeals court Thursday.

“It is not reviewable,” Abhishek Kambli, a lawyer with the U.S. Justice Department, told a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit.

But the attorney for the four law firms argued that President Trump’s EOs targeting them last year had nothing to do with national security, but instead were motivated by viewpoint discrimination.

Auto Insurers Hit with Putative Class Action Alleging Scheme to Deny Coverage

Two auto insurance companies operating in Texas are facing a putative class action lawsuit accusing them of targeting low-income residents, collecting premiums and then “disappearing” when insureds make a claim. Houston personal injury law firm Kherkher Garcia filed the lawsuit in Harris County District Court Tuesday evening on behalf of “hundreds and possibly thousands of Texas insureds” who have policies with AmTex Auto Insurance and Redpoint County Mutual Insurance Company.

News Analysis: Trump EOs v. Law Firms — All Eyes on Judge Neomi Rao

The court battle between the Trump administration and four corporate law firms, including Houston-based Susman Godfrey, is being argued Thursday at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. 

While many legal scholars agree that the likelihood of winning the appeal decisively favors the law firms, the focus will be on appellate Judge Neomi Rao, a conservative jurist, former clerk to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and champion of the Federalist Society.

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