The Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are now accepting nominations for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards, including nominations for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service and Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion.
In the news this week, the American Bar Association honors former LyondellBasell GC Craig Glidden, and the Federal Bar Association recognizes Dallas lawyer Martha Hardwick Hofmeister for outstanding leadership. On Thursday, the Dallas Bar Foundation presented retired NDTX Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale with the Justinian Award.
Plus, The Lawbook thanks Sempra Energy Chief Risk Management and Compliance Officer Carolyn Aiman and Shell USA Head of Legal Travis Torrence for donations to the Texas Lawbook Foundation to support our coverage of pro bono, public service and diversity in the legal profession.
DFW Corporate Counsel Award Nominations
The Lawbook and the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter have opened the nomination period for lawyers for the 2024 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards. Lawyers, law firms, in-house corporate counsel and firm clients are invited to nominate in-house counsel for 15 different award categories, including General Counsel of the Year, Senior Counsel of the Year, Business Litigation of the Year, M&A Deal of the Year, Corporate Legal Department of the Year and Rookie of the Year.
The full details can be found here.
But I want to highlight three specific categories:
Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service is a category that allows law firms and corporate legal departments to shine a light on the amazing work they do for the public. Traditionally, the nominations that get the most attention are those in which a corporate in-house legal department or in-house lawyer tackle a specific case or issue that results in a tremendous success for an individual or for the community at large. Nominees may represent defendants in matters ranging from the death penalty and asylum to relief for veterans or legal aid. One major tip: Include as much detail as possible regarding the matter and the person you are nominating.
Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion celebrates either the achievements of an individual or a team or an entire corporate in-house legal department in the area of diversity and inclusion. The judges have traditionally favored nominees who have a track record of success in creating and implementing DEI initiatives that have resulted in positive results. Again, include as much detail as possible regarding the matter and the person you are nominating.
Finally, the Creative Partnership Award recognizes unique or innovative relationships between a company’s corporate legal department and its outside law firms. The creative partnerships can involve anything from a unique way a litigation or transactional matter was handled to an innovative joint effort to tackle a pro bono or public service project.
Funds raised from the DFW Corporate Counsel Awards go to the Texas Lawbook Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that pays for The Lawbook’s full-time pro bono, public service and diversity reporter position.
ABA Honors Craig B. Glidden
The American Bar Association announced this week that it is presenting its 2025 Spirit of Excellent Award to former LyondellBasell General Counsel Craig Glidden. In February 2015, General Motors hired Glidden to be the automaker’s new GC. Earlier this year, GM transitioned Glidden out of his legal role and made him president and chief administrative officer of Cruise, a General Motors subsidiary.
“At Cruise, Glidden has infused GM’s commitment to safety, transforming GM’s global legal operations to support the company’s vision of a future with zero crashes, zero emissions and zero congestion,” the ABA states in its announcement.
Glidden will be given the Spirit of Excellent Award during a celebratory luncheon Feb. 1, 2025, at the ABA 2025 Midyear Meeting in Phoenix.
FBA Recognizes Martha Hofmeister
The Federal Bar Association recently honored Dallas business litigator Martha Hardwick Hofmeister with its Earl W. Kintner Award for Distinguished Service.
A founding partner of Shackelford, McKinley & Norton, Hofmeister has been a member of the FBA for more than three decades and became a Sustaining Charter Life Fellow of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association in 2001. She also served as president of the foundation. The Earl W. Kintner Award for Distinguished Service is presented as a lifetime contribution award to an FBA member who has displayed long-term outstanding achievement, distinguished leadership and participation in the activities of the association’s chapters, sections and divisions throughout the nation over a career of service.
The FBA presented Hofmeister the award at its annual meeting in Kansas City last month.
Kudos to Carolyn Aiman and Travis Torrence
The Texas Lawbook’s coverage of pro bono, public service and diversity in the legal profession is courtesy of a full-time reporter position paid for by the Texas Lawbook Foundation, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) that relies completely on donations. Your donations.
This week, I thank Sempra Energy Chief Risk Management and Compliance Officer Carolyn Aiman and Shell USA Head of Legal Travis Torrence for their donations of $1,000 each to the Foundation. Without their support, we could not do this.
Dallas Bar Foundation Honors Judge Harlin “Cooter” Hale
The Dallas Bar Foundation honored retired Northern District of Texas Bankruptcy Judge Harlin Hale on Thursday with its prestigious Justinian Award. During his two decades on the bench, Judge Hale presided over thousands of individual and business bankruptcies. He retired in 2022. He know does alternative dispute resolution with JAMS.
Prior to taking the federal bench in 2002, Hale — known to his friends as Cooter — was a partner at Baker McKenzie and McGuire, Craddock, Strother & Hale.
In introducing Judge Hale Thursday at the Dallas Bar Foundation luncheon, NDTX Chief Judge Stacey Jernigan described him as “the wise sage who ignores the background.”
“I don’t think you can truly teach people to have what Cooter has,” Chief Judge Jernigan said. “You can’t really teach it in a law school class or in a CLE. I think we just have to all stand back and watch and admire it really. And be grateful for it. And honor it. And hope that, every once in a while, other people come along that are kind of like him. While what he has is hard to teach, hopefully we can still learn just a little from watching his example. Hopefully.”
Judge Jernigan graciously agreed to share her full introductory speech with The Lawbook from Thursday’s luncheon where Judge Hale was honored:
It’s an exceptional honor to be able to introduce our Justinian Award winner this year, Retired Judge Harlin D. “Cooter” Hale.
It’s a very tough task actually, because I want to tell you all something special about Cooter that you do not already know. It seems like, surely, I should be able to do that, since I officed down the hall from him for 16 years, and I have known him as a colleague (first as a fellow-lawyer, and then as a fellow-judge) for more than 30 years. But, as we all know, Cooter is one of those people whose reputation precedes him and, in fact, it’s a reputation that almost seems legendary. Yes, people pretty much know all of his wonderful attributes. There was a beautiful article about Cooter last week in the Dallas Headnotes written by Jerry Alexander, that shared some of the amazing details of his career as a lawyer, judge, professor, mediator—and, of course, father and husband. There’s another wonderful article about him in today’s program by Tricia Deleon. Both articles were heartfelt tributes that were spot-on and well deserved.
Well, I suppose my task is to distill this all down in a way that encapsulates my view (and all of our views) on what makes my friend and former colleague so special?
We all know that a lawyer or judge has to be really special to get the Justinian Award. And Cooter certainly is. But special how? Really smart? Possessing sterling integrity? Exceptional work ethic? Commitment to excellence? A heart for humanity and justice?
Yes, of course, on all of these things. But we all know there are so many great lawyers and judges in our community (thankfully). And they don’t all get nominated for the Justinian Award. What is the secret sauce to reaching a level that makes Cooter deserving of this recognition? What makes him and the others who have won this award such superheroes of the legal profession?
Well, obviously it’s not one thing. But here’s what I would say has made Cooter unique among his peers. The world of bankruptcy law is pretty different from other types of litigation or from transactional legal work. It’s an area where folks and companies are confronting hardship or failure. Oppressive debt that has wrecked their lives. Mistakes or misfortune. They come into our courts feeling awfully low. Embarrassed. Stigmatized. Our courts are also what I have described to my own SMU law students as “the land of broken promises.” And it’s also a place for second chances. It has moral dimensions; it’s laden with moral overtones. People are wanting forgiveness. Rehabilitation seems like a way of giving them back their dignity and their self-respect. But, meanwhile, other people (the creditors) are wanting retribution. They are feeling shocked and understandably outraged sometimes.
Judges in our courts are not simply applying the law in difficult situations. A bankruptcy judge needs to sometimes calm people down and always show parties respect, when maybe the parties seem pretty unsympathetic to the average citizen.
The whole process actually has Biblical roots. You know, “forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors”? It’s a legal construct that has been woven into our social fabric from early times, as immigrants fled to America, or American settlers fled West, to places like Texas, sometimes fleeing from financial calamity and angry creditors. The point I am leading up to here is that it takes real wisdom and compassion to rebalance, the needs of people and companies who are wanting a fresh start in bankruptcy against the rights of others who understandably feel very shortchanged. Cooter embodies the ability to maneuver that rebalancing like no one else that I have ever known. He works hard and studies hard so he can correctly apply the law, but he also has more concern than anyone I have ever seen with getting the discretionary part of our job right. The equitable adjustments part. The fixer part. The handler part. The keeping it all positive part. The wise sage who ignores the background noise.
I don’t think you can truly teach people to have what Cooter has. You can’t really teach it in a law school class or in a CLE. I think we just have to all stand back and watch and admire it really. And be grateful for it. And honor it. And hope that, every once in a while, other people come along that are kind of like him. While what he has is hard to teach, hopefully we can still learn just a little from watching his example. Hopefully.
I’m grateful to have been Cooter’s friend and colleague for so very long. And I am honored to introduce him here today. Please join me now, in saying thank you, Retired Judge Harlin D. “Cooter” Hale, for all that you have done and continue to do for our profession.