Since Mark Shaw joined Southwest Airlines 22 years ago, he has faced some monumental challenges.
Only a year on the job, Shaw and the airline’s legal department faced the repercussions from the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, which he says still reverberate through the airline industry. The 2008 financial crisis sent even the most economically stable companies, including SWA, rushing for capital.
In 2010, Shaw played a leading role in Southwest’s $1.4 billion acquisition of AirTran Airlines in 2010. Shaw is still dealing with in litigation with the grounding of Boeing 737 Max planes in March 2019.
“We have seen a lot of crises and we have dealt with each, but there has been nothing like the Covid-19 pandemic,” Shaw told The Texas Lawbook in a 2021 interview. “This crisis has been the worst of them all from a financial standpoint, mainly for the uncertainty of it all.”
The Southwest legal team, Shaw said, became front and center in dealing with nearly all aspects of the pandemic response.
The airline faced multiple securities offerings of debt, equity and convertible notes, as well as loans and grants from the federal government that allowed SWA to raise an extraordinary $18.5 billion in capital in a few months – money that airline-industry experts say saved Southwest and nearly every other airline from extensive layoffs or even possiblebankruptcy.
In addition, Southwest expanded to 17 new airports in the past 18 months, which required Shaw and his team to handle all contracts and regulatory approvals needed to move into each destination.
“The breadth of the issues that surfaced during the past year was unimaginable,” said Shaw, who became the general counsel in 2013. “The past year was by far my most difficult at Southwest because of all the different challenges.”
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 Corporate Counsel Award for Lifetime Achievement. Shaw and other finalists will be honored on Jan. 27.
Here are other 2021 DFW Corporate Counsel Award finalists being honored.
M&A Deal of the Year finalists are Crescent Real Estate General Counsel Andrew Lombardi and Vizient Assistant General Counsel Gary Thompson;
Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion award goes to PrimeSource Brands Chief Legal Officer Navin Rao;
Rookie of the Year finalists are Pizza Hut Legal Director Jasmine Tobias and Toyota Managing Counsel Kelly Chen;
Business Litigation of the Year finalists are Southwest Airlines Senior Attorney Angela Mayeux and Match Group Associate General Counsel Jeanette Teckman;
Legal Innovation winner is Toyota Intellectual Property Managing Counsel Frederick Mau;
Pro Bono and Public Service award goes to Toyota Managing Counsel Olesja Cormney;
General Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department finalists are Crestline Investors General Counsel Jesus Payan and Tuesday Morning General Counsel Bridgett Zeterberg;
Senior Counsel of the Year for a Large Legal Department finalists are Flowserve Assistant General Counsel Susan Hudson and McKesson Corporation Chief Counsel Thomas Blanford.
Senior Counsel for a Midsized Legal Department goes to Neiman Marcus Assistant General Counsel Tasha Grinnell.