Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this edition of P.S., we report on the Dallas Bar Association’s impressive $1.4 million fundraising campaign to support the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program. Coming up, you can watch your favorite lawyer-led musical bands while donating to charity at the Feb. 26 Law Rocks Dallas. And a pro bono legal intake clinic hosted by lawyers from Baker Botts and Toyota North America returned to New Friends New Life.
Last week, The Texas Lawbook had the honor of co-hosting the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Awards with the Association of Corporate Counsel DFW Chapter. The words shared by the four honorees in the Diversity and Inclusion and Pro Bono and Public Service categories are still resonating with us and are well worth sharing with readers in this column.
In this edition of P.S., we also report that Dallas-based Attorneys Serving the Community held a record-breaking fundraising event for Shared Housing Center and a Paul Hastings Texas partner has joined the advisory board of the Wilson Center for Science and Justice at Duke Law.
Before he was appointed as a justice on the state’s highest court in October, Kyle Hawkins argued five cases before the U.S. Supreme Court and nine at the Texas Supreme Court. His advocacy included cases targeting abortion, the Affordable Care Act and New York’s school vaccination law. Hawkins’ appointment came shortly after he argued a tobacco tax case before the court he now sits on.
Charles Gearing felt an itch last summer to get more involved in pro bono work. The healthcare litigation lawyer at Weaver Johnston Nelson in Dallas found a project that advertised a limited scope — helping detained noncitizens apply for bond — that seemed like work that required less lawyering than sleuthing and logistical hustle, or so Gearing thought. He took on the case of Pedro Romo Navarro, a Mexican citizen living in Dallas for the past three decades who was facing deportation after being stopped by police for riding a bicycle without a front light.
What began as a seemingly simple bond request plunged Gearing into a nationwide legal and political controversy over the detention of longtime U.S. residents with no criminal records, often for months at a time in unsanitary facilities and without the opportunity for a bond hearing. Lawyers argue that these detentions violate the Immigration and Nationality Act and constitutional due process rights.
Fifth Third Bank's merger with Dallas-based Comerica was a complex mega-transaction put extraordinary pressure on the Comerica legal department, which was already being pushed to the limit on other matters. But the $10.9 billion transaction announced on Oct. 6 officially closed this morning at 12:02 a.m., a mere four months after the deal was announced. Citing their extraordinary accomplishments, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook this past Thursday night honored the Comerica legal department and its outside counsel at Wachtell Lipton with the 2025 DFW M&A Transaction of the Year.
Ginger Appleberry was a litigation partner at Locke Lord in Dallas when she received a call in December 2014 that an Irving-based biotech company was seeking an in-house lawyer.
“They think they want a contract lawyer,” the caller told Appleberry. “They think they want someone who can do hospital contracting. They don't. They need you. I think you should talk to them.”
Appleberry agreed, took the position and now, 11 years later, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook have named Appleberry one of two finalists for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Legal Department (2-5 lawyers).
Known for her collaborative leadership and strategic judgment, Sarah Wariner, senior vice president and deputy general counsel at Jacobs, has built high-performing teams by prioritizing diverse perspectives, mentorship and business-focused legal strategy. Her commitment to diversity and inclusion amid a shifting legal landscape has earned her recognition from the ACC DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
From a first-generation student to a corporate lawyer with a national platform, Nayelly Dominguez has spent her career expanding access and mentorship to attorneys from underrepresented communities. For her work across in-house legal departments and bar associations, she is one of two lawyers receiving the award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion from the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
For the past three years, Jane Ann Neiswender has been the deputy general counsel at Irving-based Michaels Stores, where she has helped guide the national specialty craft store chain through a digital transformation, helped purchase intellectual property of failed retail competitors and guided the business through significant supply chain issues related to recent tariffs placed on other countries.
“It is no secret that the retail industry has faced unchartered waters over the past 18 months, including consumer concern over the economy, an increasingly complex regulatory environment and new challenges stemming from tariffs,” she told The Texas Lawbook. “As a department, we work closely with the business to navigate these issues in a way that is compliant and provides our customers with the goods and value that they expect.”
Citing her extraordinary work and achievements during the past 18 months, the Association of Corporate Counsel’s DFW Chapter and The Lawbook have named Neiswender as a finalist for the 2025 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Senior Counsel of the Year for a Midsized Legal Department (six to 20 attorneys).
Ted Koehler has his dream job. And maybe yours.
He's a near-scratch golfer (a 0.90 handicap at the moment), a game he learned from his father. He makes his living advising the Professional Golfers' Association of America, the premier organization for more than 30,000 PGA professionals nationwide.
He gets to attend events like the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup. And because he's involved in their planning, it could be regarded as a job requirement. He gets to play some of the best golf courses in the world.
If dream jobs were golf balls, Koehler's has the feel of a 375-yard tee shot airmailed from a titanium driver, fairway-flush on the Par Five of Life.
As deputy general counsel in the PGA's three-attorney legal department, Koehler has been nominated by The Texas Lawbook and the DFW Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel as 2025 Senior Counsel of the Year for a Small Practice.
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