Healthcare trial lawyer Mackenzie Wallace starts at Thompson Coburn this week as the 11th attorney and seventh partner to join the St. Louis-based firm’s Dallas office since it launched in early 2020.
Wallace, who previously practiced at Thompson & Knight, has extensive experience representing healthcare entities and other businesses and directors in high-stakes litigation. She also represents corporations and directors in shareholder and securities litigation, corporate and shareholder rights, director and officer litigation, merger litigation and white collar matters.
Wallace said she wanted to beef up her healthcare practice and found that Thompson Coburn offered her the best platform. She said she also found the entrepreneurial spirit and collaboration amongst lawyers of the firm’s new Dallas office attractive.
“It was a really natural match,” Wallace told The Texas Lawbook. “I think the hunger the partners have in the Dallas office matches mine to advance what we’re doing and grow our practices, which I think is unique.”
Wallace’s move reunites her with three female partners and former colleagues at Thompson & Knight: Jennifer Ecklund, Nicole Williams and Elizabeth Myers. She said Ecklund was her mentor from “the day” she began her legal career at Thompson & Knight in 2011.
In 2017, when Wallace was still an associate, she was part of a team spearheaded by Ecklund that obtained a $65 million jury verdict for investors who were defrauded by the Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Waco-based Life Partners. The jury found Life Partners Chief Executive Brian Pardo on the hook for all the damages.
A large area of Wallace’s practice includes representing healthcare providers and hospitals in coverage and reimbursement disputes against insurance companies — particularly now as the industry continues to navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. Wallace said she’s also noticing an uptick in antitrust litigation within the healthcare industry, especially among insurance companies and players in the world of pharmaceuticals.
As the Biden administration prepares to settle into the White House, Wallace said she anticipates an uptick in work in the antitrust and white collar segments of her practice — particularly claims related to PPP loans, the False Claims Act and other legal issues “that [resulted from] COVID-19 and claims that didn’t happen while things slowed down during COVID.”
The Baylor Law School graduate is a past president of the Dallas chapter of the Federal Bar Association and a steering committee member of Dallas’ Cattle Barron’s Ball, which raises funds for the American Cancer Society. While in law school, Wallace interned for Dallas District Judge Martin Hoffman.
“Mackenzie is a strong litigator who has oral advocacy and trial strategy skills that take other practitioners decades to develop,” Williams, who is Thompson Coburn Dallas’ managing partner, said in a statement. “She has an incredible eye for detail and excels at building relationships with clients and professionals throughout our legal community. Mackenzie has served as a key advisor to healthcare clients during a critical time in their existence, and her antitrust and securities experience is a fantastic addition to our litigation strengths in Dallas.”
A lifelong Texan, Wallace comes from a family of lawyers, including her father and two sisters. Wallace said one of the most gratifying aspects of her legal career has been the ability to share with her sisters the triumphs and challenges of being a female attorney in today’s legal profession. Wallace’s older sister, Michelle Tuegel, runs her own plaintiffs’ firm in Dallas, while Wallace’s younger sister, Maryssa Pittman, is a partner at the Potts Firm and helped launch the firm’s Dallas office when it opened a few years ago.
“Given how few women stay in the practice … being able to share that journey together and talk about our struggles [while] also [sharing] each other’s wins and joys has been the most enjoyable thing about my practice,” Wallace said.