Newsmakers: Week of July 30, 2018
[caption id="attachment_9946" align="alignnone" width="558"]
Russell Gips.[/caption] Russell Gips has joined Copeland & Rice in Houston as a partner. Gips has a general business litigation practice with an emphasis on energy disputes, such as royalty litigation and title disputes.
New Positions
David King has become a shareholder in Austin-based Graves Dougherty Hearon & Moody. A member of the firm’s litigation practice, King represents both plaintiffs and defendants in a variety of areas, including real estate and construction, oil and gas, business litigation and intellectual property. Scott Ellis has joined Greenberg Traurig’s corporate practice as a shareholder in the firm’s Dallas office. Tanya Goins also has joined the firm’s corporate practice as of counsel in Dallas. Ellis focuses his practice on representing companies, private equity funds, family offices and other financial sponsors in strategic initiatives and transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, restructurings and the financing of portfolio companies. Goins advises investment companies on the Investment Company Act of 1940, the Securities Acts of 1933 and 1934 as well as other regulations. Shane Johnson has joined Porter Hedges as an associate in Houston. A member of the firm’s bankruptcy section, Johnson’s experience includes advising clients in a wide variety of in-court and out-of-court restructuring and insolvency matters. Robert Castle and Jamie Welton, both experienced commercial litigators, have joined Barnes & Thornburg in Dallas as partners in the firm’s litigation department. The two attorneys primarily focus on complex disputes in the areas of health care, finance and media, as well as other industries. Carrie M. Winkler, an attorney with a broad-based real estate practice, has rejoined Vinson & Elkins as counsel in the firm’s Dallas office. Winkler was a real estate associate with Vinson & Elkins in Dallas between 1998 and 2004. Heath C. DeJean has joined Thompson & Knight’s Houston office as an associate in its corporate and securities practice group. He has represented underwriters and issuers in a variety of public offerings and private placements. Lindsay Kirton has joined the firm’s Dallas office, where she is a member of its real estate and banking practice group. She focuses her practice on the acquisition, disposition and financing of commercial properties, including representing national lenders in origination of mortgage and/or loans secured by commercial property. Christopher L. Summers has been promoted to shareholder in Hiersche, Hayward, Drakeley & Urbach in Addison. Summers practices in the firm’s corporate and business transaction section. Chris Oldner and Holly Rampy Baird have been promoted to partners in Orsinger, Nelson, Downing & Anderson in Dallas. Oldner served three terms as judge of the 416th District Court in Collin County where he presided over criminal and civil cases, including family law bench and jury trials. Oldner is certified in criminal and family law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Baird is certified in family law by TBLS.
Appointments
William F. Carroll, with the Law Offices of William F. Carroll in Colleyville, has been appointed chairman of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. New board members appointed by the TBLS are Tina Amberboy of Austin, executive director of the Texas Permanent Judicial Commission for Children, Youth and Families at the Supreme Court of Texas; Diane Dillard, a Houston commercial real estate attorney; and Lisa Bagley Brown, a Houston oil and gas attorney.
Award
Dan Webster, senior counsel with Dykema Cox Smith in San Antonio, has been selected the 2018 recipient of Joe Frazier Brown Sr. Award of Excellence by the San Antonio Bar Association. The award will be presented at the San Antonio Bar Foundation’s annual Gala Benefit and Awards on Sept. 15. Webster has been practicing law since joining Cox Smith in 1964.
