Newsmakers: Week of March 5

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Andrew Edison.[/caption] Andrew M. Edison, founding partner of Edison McDowell Hetherington in Houston, has been appointed as a magistrate judge on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Edison has 24 years of experience in representing clients in private practice. His firm will now be known as McDowell Hetherington. AwardsRehan Alimohammad, chairman of the State Bar of Texas board, has received the University of Houston Law Alumni Association’s annual Diversity and Inclusion Award. The association presented its award to Alimohammad at its 42nd annual Law Gala and Auction on Feb. 17. Alimohammad is a partner in the minority-owned firm of Wong Fleming. Charles “Chip” Babcock, a Jackson Walker partner in Dallas and Houston, has received the 2018 Karen H. Susman Jurisprudence Award from the Anti-Defamation League Southwest Region. Babcock is a First Amendment, commercial and intellectual property trial and appellate lawyer. New PositionsScott Siefert has been elected president of Hiersche, Hayward, Drakeley & Urbach in Addison. Siefert has been with the firm for approximately 20 years and is a shareholder in it. He is a trial lawyer who focuses on commercial litigation. Chad J. Ray has joined Munck Wilson Mandala in Dallas as an associate. Ray is in the firm’s commercial litigation practice and handles a variety of patent litigation matters. Randy A. Canche has joined Houston-based Potts Law Firm as an associate. Canche, a trial lawyer, dedicates most of his practice to complex litigation matters and represents an array of clients. Hugh Tanner and Denise Scofield have joined Winston & Strawn as partners in Houston. Both come from Morgan Lewis & Bockius, where Tanner was managing partner of the Houston office and also served as chair of its oil and gas litigation group initiative. Tanner represents clients in complex litigation primarily in the oil and gas industry. Scofield defends Fortune 100 companies in complex business disputes. Jaime Vasquez has been elevated to the position of equity shareholder in Chamberlain, Hrdlicka, White, Williams & Aughtry in San Antonio. Vasquez represents clients involved in a variety of federal, state and international transactional and tax controversy matters. Houston attorneys F. Daniel Knight and Jeff C. Wigginton Jr. have been named shareholders in the firm. Knight’s practice focuses on admiralty and maritime law as well as on general civil litigation and appellate issues. Wigginton represents clients in commercial and business litigation, energy litigation, construction litigation, professional malpractice claims and tort litigation. Chelsea J. Lu has joined Adams and Reese as an associate and member of the firm’s litigation practice team in the Houston office. In the past, Lu’s primary focus of her practice has been on products liability and mass tort litigation. Sean C. Timmons, managing partner of Tully Rinckey’s Texas operations, oversees the firm’s new Austin office, which also includes attorneys Brittan Buchanan, Laura Grabouski and Donna Peery. Grabouski, a partner in the firm, Buchanan and Peery focus on insurance coverage and commercial litigation. Ed McHorse, Cliff Ernst, Clark Lutz, Martin Lutz, Doug Jones and Russell Booth recently joined McGinnis Lochridge in Austin as partners, along with associates Alison Lenner, Shana McGirl and Martha Todd and of counsel Ali Gallagher. Members of the group have experience in a variety of corporate and transactional matters as well as estate planning and tax matters. HonorsJohn T. Woodruff, Houston-based shareholder in Polsinelli, has been elected to be a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation in recognition of his professional achievements and demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system. Shawna Dalrymple, senior associate with Dallas-based Chamblee Ryan, has been board certified in consumer and commercial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.