TRACK-RECORD
Our track-record speaks for itself. Marcus has recruited some of the most sought-after lawyers, for more than 50 law firms and several of Houston’s Fortune 500 companies. His experience covers most of today's practice areas and his track-record includes the highest-quality placements at all levels: Partners, Associates, and Of Counsel, as well as In-House and General Counsels.
WINSTON & STRAWN’S ENERGY TEAM GROWS WITH TWO RENOWNED PARTNERS.
Hugh Tanner and Denise Scofield have joined Winston & Strawn’s growing Houston office. Hugh previously was Managing Partner of Morgan Lewis’ Houston office, and Chair of its Worldwide Oil & Gas Litigation Group. Denise advises chemical, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, and transportation companies, in addition to oil and gas exploration and oilfield services companies.
GIBSON, DUNN ADDS CORPORATE ASSOCIATE TO ITS NEW HOUSTON OFFICE.
Eric Haitz joins Gibson, Dunn from Akin, Gump’s Dallas office. Eric received his undergraduate, law degree, and M.B.A., all from the University of Virginia.
SMYSER, KAPLAN LANDS ANOTHER SUPERSTAR TO ITS STOUT LITIGATION BENCH.
Sydney Scott joins SKV from Vinson & Elkins. She graduated from Dartmouth College in 2008, where she was Co-Captain of the Dartmouth women’s basketball team and won 3 Ivy League Championships. After graduation, Ms. Scott continued her professional basketball career in Europe as a member of B.K. Amager, which won the league championship. She got her J.D. at the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2013. After law school, Sydney clerked for two federal judges: (1) U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana (Hon. James J. Brady), and (2) U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart).
SIMPSON, THACHER HIRES CORPORATE ASSOCIATE OFF THE FIFTH CIRCUIT.
Andrew Lanius joins Simpson’s corporate finance group. Andrew graduated number 1 in his University of Colorado undergraduate class, and also first in his Master’s Degree Accounting Program. He graduated Order of the Coif from the University of Virginia Law School (Virginia Law Review), then clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Hon. Edith Jones). Before law school, he spent two years with PricewaterhouseCoopers. He’s also a Certified Public Accountant.
ARNOLD & ITKIN ADDS TO ITS RECORD-SETTING TEAM.
It goes without saying, Arnold & Itkin has experienced meteoric rise in success. Recently listed on the National Law Journal’s list of “Elite Trial Lawyers” for their high-dollar recoveries for clients and creative and significant work on the plaintiff side, the firm turns to Marcus for its hiring.
Ben Bireley. Ben joined Arnold & Itkin from one of the country’s premier commercial litigation boutiques, Gibbs & Bruns, where he handled high-stakes commercial disputes for plaintiffs and defendants. Ben got his J.D. With Honors from University of Texas Law, was Chief Articles Editor for Texas Law Review, graduated Order of the Coif, and after law school, clerked on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Hon. Lee H. Rosenthal).
Rebecca Adams. Rebecca graduated With Merit from the U.S. Naval Academy, with a B.S. in History as well as her commission as a naval officer. After West Point, she served as a Weapons Officer on USS Rushmore (LSD-47) – where she led a division of 18 sailors and deployed to the Arabian Gulf in support of the Global War on Terror. Rebecca coordinated multinational training exercises with allied navies (including Canada, Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Australia, and Panama) while training multinational forces for both wartime and humanitarian operations. Rebecca earned her J.D. from Stanford Law School. Before joining Arnold & Itkin, she practiced high-stakes commercial litigation at a nationally renowned trial boutique in Houston, and one of the world’s largest litigation powerhouses in Washington DC.
Alison Baimbridge. Alison joined the Arnold & Itkin after working for a decade as an Assistant District Attorney in Houston, where she prosecuted and tried over 75 cases to verdict – while serving as Chief District Court Prosecutor and Chief of the Vehicular Crimes Section, representing victims of violent crimes and serious motor vehicle accidents.
INTERNATIONAL LITIGATION FUNDER BENTHAM IMF EXPANDS BY TAPPING TOP TEXAS TALENT.
Bentham IMF, one of the world’s leading commercial litigating funders, hired Marcus to expand its U.S. operations into Texas, by adding Eric Chenoweth to launch its new Houston office. Eric is a University of Virginia law school graduate and former partner at Yetter Coleman, recognized by The National Law Journal as one of the Top 10 litigation-only firms in the U.S. Chenoweth will focus on analyzing and managing investments in a wide variety of commercial litigations. Bentham is the first global commercial litigation finance firm to open a Texas office.
FIDELIS REALTY EXPANDS ITS IN-HOUSE LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
Travis Vermeer joins Fidelis’ in-house legal team from Munsch, where he represented financial institutions, real estate developers and lenders in the acquisition, disposition, development, leasing and financing of commercial assets. Travis is a 2013 Cum Laude graduate of University of Houston Law Center. Fidelis Realty’s current portfolio of over 10 million square feet of commercial real estate, and services over 60 properties in 10 cities and 4 different states, with most of it in Houston.
CONDEMNATION BOUTIQUE ADDS UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO GRADUATE AS PARTNER.
McFarland PLLC hires Mark Merrell as a partner. Merrell is a graduate of the University of Chicago School of Law and an Honors graduate of Texas A & M, who represents landowners in condemnation proceedings across Texas. Before McFarland, he practiced Eminent Domain and Land Use litigation at Andrews Kurth LLP.
WILLIAMS, KHERKER ADDS FORMER HARVARD HONORS GRADUATE TRIAL LAWYER.
Cesar emigrated from Mexico when he was six-years old. His family came with two suitcases, and he was the first in his family to graduate from college. He graduated With Honors from Brigham Young University and then Harvard Law School, Cum Laude. He now represents plaintiffs because it allows him to fight and be a voice for someone who lacks the means, experience, or ability to do that for themselves.
DALY & BLACK ADDS TEXAS SUPREME COURT CLERK.
Walt Cubberly joins Daly & Black. After graduating from the University of Texas, Walt graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Houston Law Center, where he was Associate Editor of the Houston Law Review and a Research Assistant to Professors Leslie Griffin and David Dow, and was ranked 10th in his class. He also clerked on the Texas Supreme Court (Justice Phil Johnson.
FORMER GIBBS & BRUNS LAWYER JOINS THE NATION’S LARGEST LITIGATION-ONLY FIRM.
Kate Kaufmann Shih joined Quinn, Emanuel, one of the largest litigation-only firms in the world, from Gibbs & Bruns. Kate graduated With Honors from Stanford University (Phi Beta Kappa), and got her J.D. With Honors from Columbia University, where she was Articles Editor of Columbia Law Review, and both a James Kent Scholar and Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. She also clerked twice: (1) U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Hon. Carolyn D. King), and (2) U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas (Hon. Lee H. Rosenthal).
NATHAN SOMMERS HIRES CORPORATE PARTNER KATHRYN SMYSER AND BANKING & FINANCE ASSOCIATE JOSEPH LEE.
Kathryn Smyser. Kathryn is an experienced corporate lawyer with an expertise in sell-side mergers & acquisitions. She has degrees from Rice University, Harvard University, and University of Texas School of Law (graduated With Honors, Order of the Coif, and Texas Law Review). She also clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Carolyn D. King), before practicing at Baker Botts, Vinson & Elkins, Bond & Smyser, and teaching for years at University of Houston Law Center.
Joseph Lee. Joseph joins the Banking and Finance sections – his practice focuses on the representation of both borrowers and lenders in a variety of commercial financings, and has capital markets and securities experience. Joseph got his undergraduate business degree and master’s degree in accounting from the University of Texas. He went to law school at University of Houston, where he was on the Houston Law Review. He is also a C.P.A.
DENMAN HEARD LAUNCHES NEW FIRM WITH FORMER LANIER LAW FIRM LAWYER.
Alex Brown joins Denman Heard to launch new firm, Heard Law Firm. Before joining Heard, Alex worked closely with legendary trial lawyer Mark Lanier, and served on his trial team for over 4 years. The trials he helped manage for Lanier include two Pinnacle hip implant trials in 2016 and an Actos drug trial in 2014 that resulted in historic jury verdicts in favor of the plaintiffs.
HIGH-PROFILE FEDERAL PROSECUTOR JASON VARNADO JOINS JONES DAY’S NATIONAL WHITE-COLLAR TEAM.
Jason Varnado joins Jones Day’s Houston office, as a Partner—he joins from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Texas, where he was a lead Department of Justice prosecutor and Deputy Criminal Chief of the Major Fraud Section. For 10 years, Mr. Varnado served as Assistant U.S. Attorney where he prosecuted complex white collar crimes, tried nearly 20 criminal trials to verdict, including winning convictions of the top accountants in Allen Stanford's $7 billion Ponzi scheme, and argued multiple Fifth Circuit appeals. His prosecutions included high-stakes corporate fraud, investment fraud, bank fraud, health care fraud, intellectual property crimes, cybercrime, money laundering, bribery, and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Over his decade of services, Mr. Varnado also held several other leadership position, such as National White Collar Crime Coordinator and National Cyber Crime Coordinator (where he represented all U.S. Attorney’s offices on the Department’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force).
Mr. Varnado is the most recent addition in a string of former federal officials who have joined Jones Day in Texas. He joins a group of several prominent lawyers in the Firm's white collar and securities practices that includes former SEC Regional Director and Chair of the Financial Reporting and Auditing Task Force David Woodcock, former U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas Matt Orwig, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney and prominent cybercrime lawyer Jay Johnson.
Mr. Varnado graduated from the University of Texas School of Law, where he was a member of the Texas Law Review, and got his undergraduate degree, from Clemson University. Jones Day is a global powerhouse with 42 offices in major centers of business and finance throughout the world. Its unique governance system fosters an unparalleled level of integration and contributes to its perennial ranking as among the best in the world in client service. Jones Day provides significant legal representation for almost half of the Fortune 500, Fortune Global 500, and FT Global 500.
WILLIAMS KHERKHER ADDS TEN-YEAR SUPERSTAR BRIAN ABRAMSON.
Brian got his undergraduate finance degree With High Honors and his law degree also With High Honors, both from the University of Texas—he finished law school with a 4.01 grade-point average, was awarded Order of the Coif, and was elected to the Texas Law Review. He joins John Eddie Williams’ firm Williams Kherkher to handle high-stakes mass-tort matters, nationally.
VINSON & ELKINS ADDS FORMER FIFTH CIRCUIT CLERK DAVID CURRIE TO ITS LITIGATION GROUP.
Mid-level David Currie laterals to Vinson & Elkins’ commercial litigation group. Currie got his undergrad degree and made Dean’s List at Columbia University and his law degree With Honors from University of Texas School of Law, where he was Editor in Chief of Texas’ Review of Litigation. After law school he spent several years handling big-ticket intellectual property litigation in Quinn, Emanuel’s San Francisco office before clerking on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
ANDREWS & KURTH LANDS FORMER FIFTH CIRCUIT AND U.S. DISTRICT COURT CLERK JARED WEIR.
Jared Weir graduated With Highest Honors from the University of Oklahoma and also Summa Cum Laude from the University of Oklahoma as an undergrad, where he was PHI BETA KAPPA, a National Merit Scholar, and Recipient of the Dean’s and President’s Honor Rolls (every semester). He joins A&K after serving two federal judicial clerkships, on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
RUSTY HARDIN--NAMED “ONE OF THE 25 GREATEST TEXAS LAWYERS OF THE PAST QUARTER-CENTURY”--LANDS THREE OF MARCUS’ SUPERSTARS.
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Bob Wynne: Wynne graduated Number 1 in his Loyola University Law School class (where was Valedictorian and finished with Summa Cum Laude honors). Bob was also Editor-In-Chief of the Loyola Law Review. Bob also won the prestigious Law Excellence Award for the Highest Grade in 12 of his 20 classes. As a member of Loyola’s Moot Court Team, Wynne also finished in the Top 10 in Intramural Moot Court Competition, was a Finalist in the J. Sanford Levy Best Brief Competition, and served as a research assistant for the former Dean of Loyola University School of Law. After law school, Wynne did clerkships on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Wiener, J.) and U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana (Fallon, J.). Before law school, Wynne’s record is equally as impressive, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude while starting at Offensive Guard on LSU’s football team, was PHI BETA KAPPA, and the recipient of LSU’s most prestigious academic honors: (1) “Most Outstanding Senior at Louisiana State University Award,” and (2) “Most Outstanding Senior in the College of Arts & Sciences Award.
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Jenn Brevorka: After clerkships on both the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. District Court, Jenn Brevorka joins Rusty Hardin’s high-stakes firm. Jenn did her undergrad at Yale University, her Masters in Journalism from Columbia University in ‘02, and in ’09 she graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duke University’s Law School. And for about 4 years before law school, Jenn worked as a criminal-beat-reporter in North Carolina, investigating crimes and hunting-down leads to interview sources for stories — for example, she investigated and reported on the first American civilian arrested and charged for violating the Patriot Act, and, she co-authored a series on inmate abuse at the county jail which led to the arrest of the head jailer.
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Carolyn Courville: Carolyn Courville is a ’98 Magna Cum Laude graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, with a Ph.d in Geophysics from Cambridge, with over 10 years of experience practicing at Susman Godfrey.
FRANCHISE LAWYER AND FORMER GENERAL COUNSEL WAYNE BUNCH JOINS DLA PIPER.
Wayne Bunch joins DLA Piper’s internationally-recognized Franchise Practice Group. Bunch is a nationally-recognized franchise lawyer with over 20 years of experience representing franchisor restaurants, real estate companies, pet care service companies, durable medical equipment sales, optometry clinics, furniture stores, recruitment firms, automobile repair companies, tax services companies, and educational companies. Wayne previously had his own law firm, and comes with years of industry experience as a General Counsel and former C.E.O. for two franchisor companies.
MARK LANIER, ONE OF “THE DECADE’S MOST INFLUENTIAL LAWYERS,” TURNS TO MARCUS FOR RECRUITING.
George Nino, a 20-year trial lawyer and former Special U.S. Attorney and Magna Cum Laude graduate of Yale University and of Stanford Law School, joins the nationally prominent, ultra-successful Lanier Law Firm. National Law Journal recently named Houston trial lawyer Mark Lanier “One of this Decade’s Most Influential Lawyers.” Impressively, he was the only plaintiff’ lawyer and the only Texas trial lawyer to be chosen. Lanier was also selected by his peers as one of the “Top 10 Attorneys in Texas,” and chosen by the Texas Lawyer as one of the “25 Most Elite Texas Lawyers,” in its “25 Greatest Texas Lawyers of the Past Quarter Century” feature. With offices in Texas, California, and New York, Lanier has a truly national practice, which is why he uses Marcus for his commercial practice.
MARCUS HELPS FIDELIS REALTY PARTNERS BUILD ITS LEGAL DEPARTMENT.
Privately-held Fidelis Realty Partners lands two new in-house lawyers: (1) Brigid Dwyer, a recent University of Texas Law School honors graduate, to be the its first Associate General Counsel – Dwyer began her career at the real estate boutique Nathan Sommers & Jacobs, handling real estate acquisition and development deals, as well as landlord-leasing and lending work, and (2) Robin Boyles, a Cum Laude graduate of Southern Methodist University School of Law and Managing Editor of S.M.U.’s International Law Review, and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of American University; her practice involves mostly real estate finance and leasing.
FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR’S NEW FIRM HIRES SUPREME COURT CLERK WALT CUBBERLY.
Former Ass’t U.S. Attorney Andino Reynal—and his firm Stradley, Davis & Reynal—hire recent University of Houston Law Center Magna Cum Laude graduate and former Supreme Court Clerk Walt Cubberly to be its first associate.
WHITE-HOT BOUTIQUE, REYNOLDS, FRIZZELL LANDS TWO FORMER FIFTH CIRCUIT CLERKS.
Reynolds, Frizzell is one of the hottest litigation boutiques in Texas – spinning-off from Gibbs & Bruns in late ’09, they immediately hit the ground running, with $100 million in verdicts in its first 100 days. The firm was also recognized for obtaining several of the largest verdicts in the state for 2010, in Verdict Search’s Top Texas Verdicts of 2010 and the annual Texas Lawyer list (which recognized Reynolds, Frizzell for three verdicts, including two that were the largest in their categories, and one that ranked 12th among all verdicts obtained in 2010). They’ve also won with hiring:
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Jamin Soderstrom: his stout background speaks for itself—Jamin got his undergraduate broadcast journalism degree—while playing Division 1 NCAA baseball—at Pepperdine. He also went to law school at Pepperdine on a full-scholarship and graduated Magna Cum Laude and in the Top 10, was editor of
Pepperdine Law Review, was Graduating Class Commencement Speaker, and worked as the law school Dean and former Whitewater Prosecutor Ken Starr’s senior research assistant, all while externing for the Chief Judge Alex Kozinski on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. Jamin also clerked for two-years on the Fifth Circuit, and he has an MBA.
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Billy Berryhill: Before joining the firm, Berryhill was the State of Mississippi’s Assistant Attorney General. He got his undergrad and J.D. degrees at the University of Mississippi, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and received his Ph.D in Political Science from Louisiana State University (with a 4.0 grade-point average).
WEIL, GOTSHAL EXPANDS ITS SILICON VALLEY PRIVATE EQUITY AND M&A PRACTICE WITH LATHAM & WATKINS' CORPORATE CO-CHAIR.
Weil, Gotshal’s Silicon Valley Office adds Eric J. Schwartzman as an equity partner in its Private Equity and Mergers & Acquisitions Group – he lateraled from Latham & Watkins, where he was a partner and former Co-Chair of its Corporate Department in New York. Schwartzman’s practice focuses on private equity, M&A, corporate restructurings, joint ventures, and general securities and corporate matters, and he’s got nearly 20 years of experience working with private equity firms and investment banks, as well as publicly traded and privately held companies in a broad range of industries. Previously, he was with Oscar Capital Management, where he and his team launched and managed an early stage venture capital fund, and he joined Oscar Capital after serving as director of strategic and business development for an Oscar Capital portfolio company. He is a charter member of the New York City Milken Institute Young Leaders Circle and received his J.D., Magna Cum Laude, from Syracuse University College of Law and his B.A. from Lafayette College. Weil’s 1,200 lawyer firm with over 20 offices world-wide has been recognized, both by peers and by the press, as leaders in their respective fields—after regular appearances on American Lawyer’s “A-List,” in ’07 the firm rocketed to the Number 2 spot in this elite ranking, and has maintained their place on the A-List’s Top 5 Ranking each year. Weil’s also been top-ranked by Chambers & Partners, Euromoney, and The Lawyer Group. Most recently, the firm was named among the “Sweet Sixteen of Elite International Law Firms” for the second consecutive year by The Lawyer magazine. In 2009, International Financial Law Review recognized Weil with four IFLR America Awards – the most ever for a single law firm in one year – including its Law Firm of the Year, M&A Deal of the Year, M&A Team of the Year, and Private Equity Deal of the Year. Chambers & Partners ranked 98 Weil lawyers in 47 practice groups.
HIGH-STAKES BOUTIQUE SMYSER, KAPLAN LANDS ANOTHER CIRCUIT CLERK AND FORMER FULBRIGHT SCHOLAR.
Tarin joins powerhouse Smyser, Kaplan. She’s a Fulbright Scholar and a former graduate Fellow at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Tarin got her undergraduate degree from Austin College, Magna Cum Laude. And in ’05 she graduated from the University of Virginia Law School, where she was selected for the Virginia Journal of International Law, Virginia Tax Review, and was the Regional Champion in the Philip Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. She also has a Masters in Law & Diplomacy from Tufts University’s Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, where she was awarded the Hardy Cross Dillard Prize. Following law school, Danielle clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (Judge Deborah Cook). Danielle joins Smyser, Kaplan after spending 5 years working as a trial and appellate associate in White & Case’s D.C. office. Smyser, Kaplan is a small but stout trial firm: recently, all of the firm’s partners were selected as Texas Super Lawyers or Texas Rising Stars last in a statewide poll of their peers, and the firm was recommended by its peers as 1 of 11 leading litigation firms in Texas. Chambers USA identified Smyser Kaplan as one of the leading litigation firms in Texas, stating in its 2008 Guide: “Although it may be the smallest firm featured in the table, this Houston-based outfit nonetheless punches above its weight.”
BET-THE-COMPANY TRIAL LAWYER ADAM SCHIFFER’S FIRM LANDS FULBRIGHT LAWYER.
John Sheppard joins Schiffer, Odom, Hicks & Johnson. John did his undergraduate at Emory University and got his law degree With Honors in ’05 from the University of Texas Law School. He joins from Fulbright & Jaworski. Schiffer is well-recognized as a premier trial lawyer and international advocate. Chambers USA’s comprehensive surveys of clients and other lawyers repeatedly rank Schiffer as one of the “Best Commercial Litigators in Texas,” noting that Schiffer’s peers praised his “smart advice, efficiency and great energy industry insight.” Who’s Who Legal identifies Schiffer as a leader in arbitration, describing him as “Outstanding Counsel” in international arbitration matters, he’s regularly been named a “Top 100 Super Lawyer” in peer rankings, and Schiffer’s own fellow trial lawyers elected him to the American Board of Trial Advocates. Before forming his own firm, Schiffer was a long-time Trial Partner at Vinson & Elkins as well as Co-Head of King & Spalding’s International Arbitration Group.
MARCUS RECRUITS THE SOLICITOR GENERAL OF NEW YORK TO HEAD WEIL, GOTSHAL’S NATIONAL APPELLATE GROUP.
Weil, Gotshal lands Caitlin Halligan to head the firm’s National Appellate Group. Halligan was Solicitor General of New York State for more than five years under Eliot Spitzer when he was New York ‘s Attorney General. She is a Cum Laude graduate of Princeton University and a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center , where she was Managing Editor of the Georgetown Law Review. After law school, she clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit with Judge Patricia Wald, and on the U.S. Supreme Court for Justice Stephen Breyer. As Solicitor General, she managed 45 appellate attorneys, coordinated the legal positions of the entire Attorney General’s Office, oversaw approximately 120 submissions each month in the federal and state appellate courts, and served as counsel of record in more than 40 U.S. Supreme Court matters.
PRIVATELY-HELD CEVA LOGISTICS HIRES WORLDWIDE HEAD OF LITIGATION.
Shane Kimzey becomes the new Global Head of Litigation for CEVA. Shane is a ’97 Texas graduate, former Baker Botts trial lawyer, and most recently handled litigation for ConocoPhillips. CEVA, which acquired EGL, Inc., is a non-listed freight-forwarding, supply-chain management, global logistics company, based in the Netherlands with U.S. headquarters in Houston, and is owned by affiliates of Apollo Management, L.P., one of the world’s leading private equity investors.
MARCUS HELPS NEWLY-FORMED HAWASH, MEADE & GASTON ADD TOP TALENT.
Andy Meade and Jeremy Gaston join the newly formed firm Hawash, Meade & Gaston.
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Andy Meade. Meade was born in Bethel, Alaska, graduated from the University of Nebraska in English in 1998; and from The University of Houston Law Center with his J.D., Magna Cum Laude, in 2001. For 6 years before that, Meade served as airborne soldier in U.S. Army National Guard, including overseas service in Germany. After law school, he clerked for Judge Henry Politz on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He joins from the firm Hicks Thomas.
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Jeremy Gaston. Jeremy Gaston, a ’99 High Honors graduate of the University of Texas Law School, Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, and former law clerk on both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Sandra Day O’Connor), leaves the Houston appellate section of Mayer, Brown, to help form Hawash, Meade & Gaston (Gaston was previously with the elite litigation boutique Susman Godfrey).
SMYSER, KAPLAN & VESELKA ADDS FORMER NINTH CIRCUIT CLERK AND VALEDICTORIAN.
Land Murphy joins small-but-stout Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka. Murphy was Valedictorian and a Summa Cum Laude graduate of Pepperdine Law ’05, graduated with the highest g.p.a. in the history of the law school, was Lead Articles Editor of the Law Review, a member of two National Championship Moot Court Teams and the Honors Trial Team, and was awarded the Dean’s Scholarship by Dean and former Whitewater Prosecutor Kenneth Starr. Murphy also clerked on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit (O’Scannlain, J.), before coming to Texas and scoring the Highest Score on the February ’07 Texas Bar Exam, is a Certified Public Accountant, and is licensed to practice in California.
TRICO MARINE MAKES FORMER HARVARD GRADUATE ITS GENERAL COUNSEL.
Brett Cenkus joins Trico Marine (NASDAQ: TRMA). Brett is a ’98 Harvard Law School graduate, who began his career as a Skadden, Arps corporate associate, and was last with Andrews & Kurth. Cenkus will be the number 2 lawyer at Trico. Trico has 800 employees and provides a broad range of marine support services to the offshore oil and gas industry throughout the world. Brett is now a Business Attorney in Austin.
KING & SPALDING’S HOUSTON BANKRUPTCY GROUP ADDS FIRST ASSOCIATE.
Eric English will join King & Spalding’s Bankruptcy Group, which was recently established with the addition of Henry Kaim. Eric English is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Pepperdine Law ’05 and a law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (DeMoss, J.).
KING & SPALDING LANDS 20-YEAR INT’L M&A LAWYER.
Bill Krenz joins the Houston office of King & Spalding. Krenz is an ’89 honors graduate of Indiana University Law School. Before joining King & Spalding, he headed mergers & acquisitions groups at both Waste Management and Blockbuster Entertainment, and was last with Prisma Energy.
CADDELL & CHAPMAN HIRES APPELLATE LAWYER FROM FULBRIGHT & JAWORSKI.
Seth Kretzer joins Caddell & Chapman, which handles a a wide variety of plaintiff-side class-action, products liability, and complex commercial and personal injury litigation, and the value of the firm’s total recoveries exceeds $3 billion. Seth graduated in ’03 from University of Texas Law School, with honors, served on the Texas Law Review, and, after graduation, clerked on both the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas (Folsom, J.) and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (Reavley, J.). Before joining Caddell & Chapman, he was an associate at Fulbright.
CADDELL & CHAPMAN TURN TO MARCUS AGAIN.
Amy Tabor joins preeminent plaintiff firm Caddell & Chapman—Caddell was named “Texas Lawyer of the Year” by Texas Lawyer magazine: Chapman was named one of the nation's "Top 40 Under 40" (the top 40 attorneys under the age of 40) and among the nation's Top 50 women lawyers by National Law Journal; Caddell and Chapman were each named among the 500 Leading Plaintiffs Lawyers in America by Law Dragon magazine. Amy graduated, With High Honors, from University of Texas School of Law in 2003, where she was a member of the Texas Law Review and the Order of the Coif. She earned her B.A. from Brown University, Magna Cum Laude, in 1995, and received a Mellon Fellowship in the Humanities to study history at the University of California at Berkeley.
MARCUS RECRUITS ANOTHER FIFTH CIRCUIT CLERK FOR SKADDEN, ARPS.
Skadden hires Dane Ball following his Fifth Circuit clerkship (Harold R. DeMoss, Jr.). Ball was the number 3 graduate of Pepperdine School of Law, where he attended on a full-tuition scholarship, graduated with summa cum laude honors, served as Associate Editor of the Pepperdine Law Review, made the Dean’s List every semester, was a member of the highly selective Honors Trial Team, and before law school, was an All-Conference Varsity Baseball Player at Pepperdine.
JONES DAY’S DALLAS OFFICE GETS CHIEF FIFTH CIRCUIT JUDGE EDITH H. JONES’ LAW CLERK.
Kent Krabill, a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Pepperdine Law School and former law clerk to U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Chief Judge Edith H. Jones, joins the Dallas office of Jones Day–which, a few years ago, was The American Lawyer’s Finalist for “Litigation Department of the Year,” and “Product Liability Litigation Department of the Year.”
BAKER BOTTS ADDS TWO NEW FIFTH CIRCUIT CLERKS AND ANOTHER FROM THE U.S. DISTRICT COURT.
Laura Acosta and Trisha English will both join the litigation group at Baker Botts, which was named by the National Law Journal this year as “One of the 10 Hottest Defense Firms” in the country. Acosta is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of University of Houston Law School and Editor-in-Chief of the Law Review. Trisha English is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of Pepperdine Law School, and Associate Editor of the Pepperdine Law Review. Both are law clerks with Judge DeMoss on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Also, Andino Reynal, a Magna Cum Laude (Top 5%) graduate of Cardozo Law School joins the Trial section at Baker Botts, where he’ll handle a mix of litigation and arbitration.
BRACEWELL & GIULIANI STRENGTHENS ITS HOUSTON BANKRUPTCY PRACTICE.
Bracewell & Giuliani hires Jason Cohen, an ’05 honors graduate of Texas Law School, and Magna Cum Laude graduate of Tulane University, who served as a law clerk on the U.S. Bankruptcy Court, for the Southern District of Texas, for Judge Marvin Isgur.
LATHAM & WATKINS ADDS CORPORATE LAWYER.
Latham & Watkins hires junior corporate finance associate Chris Piazzola in Los Angeles. For the 7th year running, Latham ranked in the top five law firms in the country in Vault’s “Guide to the Top 100 Law Firms.” Latham also placed among the most elite by being named to The American Lawyer’s A-List, received the highest number of of top ten rankings in American Lawyer’s Corporate Scorecard, and was ranked number 1 by Thomson Financial for last year’s IPOs.
SKADDEN, ARPS TURNS TO MARCUS FOR ANOTHER STRATEGIC HIRE IN HOUSTON.
Nicholas Pilgrim, a 2003 honors graduate of the University of Chicago Law School and former law clerk to Judge Gerald Tjoflat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, joins the Houston office of Skadden, Arps. In 2005, Skadden was named “Global Law Firm of the Year” by Chambers USA and was once again the top-ranked law firm in The American Lawyer’s Corporate Scorecard, for having one of the ‘most respected legal practices in the world.’ Pilgrim joins Skadden from Irell & Manella, which was selected by Chambers this year as the “U.S. Intellectual Property Law Firm of the Year.”
CADDELL & CHAPMAN ADDS TRIAL TALENT RICK DALY.
High-stakes plaintiff trial boutique Caddell & Chapman adds Rick Daly, a ’94 Magna Cum Laude graduate of Illinois Law with over 25 jury trials. Mike Caddell and Cynthia Chapman are two of Texas’ most accomplished lawyers. The Texas Lawyer previously named Caddell “Lawyer of the Year,” and Chapman was named by the National Law Journal as one of “America’s Top 50 Women Litigators,” and more recently, “America’s Top 40 Attorneys Under The Age of 40.” Daly joins a week after the firm’s $33 million plaintiff breach of contract verdict Beck, Redden’s client, Exxon. Daly joins from Gardere, where he was a partner.
BAKER BOTTS HIRES CORPORATE ASSOCIATE FROM SIMPSON THACHER'S SILICON VALLEY OFFICE.
Marcus recruits Troy Lee to join Baker Botts’ corporate section in Houston. Troy graduated with honors from Harvard University in 1998, received his law degree from Columbia University in 2001, where he was one of the school’s prestigious Harlan Fiske Stone Scholars, and joins Baker Botts from Simpson Thacher’s Silicon Valley office, where he handled mergers & acquisitions, corporate finance, and private equity.
MASS-TORT POWERHOUSE HEARD, ROBINS ADDS TWO TRIAL LAWYERS.
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Derek Merman: Mr. Merman’s achievements are beyond his years: 15 First-Chair jury trials to verdict (two verdicts over $10,000,000); “Top 40 Trial Lawyers Under 40” and “Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Texas” according to The National Trial Lawyers Association; 2011 Number 1 Top Verdict in Texas for Civil Rights and Number 15 Overall; Largest Civil Rights Verdict in Texas History (with Robert Luke) - won an unprecedented $16,050,000 verdict in the U.S. District Court in Beaumont, Texas in January 2011—the verdict was more than four-times the verdict rendered in the famous Rodney King case and is the largest reported civil-rights verdict in Texas; “Top Young Lawyers in Texas” and “Texas Super Lawyer.”
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Rebecca Phillips: Rebecca Phillips is a Yale Law School graduate and former Editor of Yale’s Law & Policy Review, who got valuable experience handling complex civil litigation at both Vinson & Elkins and Schiffer, Odom, Hicks & Johnson, before joining Heard, Robins and switching over to handle high-stakes mass-tort cases on the plaintiff side.
FORMER SUSMAN GODFREY PARTNER JOINS BERG & ANDROPHY.
Mark Evetts, a ’95 Order of the Coif Texas Law School graduate and former Susman Godfrey partner joins Berg & Androphy, as a partner. Several years ago, The National Law Journal included Berg in its list of The Nation’s Top 10 Trial Lawyers and listed him as a member of the country’s “Who’s Who in White Collar Defense.” The Texas Lawyer named him one of the 5 “Top Notch Trial Lawyers in Plaintiffs Civil Litigation,” and Texas Monthly says, “Berg’s style and courtroom victories put him in a league with Texas legal legends, including Joe Jamail and Richard ‘Racehorse’ Haynes.”
SULLIVAN & CROMWELL ADDS HARVARD EDITOR-IN-CHIEF AND FORMER FIFTH CIRCUIT CLERK MICHAEL GEISER TO ITS NEW YORK TEAM.
Michael Geiser received his undergraduate degree from Richmond University, Summa Cum Laude, where he was Phi Beta Kappa, a National Merit Scholar, and received the prestigious University Mace Award for “The Most Outstanding Student In The Graduating Class.” In 2003, Geiser graduated from Harvard Law School , Cum Laude, where he was Editor-In-Chief of the Harvard Journal of Law & Public Policy. Following law school, Geiser clerked for Judge Jerry Smith on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. He joins Sullivan from Susman Godfrey (which was named by the American Lawyer this year as “One Of The Top 2 Litigation Boutiques In The Country”).
DANA O’BRIEN BECOMES WORLDWIDE CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER FOR DUTCH-BASED CEVA LOGISTICS.
Dana O’Brien is the new worldwide head of legal for CEVA Logistics, which acquired is the twenty year-old Houston-based $2 billion freight forwarding and logistics powerhouse EGL. Gordon is a Top 10% graduate of the University of Texas Law School (’95) and a former briefing attorney on the Texas Supreme Court, as well as a former Weil, Gotshal corporate securities lawyer. She joined EGL from Quanta Services, where she had been General Counsel for five years.
WHITE-COLLAR DEFENSE BOUTIQUE HIRES TEXAS LAW SCHOOL VALEDICTORIAN.
Preeminent white-collar criminal defense lawyers Shaun Clarke and his partner David Gerger hire their first lawyer, David Isaak. In 1999, Isaak was the Number 1 graduate from Texas Law School , clerked for former Chief Justice Phillips on the Texas Supreme Court, and previously practiced with Baker Botts. He joins Gerger’s high-stakes practice defending white-collar cases involving environmental crimes, health care fraud, bank fraud, government contracting, controlled substances, bankruptcy fraud, securities fraud, bribery, price fixing, and tax crimes, such as Andy Fastow, Enron’s former CFO, as well as the successful appeal of securities fraud sentence of Dynegy’s Project Alpha.
SUSMAN GODFREY ASSOCIATE STEVEN MITBY LATERALS TO BAKER BOTTS.
Double-Harvard graduate Steven Mitby joins Baker Botts’s trial section. In 1999, Steve received his undergraduate degree Summa Cum Laude from Harvard University and, in 2002, graduated Cum Laude from Harvard Law School.
SMYSER, KAPLAN & VESELKA HIRES MID-LEVEL ASSOCIATE FROM BECK, REDDEN & SECREST.
Jason Luong, a Cum Laude graduate of Rice University and 2000 honors graduate of the University of Texas Law School, member of the Texas Law Review, and former law clerk for Judge Royal Ferguson on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, joins ten year-old litigation powerhouse Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka, where he will continue to handle complex commercial and class action litigation.
BAKER BOTTS LANDS JONES DAY'S FORMER WORLDWIDE HEAD OF ENERGY.
Bill Burton formerly Chaired the worldwide energy practice at Jones Day. Burton also served in the Clinton White House as Deputy Assistant to the President, was policy and staff director to the President’s Chief of Staff, Mack McLarty, was appointed to the National Petroleum Council by the Secretary of Energy, and (with U.S. Senate confirmation) served two terms on the board of directorsof the United States Enrichment Corporation, which provides uranium enrichment services to electric utilities worldwide. Burton will join the Global Projects Group at Baker Botts, in Austin, where he will continue representing energy and natural resource companies in a wide range of transactional and litigation projects, before international, federal, and state tribunals, as well as executive departments and agencies such as the Department of Interior, the Minerals Management Service and Bureau of Land Management, the Department of Energy, the Department of Commerce, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
WINSTEAD’S PUBLIC FINANCE CO-CHAIR JOINS ANDREWS & KURTH.
Todd Brewer, the co-head of Winstead’s Public Finance Group, joins Andrews & Kurth’s preeminent 15-lawyer public finance practice, which was recently recognized by the 2004 American Lawyer Corporate Scorecard as one of the Top 10 Law Firms Nationwide as Underwriters Counsel for municipal bonds. Todd has nearly 20 years of national public finance experience handling all areas of tax-exempt transactions. Also leaving Winstead for Andrews & Kurth are two mid-level associates: DeLaina Mulcahy (banking) and Hoang Vu (public finance).
YETTER COLEMAN ADDS ANOTHER APPELLATE SUPERSTAR.
Marc Tabolsky, a 2002 High Honors graduate of Texas Law School, Clerk of the Chancellors Honor Society, and a former law clerk to Chief Fifth Circuit Judge Edith H. Jones, joins Greg Coleman’s star-studded U.S. Supreme Court and National Appellate Team, in Austin. Marc laterals-over from Beck, Redden & Secrest.
YETTER COLEMAN LANDS U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE KENNEDY’S LAW CLERK FOR NATIONAL APPELLATE TEAM.
Ed Dawson, a High Honors graduate of University of Texas Law School in 2001, former Editor-In-Chief of the Texas Law Review, and a law clerk on both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court, joins the Austin-based U.S. Supreme Court and National Appellate team at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, which is anchored by Greg Coleman–one of the preeminent appellate lawyers in Texas, also a former U.S. Supreme Court clerk, and Texas’ first-ever Solicitor General, under Attorney General John Cornyn.
NEW YORK’S ATTORNEY GENERAL HIRES VINSON & ELKINS SUPERSTAR APPELLATE ASSOCIATE.
Richard Dearing joins the appeals and opinions section of New York’s office of the Attorney General, as an Assistant Solicitor General. Rich is a highest honors graduate of the University of North Carolina, received his law degree from Yale Law School (’99), and clerked on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, with Judge Lee Rosenthal. Rich joins Eliot Spitzer’s team from the Houston office of Vinson & Elkins.
MAYER, BROWN ADDS FORMER SPORTS ILLUSTRATED JOURNALIST AND 2002 SMU LAW REVIEW MANAGING EDITOR.
Mayer Brown uses Marcus to help land junior litigator Richard Deutsch for its growing litigation and arbitration practice (SMU ’02 and Texas ’92).
WASHINGTON, D.C.’S OLDEST AND LARGEST LAW FIRM, HOGAN & HARTSON, RECRUITS COLUMBIA JAMES KENT SCHOLAR (’03) FOR CORPORATE PRACTICE.
Century-old 1,000-lawyer Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson recruits junior corporate and finance associate Charlyse Robinson (Columbia ’03 James Kent Scholar) from the London office of Shearman & Sterling, for Hogan’s Denver office.
FORMER U.S. SUPREME COURT JUSTICE O’CONNOR CLERK JOINS MAYER, BROWN’S HOUSTON APPELLATE PRACTICE.
Jeremy Gaston, a ’99 High Honors graduate of Texas Law School, Phi Beta Kappa from Stanford University, and former law clerk on both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court (Justice Sandra Day O’Connor), joins the Houston appellate section office of Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, the country’s oldest and largest appellate practice (Jeremy was previously with the elite litigation boutique Susman Godfrey).
ASS'T U.S. ATTORNEY JOINS SKADDEN'S HOUSTON OFFICE.
Noelle DiMarco (Harvard Law School ’96 and former law clerk on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) joins the Houston litigation group of New York-based Skadden, Arps from the U.S. Department of Justice Office of the U.S. Attorney in Houston.
YALE LAW SCHOOL GRAD AND FORMER U.S. DISTRICT JUDGE LEE H. ROSENTHAL’S LAW CLERK JOINS COMMERCIAL LITIGATION BOUTIQUE YETTER COLEMAN.
Yetter Coleman uses Marcus to add junior associate Janet Guggemos Garza – a Yale Law School graduate and former U.S. District Court Judge Lee Rosenthal clerk. Yetter hires Garza at around the time the firm won the largest Nevada state court jury verdict ever ($136.9 million).
BAKER BOTTS USES MARCUS RECRUITING TO HIRE ITS FIRST-EVER LATERAL TRIAL PARTNER IN HOUSTON.
The Houston office of Baker Botts hires Stephen Scheve as a partner in the Houston trial department. Scheve has more than 20 years of experience in national pharmaceutical and commercial litigation and, prior to joining the firm, was a senior trial partner with the national products liability firm, Shook, Hardy & Bacon.
CLAUDIA FROST LAUNCHES MAYER, BROWN’S SUPREME PRACTICE COURT GROUP IN HOUSTON.
Marcus recruits Claudia Wilson Frost for Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw’s Appellate and Supreme Court Practice, the original and largest appellate practice in the country, and will work out of the firm’s Houston office (the 65 lawyers in Mayer, Brown’s National Appellate & U.S. Supreme Court group include four former Deputy Solicitors General and several former U.S. Supreme Court law clerks and faculty from leading law schools; collectively, the firm’s appellate lawyers have argued over 190 U.S. Supreme Court cases, and over 23 cases in the Fifth Circuit alone, as well as hundreds of cases in federal and state appellate courts across the nation). Claudia joins Mayer, Brown from Slusser & Frost, a firm she co-founded in 1999 after having spent 17 years at Baker & Botts, where she headed the firm’s appellate practice.