New Positions

Laura Edrington, chair of Locke Lord's corporate trust practice group and a member of its board of directors, has been named managing partner of the firm's Houston office. Edrington, who has spent her entire career at Locke Lord, is the first woman to become leader of the firm in Houston. She succeeds David Taylor, who has become the firm's chairman. David Harrell, chair of Locke Lord's business litigation and dispute resolution and international arbitration practice groups, will continue to serve as deputy managing partner for the Houston office.

Heather Palmer has joined Sidley Austin as a partner in the firm's environmental practice in the Houston office. Palmer advises clients in the energy, petrochemical, power and utility sectors. She also handles a variety of regulatory counseling and enforcement matters, including offshore oil and gas regulatory, solid and hazardous waste, oil and gas waste, wastewater and storm water permitting and Superfund litigation, among other things. She joins Sidley from Bracewell.

Neil G. Ferrari has been elected as a partner in Munck Wilson Mandala in Dallas. Ferrari is a member of the firm's technology/intellectual property law group and has broad range of legal experience in patent matters.

Jason Storck is one of 15 new partners in Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati. Storck, a litigator in the firm's employment law practice, works in Austin and Seattle. He represents employers in federal and state court litigation and before administrative agencies on matters ranging from discrimination claims to unfair labor practice charges and the National Labor Relations Board.

Eric Johnson, a Texas state representative, will move to Orrick from Andrews Kurth Kenyon in Dallas, where he is of counsel in the public finance group. Johnson represents Texas House District 100, which includes parts of Dallas and Mesquite.

Sameer Mohan has joined Morgan Lewis & Bockius as a partner in the Houston office. Mohan represents numerous public and private companies in complex corporate transactions.

Appointed

Lawrence Bowman, a director at Kane Russell Coleman Logan in Dallas, has been appointed to the executive committee of the Dallas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates for 2018. Bowman represent clients in complex commercial litigation.