Ricky Raven. Courtesy photo

Houston Attorney Raven Inducted into IATL

Reed Smith announced that Houston-based partner Ricky A. Raven has been inducted as a fellow into the International Academy of Trial Lawyers. Raven is among a select group of 22 trial attorneys who were welcomed into the Academy as new fellows for 2019 at the IATL's annual meeting in London on April 13-14. Raven's practice is focused on products liability and mass tort litigation that are frequently cross-border in nature, involving multiple jurisdictions. Raven began his legal career as an assistant district attorney in Harris County. He serves as a Fellow to the Houston Bar and Texas Bar Associations, and he is also an elected member of the American Board of Trial Advocates.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott appointed recent Baylor Law graduate Ryan Sinclair (J.D., 2016) as District Attorney for the 355th Judicial District in Hood County, succeeding retiring District Attorney Rob Christian. Sinclair was administered the oath of office by District Judge Ralph Walton on April 5. He had previously served as first assistant district attorney for the 355th Judicial District Attorney's Office in Hood County and has worked for the D.A.'s offices in Ellis and Limestone Counties. He is also an adjunct professor of Business Administration at Southwestern Adventist University. Prior to law school, Sinclair was an accountant at Texas Health Huguley Hospital in Burleson, Texas. He graduated Southwestern Adventist University with a B.B.A. in accounting and obtained his C.P.A. license prior to entering Baylor Law in Waco.

The American Bar Association's Section of Real Property, Trust and Estate Law has appointed trust, estate and marital property law expert and Professor of Law Thomas M. Featherston Jr. as an adviser to the drafting committee of the Uniform Law Commission, charged with revising the Disposition of Community Property Rights at Death Act. The act has not been revised since 1971. Featherston is the Baylor Mills Cox Professor of Law at Baylor Law in Waco. He earned his J.D. with highest honors from Baylor Law in 1972 after receiving his B.B.A. from Baylor University in 1971. He joined the Baylor Law faculty in 1982 and was appointed the Mills Cox chair in 1990.

Former Judge Rejoins Firm  

Elizabeth Lang-Miers, a Justice on the Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas at Dallas until December 2018, has rejoined Locke Lord as a partner in the firm's appellate practice group and as director of attorney development based in the Dallas office. Prior to being appointed Justice in 2003, she spent 27 years with Locke Lord predecessor firms Locke Liddell & Sapp, Locke Purnell Rain Harrell and Locke Purnell Boren Laney & Neely. She began her legal career as a law clerk to the Hon. James A. Finch Jr. of the Supreme Court of Missouri. Among her many honors and awards, Lang-Miers received the Judge Samuel Pessarra Outstanding Jurist Award, chosen from all state and federal judges in Texas, from the Texas Bar Foundation; the Judge Sam Williams Leadership Award from the State Bar of Texas; the Louise Raggio Award from the Dallas Women Lawyers Association; and the Chair's Award for Excellence from the Texas Center for the Judiciary.

New Health Care Partner

DLA Piper announced today that K. Randolph Peak has joined the firm's health care sector and corporate practice as a partner in Dallas. He focuses his practice on health care and life sciences transactions and regulatory counseling, with particular emphasis in the areas of digital health and technology, health care privacy, and the health-care supply chain. He represents clients across the health care and life sciences landscape, providing strategic counsel and practical legal advice on matters that include emerging technologies, telehealth, data analytics, hospital operations, clinical laboratories, physician practices, wellness services, behavioral health and health care ventures. He received his J.D. from Pepperdine University School of Law and B.A. degrees from both the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Texas at Dallas.

New Associate

Blank Rome announced that Nikki D. Kessling has joined the firm's Houston office as an associate in the labor and employment group. She concentrates her practice on a range of labor and employment matters, including discrimination, harassment, retaliation, requests for accommodation, wage and hour laws, employee leave, contract disputes, unemployment and benefits claims, corporate transactions, reductions in force and other workplace concerns. Admitted to practice in Texas, Kessling earned her J.D., summa cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center. She received her B.A. in English and communication, summa cum laude, from the University of Houston.

Office to Move

Dallas-based law firm Kane Russell Coleman Logan is relocating their Dallas headquarters from Thanksgiving Tower to a completely renovated space, containing approximately 45,000 square feet, in Bank of America Plaza, located at 901 Main Street in downtown Dallas. Raymond Kane, a founding director of Kane Russell Coleman Logan, said in a statement by the firm, that “Bank of America Plaza allows our firm to not only maintain its commitment to the Dallas central business district, but to offer covered parking at above-market parking ratios, dining, wellness and other amenities at significantly enhanced levels to our attorneys, staff and clients. Comparable amenities are only found at buildings outside of the Dallas CBD, and at much higher rental rates.”