William D. Ratliff III

New Positions

William D. Ratliff III, a native of Fort Worth, has joined Decker Jones, the city's second oldest law firm, as senior counsel. Born in Fort Worth, Ratliff is a graduate of Arlington Heights High School. A graduate of the University of Texas with a BBA in 1971, he earned his juris doctorate from UT in 1974, and his masters of law in taxation from Southern Methodist University in 1975. His father, William D. Ratliff Jr., was a founder of Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller, a law firm that was founded in 1938 (it closed its doors in 2018). Ratliff has been a member of the Fort Worth Stock Show Syndicate since 1988. He serves on the executive committee of the Southwestern Exposition and Livestock Show. “Fort Worth is just the right size of city,” he said in a statement by the firm. “There's great trust here—and folks are easy to get along with. I have always loved our Western culture.”

Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr announced the promotion of Craig Harris and Sameer Karim to equity shareholder, and the promotion of Caleb Trotter to shareholder, effective May 1.

Harris, in Dallas, who joined the firm in the summer of 2018, is co-chair of the firm's restaurant practice group, as well as a member of the firm's litigation and labor and employment practices, and has more than 30 years of experience representing established companies of all sizes and entrepreneurs in both state and federal courts. He has successfully navigated hundreds of commercial and employment litigation matters of all types, as well as hospitality-related cases, intellectual property, and oil and gas litigation.

Karim, in Houston, is a member of the firm's labor and employment and business litigation practices. Board-certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, he counsels and represents employers and executives in matters involving the protection of trade secrets and confidential information, noncompete agreements, discrimination, harassment, and wage-and-hour disputes.

Trotter, in Dallas, is a member of the firm's real estate practice group. He represents landlords and tenants in office and industrial leasing, developers and investors in a wide range of real estate ventures, and both banks and private lenders in construction lending, refinancing and bridge lending.

Promotions

Norton Rose Fulbright has appointed partners Melanie Rother and Reagan Brown as its co-heads of energy and infrastructure in the United States. Based in Houston, Rother and Brown lead a team of more than 25 skilled energy legal advisers who offer leading strategic advice on the volatile energy sector. They will work closely with other U.S. and global practice leaders to promote the firm's premier energy practice worldwide.

Melanie Rother

Rother focuses her national trial practice primarily on complex commercial litigation in the energy and technology industries and serves as lead counsel to exploration and production companies, midstream companies, and oilfield product and service companies. 

Reagan Brown

Brown's practice is concentrated in the areas of trial, arbitration and appellate litigation, and he handles a broad range of cases including complex commercial litigation, royalty litigation and serious personal injury and wrongful death litigation. Along with Joseph Graham, Brown continues to serve as the firm's co-head of dispute resolution and litigation in Houston.

Honors

Scott D. Marrs, regional managing partner in Texas for Akerman LLP in Houston, has been appointed a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), a professional membership organization representing the interests of alternative dispute resolution practitioners worldwide. Marrs, a trial attorney and arbitrator with substantial domestic and international experience, assists clients with business disputes.

State Bar Elections

Jerry C. Alexander has been selected chair-elect of the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors during the board's meeting in Georgetown, Texas, on April 26. He will take office during the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting to be held June 13-14 in Austin. He will serve as chair until June 2020. Alexander is president of Passman & Jones in Dallas, having joined the firm in 1972, the same year he earned his J.D. from Southern Methodist University. Alexander has handled complex business litigation for more than 30 years in the areas of antitrust, business torts, patents, trade secrets, unfair competition and labor-related business issues. He has served on the State Bar Board of Directors since 2017 and on the Law Focused Education Committee from 2007 to 2009.

Adam T. Schramek, a partner in the Austin office of Norton Rose Fulbright, has been elected to the board of directors of the State Bar of Texas, which regulates the practice of law in the state. Schramek's three-year term on the board begins in June, when he will be sworn in at the State Bar's Annual Meeting. Schramek, the current president of the Austin Bar Association, handles complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts across the country. He is a member of Norton Rose's commercial litigation practice group and chair of the firm's U.S. pro bono committee.