HALL OF FAMER: Shown, at right: J. Allen Smith with Sean Riley (at left), Chairman of the Board of Out of Home Advertising Association of America. Smith recently received the OOAAA’’s Hall of Fame Award.

Awards

J. Allen Smith of SettlePou in Dallas was recently presented with the Out of Home Advertising Association of America’s (“OAAA”) 2019 Hall of Fame Award. Founded in 1891, OAAA is the national trade association for the out of home advertising industry. OAAA established the Hall of Fame in 1991 to recognize individuals for their exceptional contributions to the industry. Allen is board-certified in Civil Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and also chairs SettlePou’s Commercial Litigation Division. He served as the firm’s president for 15 years.

New Partners

The Dallas office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig continues its strategic expansion with the addition of Daniel P. Elms as a shareholder in the firm’s Global Litigation Practice. Elms assists clients with business litigation and arbitration matters, including risk assessment, pre-trial litigation strategy and discovery, as well as trial and post-trial proceedings. He joins Greenberg Traurig from Bell Nunnally & Martin. Elms has substantial first-chair trial experience including jury, nonjury and injunction matters, as well as in AAA, ICC and FINRA arbitration proceedings. His focus extends to breach-of-contract claims and business torts, earn-out and deferred compensation claims, franchisee and distributor/dealer disputes, financial services and hedge fund litigation, and securities litigation, including broker-dealer and registered representative disputes. He is the Litigation News team editor for the American Bar Association and a former co-editor for the ABA’s Business Torts and Unfair Competition Journal. Elms received his J.D. from Rutgers Law School and a B.S. in political science from Texas Tech University.

Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton is pleased to announce that Jarrett Reed has joined the firm’s Real Estate, Land Use and Environmental practice group as a partner in the firm’s Dallas office. Reed joins from Norton Rose Fulbright. Reed represents investors, developers, managers and brokers in a wide range of complex real estate transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions, financings, restructurings, leasing, development and partnership and joint ventures. His clients include institutional investors and developers throughout various real estate product types, including health care, senior housing, multifamily, hospitality, retail, industrial and office. Reed earned his J.D. from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and his B.S. from Texas A&M University.

The law firm of Thompson & Knight announced that George Humphrey has joined the firm’s Houston office as a partner in the finance practice group. Humphrey’s practice focuses on U.S. and international project finance and development and mergers and acquisitions, particularly in the energy industry. He has overseen the development, financing and closing of billions of dollars in energy projects. Humphrey received his J.D. from the University of Florida Fredric G. Levin College of Law, and his B.A., with honors, also from the University of Florida. Immediately prior to joining the firm, Humphrey was a partner at Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe.

New Position

Robert “RJ” Shannon, a bankruptcy counsel, has joined Barron & Newburger as an attorney in its Austin office. Shannon will join the firm’s Bankruptcy and Reorganization practice group, where he will focus on business reorganization and bankruptcy litigation. For the last three years, he has represented debtors, committees, trustees and creditors in bankruptcy litigation, and out-of-court workouts, and distressed acquisitions. Prior to beginning his practice, Shannon served as a law clerk for Bankruptcy Judge Tony Davis in the Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas. Prior to that service, Shannon was the law clerk for Judge Glenn Harrell, the senior judge for the Court of Appeals of Maryland. He is a summa cum laude graduate of Towson University, where he earned his Bachelor of Science degree in economics. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from the University of Michigan Law School. He is licensed to practice law in Maryland and Texas, and in the U.S. District Courts for all districts in Texas and Colorado and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. 

New Associates

Victor Viser has joined the San Antonio office of Chamberlain Hrdlicka as an associate in the firm’s tax practice, where he will focus on federal, state and international tax planning and controversy matters. He also specializes in the corporate, securities and finance law. Viser earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas, has a J.D. from the University of Virginia’s School of Law and a LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Tax Section; the State Bar of Texas, Tax Section; and the Mexican American Bar Association of San Antonio.

Yetter Coleman in Houston announced that it has added three lateral associates whose practices are focused on commercial litigation. Heaven Chee represents clients in the energy, financial services, and health care industries in disputes involving antitrust, intellectual property, maritime and whistleblower laws. She is a 2013 graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law. Chee clerked for the Hon. George C. Hanks Jr. in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Prior to joining the firm, she practiced with Foley & Lardner and Hogan Lovells in Houston. Amy Heard represents clients in a diverse range of disputes involving class action securities, intellectual property, and complex contract issues. She received her J.D. with honors from The University of Texas School of Law in 2015 and then clerked for the Hon. Debra Lehrmann on the Texas Supreme Court. Heard most recently practiced with Baker Botts in Houston and Dallas. Myra Siddiqui represents clients in commercial matters involving energy and construction disputes. She is a 2017 graduate of Harvard Law School. She most recently practiced with Baker Botts in Houston.

President-Elect

John B. Gessner, a partner in the Dallas office of Fox Rothschild, has been elected president of the Texas Restaurant Association for a one-year term. He has been involved in the association since 2009, serving as a member of the board and in a number of roles on the executive committee. A veteran corporate attorney, Gessner provides comprehensive legal guidance to growth-stage businesses, primarily in the food and beverage and hospitality sectors.

Honors

Steven McConnico, a partner at Scott Douglass & McConnico in Austin, was named the 2019 Trial Lawyer of the Year by the Texas chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (TEX-ABOTA). In addition to his legal career, McConnico has been an active supporter of ABOTA and TEX-ABOTA for more than 30 years. McConnico served as the president of TEX-ABOTA in 1997 and president of the Austin chapter from 1993 to 1995.