Lisa Atlas Genecov.

Health Care Attorney Named President of Austin-Based Women in Law Center

Lisa Atlas Genecov, national co-chair of Katten Muchin Rosenman's health care practice, who is based in the firm's Dallas office, was recently named president of the executive committee for the Center for Women in Law at the University of Texas in Austin. The Center for Women in Law is the premier educational institution devoted to the success of the entire spectrum of women in law, from first-year law students to the most experienced and accomplished attorneys. It combines theory with practice, identifying and addressing the persistent issues facing individual women and the profession as a whole. At Katten, Genecov counsels health care providers in connection with major transactions and regulatory issues, helping them to discover strategic opportunities under the Affordable Care Act and other health care laws. 

Partners

Baker & Hostetler announced that Shawn Cleveland has joined the firm as a partner on its white collar, investigations and securities enforcement and litigation team in Houston. Cleveland was most recently with Winston & Strawn. Representing clients in many high-stakes corporate crisis situations over the past two decades, Cleveland has experience conducting internal investigations and defending investigations by government agencies, including the DOJ and SEC. Cleveland received his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin and his J.D. from Southern Methodist University. Prior to becoming a lawyer, he was a certified public accountant. 

FordHarrison LLP, a management-side labor and employment law firm, announced that Lawrence (Larry) J. McNamara has rejoined the Dallas office as a partner. McNamara served as the Dallas office managing partner for two years before going in-house for Tesoro Corp. (now Marathon Petroleum Co.). He is board certified in labor and employment law, with over 35 years of experience. He counsels and defends companies in matters relating to discrimination, wrongful discharge and employment torts, employer-union relations, employment agreements, non-competition covenants, trade secrets and confidential information, fair labor standards, safety and health, pension and benefits. McNamara was appointed by Govs. Rick Perry and Greg Abbott to the Appraisal Management Company Advisory Committee, responsible for making recommendations to the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board (TALCB) regarding the regulation of Appraisal Management Companies (AMCs). 

Thompson, Coe, Cousins & Irons announced the election of eight new partners in Texas.

• Steven M. Augustine is a member of the professional liability and products liability sections in Houston. His diverse practice includes the representation of both companies and individuals in professional malpractice, products liability, catastrophic injury, and commercial disputes.

• Heather Beam's practice focuses on civil litigation in multiple areas, including construction law, professional liability, products liability and personal injury. She is a member of the firm's professional liability section in the Austin office.

• Angela D. Caffey is a member of the professional liability section in Dallas. Her practice focuses on construction law, including construction defects, alleged design defects, and complex, multiparty cases in state and federal court. She represents design professionals, general contractors and subcontractors.

• Timothy E. Headley is a member of the firm's Insurance Litigation and General Liability/Catastrophic Injury sections in Dallas. He defends companies and individuals in cases involving personal injury, wrongful death, negligence, and intentional torts.

• Christa D. Hykaway defends companies and individuals in matters of premises liability, products liability, automobile/trucking accidents, industrial oilfield accidents, sporting accidents, dram shop liability, and medical malpractice. She is in the firm's Dallas office and is a member of the general liability/catastrophic injury and products liability sections.

• Drew Jones is a member of the firm's insurance litigation and coverage section in Dallas. His practice is focused on commercial litigation, contract disputes, representation of insurance carriers, and products liability. 

• David T. Khirallah is a member of the firm's insurance litigation and coverage section in Dallas. He defends insurance carriers in all aspects of contractual and extra-contractual litigation.

• Tanya N. White's practice focuses on premises liability, business and contract disputes, collections, construction defect, fraud, transportation, commercial, personal injury, property damage, and industrial equipment. She is a member of the firm's general liability/catastrophic injury section in the Houston office. 

Of Counsel

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease announced that experienced employee benefits attorney Jacquelyn Meng Abbott has joined the firm's Houston office as of counsel. Prior to joining Vorys, Abbott was supervising tax counsel at Exxon Mobil Corp. She also was in-house counsel at Lincoln Financial Group for more than two decades. During her time as in-house counsel, Abbott was responsible for legal compliance of medical, dental, life insurance and disability plans. Abbott is a member of the American Bar Association Section of Taxation, where she served as the chair of the section's Corporate Counsel Committee from 2012-2019. She received her J.D. from The Ohio State University Michael E. Moritz College of Law. She received her B.A. with honors from Bowling Green State University. 

Associates

John D. Robinson, a 2019 graduate of Texas A&M University School of Law, has joined Cantey Hanger in Fort Worth as an associate in the litigation section. He will handle health care and commercial litigation cases. Robinson was a litigation extern at Cantey Hanger in 2017 and a summer clerk with a focus on commercial litigation in 2018. He was a student attorney for the Texas A&M University School of Law Entrepreneurship Law Clinic, where he assisted low-capital entrepreneurs and helped small businesses with entity formation. In 2017, he was an intern to Justice Craig Stoddart of the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas. Robinson is a 2013 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in psychology. 

Chamberlain, Hrdlicka White, Williams & Aughtry announced the addition of associate Stephanie Gilliam to the firm's labor and employment practice. Gilliam joins the firm's Houston office and has experience with claims in state and federal courts and before administrative bodies, such as the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Department of Labor. She litigates complex and often contentious matters, including individual, class and collective actions arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act and similar state and federal laws governing workplace rights and obligations. Prior to joining Chamberlain Hrdlicka, Gilliam served as in-house counsel to one of the nation's largest oil and gas industry service providers. She earned her undergraduate degree from Texas State University and her juris doctor from South Texas College of Law Houston.

Christian Dewhurst has joined the Houston office of Gray Reed as an associate in the firm's litigation group. His practice is primarily focused on resolving the entire spectrum of claims and litigation that arise during commercial and residential construction projects, including delay in performance claims, design and construction defects, payment disputes, productivity claims, lien claims, work injury claims, plus many more. Dewhurst earned his J.D. at South Texas College of Law, where he served as an assistant editor for the South Texas Law Review. He competed in numerous moot court competitions around the country, winning national and regional championships, and upon graduation, Dewhurst was honored with the Dean's Outstanding Advocate Award and was recognized by the American Society of Legal Writers for authoring the second-best moot court brief in the nation.