Patricia Roberts, new dean at St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio.

San Antonio Law School Names New Dean

St. Mary's University in San Antonio has named Patricia Roberts as dean of the St. Mary's University School of Law. Roberts comes to St. Mary's from William & Mary Law School in Williamsburg, Virginia, where she earned her Juris Doctor and currently serves as vice dean. She is set to begin her tenure as dean June 1 and will arrive on campus later that month. "Roberts' leadership and teaching experiences, as well as her focus on professional responsibility, involve training ethical, competent and compassionate lawyers and align with St. Mary's mission in the Catholic and Marianist tradition," said law school president Thomas Mengler in a statement by the law school. "I was drawn to St. Mary's because of its Catholic and Marianist mission, and I look forward to enhancing the efforts of the St. Mary's faculty and staff in their commitment to faith and social justice," said Roberts in a statement by St. Mary's, who was also named the Charles Cantú Distinguished Professor of Law. Roberts earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from Randolph-Macon Woman's College in Lynchburg, Virginia, with a double major in biology and psychology.

Houston Firm Gains Shareholder in Restructuring and Bankruptcy Group

Andrews Myers in Houston announced the hiring of restructuring lawyer Edward L. Ripley as a shareholder to join its restructuring and bankruptcy and creditors' rights group. Ripley has over 30 years of restructuring experience and has been involved in some of the largest bankruptcy cases in Texas and around the U.S., and is joining the firm after 13 years at King & Spalding. He started his career at the bankruptcy boutique Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay. He has experience in the energy and space fields, as well as in the real estate, construction, hospitality and retail areas, representing debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, contract-counter-parties and entities looking at distressed acquisition. "I am very excited to start on a new chapter in my career, working with an established team of well-regarded bankruptcy lawyers and litigators, and I'm looking forward to joining the Andrews Myers firm as it continues its strategic growth, furthering our services and reach both in-state and on a national basis," said Ripley in a statement by the firm.

Houston-Based Firm Opens Office in Dallas

Baker & Hostetler has announced that it has opened a full-service office in Dallas, expanding the firm's presence in Texas. The new Dallas office includes 16 experienced practitioners across a wide range of practices, including M&A and business transactions, complex litigation, white-collar and tax. It is the firm's 16th office and its second in Texas, following the firm's well-established office in Houston. The new office is led by C. Shawn Cleveland, who joined the firm in September 2019. "We were all drawn to BakerHostetler's leading reputation and national platform when it comes to large-scale litigation, middle-market M&A, private equity, energy, health care and privacy and data protection, but the firm's collaborative approach and commitment to client service were equally important to us," said Cleveland, in a statement by the firm. Joining Baker & Hostetler's litigation practice group are partners L. David Anderson, Tamara D. Baggett and Cleveland. The business practice group has added Todd J. Thorson, Jordan T. Bethea, Ryan D. Gorsche, Patrick H. Rose IV and Robert A. Schroeder. Matt Hunsaker joins the tax practice group. These partners are joined by a team of counsel and associates that include Micah C. Brooks, Ewa Champagne, Jayshree Jewett, Jared M. Price, Paul L. Roessner, Kelly N. Wray and Sophilia H. Wu.

Prominent IP Attorney Returns to Houston Firm as Partner

Porter Hedges announced that Derek Forinash has returned to the firm as a partner. His practice focuses on serving as outside general counsel to private companies, as well as continuing to provide comprehensive intellectual property legal services to various clients. His experience includes more than 18 years in both private practice and as in-house counsel, including serving as senior corporate counsel for an oilfield services company and as vice president and general counsel of a Houston-based reservoir engineering company. As outside general counsel, he provides practical legal advice to private companies on the day-to-day issues that impact their businesses including employment matters, commercial contracts, intellectual property, governance, financial transactions, and risk management. He received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and his B.S. from Louisiana State University in mechanical engineering. Prior to law school, Forinash worked as an engineer designing oilfield equipment.

Firm's Dallas Office Welcomes New Director, New Associate

Coats Rose has announced the addition of two attorneys in its Dallas office, bolstering the firm's litigation practice. Ryan M. T. Allen joins the firm as a director and R. Anderson Sessions joins as an associate, both in the litigation section in the Dallas office. Allen's practice focuses on business law and business litigation, and he represents clients from individuals, entrepreneurial startups and Fortune 500 corporations, as well as physicians, physician groups, ambulatory surgical centers, pharmacies and other medical service providers. Allen acts as a strategic adviser to his clients in addition to providing business litigation services, as many businesses rely upon him to act as their general counsel. Sessions' practice focuses on representing companies and individuals in state and federal commercial litigation matters involving breaches of contract, deceptive trade practices, intellectual property/trade-secret litigation, employment law matters, and other business torts.

Attorney Joins Houston Office as Associate

Michael Feibus recently joined the Houston office of national law firm Chamberlain Hrdlicka as an associate in the commercial litigation practice. Feibus brings seven years of complex commercial and personal injury litigation experience to the firm, having defended individuals and businesses of all sizes, from sole proprietors to Fortune 500 companies, in a broad cross-section of cases, including personal injury defense, oilfield litigation, business disputes, insurance fraud and consumer law violations. At Chamberlain Hrdlicka, his practice will continue to focus on commercial litigation, business disputes and complex personal injury litigation. Feibus received his bachelor's degree from Florida State University and a J.D. at South Texas College of Law, Houston.

Associate Joins Litigation Practice in Fort Worth Firm

Attorney Andrew Scott has joined Cantey Hanger as an associate in the firm's litigation practice group in Fort Worth. His practice focuses on advocating for general contractors, subcontractors, suppliers and owners on a variety of construction-related issues, including litigation, contract negotiations and alternative dispute resolution. He also represents companies and individuals licensed by Texas state agencies. Previously, Scott was with the Austin office of Andrews Myers. Before that, he served as assistant attorney general in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. After having graduated with his Bachelor of Arts from the University of Kansas, Scott spent two years as a project engineer with Scott Tucker Construction and facilitated the construction of residential and commercial projects in Dallas/Fort Worth. He later earned his J.D. from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2017, and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Southern, and Western districts of Texas and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.