Newsmakers: Week of April 6, 2020
Gregory Deans and Katherine Stepp, previously of Deans & Lyons, have partnered to form Deans Stepp Law, a Dallas law firm focusing on litigating complex business and tort cases.
April 06, 2020 at 10:00 AM
7 minute read
Dallas downtown skyline at night, Texas. (Credit: kan_khampanya/Shutterstock.com)
New Partner Joins Newly Formed Dallas Firm
![New Partner Joins Newly-Formed Dallas Firm](https://images.law.com/contrib/content/uploads/sites/401/2020/04/Courtney-Bowline_Tx-Lawyer-Vert-202003271718.jpg)
Gregory Deans and Katherine Stepp, previously of Deans & Lyons, have partnered to form Deans Stepp Law, a Dallas law firm focusing on litigating complex business and tort cases. The firm will focus on commercial litigation, wrongful death, trucking liability, negligence, products liability, and banking litigation. The firm's attorneys represent clients in Texas and nationwide. Deans and Stepp have a combined total of nearly four decades of experience trying cases for clients in courtrooms and in arbitrations. They have practiced law together since 2004. "Forming Deans Stepp Law helps us further concentrate on our areas of expertise in complex business cases, including overseeing national litigation for large corporations and bet-the-company cases," said Deans, in a statement by the firm. Prior to co-founding Deans & Lyons in 2008, Deans was a partner at a large, Texas-based litigation firm. He earned his law degree from the University of Houston. "We will continue to serve our clients with the tenacity, strategy, and creativity they have come to expect from us," said Stepp in a statement. Previously, Stepp practiced with Deans & Lyons and at the Dallas office of Beirne, Maynard & Parsons. She earned her law degree from the SMU Dedman School of Law.
Courtney Bowline has joined the firm as a partner. Bowline handles a variety of civil litigation cases in both state and federal courts. She was a partner at Deans & Lyons and, prior to that, practiced at a large national firm. Bowline earned her law degree from the University of Texas.
Bar Foundation Presents Annual Pro Bono Awards
The Houston Bar Foundation (HBF) presented its annual awards for outstanding pro bono service, volunteerism and legal writing at its annual luncheon Feb. 25 at the Marriott Marquis Houston. Susan L. Bickley of Blank Rome became the 2020 Foundation chair succeeding Travis Torrence of Shell Oil Co. Reid Ryan, Houston Astros executive adviser, was the keynote speaker. Awards were presented for outstanding contributions to the Houston Volunteer Lawyers (HVL), which provides pro bono legal services to low-income Harris County residents; for volunteer service to the Dispute Resolution Center, providing free alternatives to formal litigation; and for legal writing in the HBA's professional journal, The Houston Lawyer. The foundation presented its highest honor, the James B. Sales Pro Bono Leadership Award, to Harry M. Reasoner, a partner at Vinson & Elkins. In 2009, the Supreme Court of Texas appointed Reasoner as chair of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, which seeks to improve access to justice for the millions of Texans who cannot afford legal representation in life changing situations. A decade later, he still leads the commission.
Insurance and Reinsurance Attorney Promoted to Partner in Houston
Holman Fenwick Willan has promoted Sheshe Taylor Evans to partner in the insurance and reinsurance group in the firm's Houston office. Evans' practice focuses on the insurance and energy sectors. She acts for London Market insurers in coverage and bad-faith litigation relating to a variety of first- and third-party coverage cases, including commercial property, general liability and business interruption. She also represents oil exploration and production companies, as well as energy contractors, in complex personal injury and commercial litigation matters at every stage of the energy and resources chain.
Houston Firm Changes Name as Two Are Promoted to Named Partnership
Texas law firm Tracey & Fox announced the promotion of attorneys Rebecca King and Lance Walters to named partners, effective Jan. 3. In the coming weeks, the firm will transition to its new name: Tracey, Fox, King & Walters.
Since joining Tracey & Fox in 2014, King has worked in the areas of pharmaceutical drug litigation, defective medical devices, products liability, premises liability and wrongful death. In 2015, she earned an appointment to the plaintiff's steering committee in multidistrict litigation on behalf of women harmed by the use of power morcellators, a medical device that can increase the risk of cancer. She is licensed to practice law in several states and districts including Texas, Arkansas, Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of the United States. In 2018, King was promoted to partner. She received her Juris Doctor from Baylor Law School in 2000. She also received a diploma for completing the Trial Advocacy professional training program at the National Institute for Trial Advocacy in 2005. "I'm humbled to be a named partner at this firm, in whose mission I believe so strongly," King said, in a statement by the firm.
Walters joined Tracey & Fox in 2008 as a legal assistant and became an attorney with the firm in 2012. In that relatively short amount of time, he has made a name for himself as a successful personal injury trial lawyer in Houston, San Antonio and Dallas, representing his clients against the wrongdoings of large companies. Walters received his Juris Doctor from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2012. He has also completed the Intense Trial Advocacy Program through the University of Notre Dame Law School in 2013, and attended the Harvard University College of Law's American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) National Trial College in 2014. "It's such an honor to work alongside Sean, Shawn [Fox], Rebecca and all the attorneys at the practice," Walters said, in a statement by the firm.
"Rebecca and Lance have worked tirelessly over the years, fighting for justice for our clients and their family members," said founding partner Sean Tracey, in a statement by the firm. "Their commitment and expertise have garnered them respect and results across the nation, and we're honored to elevate them both to named partners."
Former In-House General Counsel Joins Dallas Firm
Jeffrey Harvey, who most recently served as executive vice president and general counsel of PrimeSource Building Products Inc., has joined Holland & Knight's Dallas office as a partner. (PrimeSource is a Dallas area-based global sourcing and distribution company.) He will use his two decades of experience working in-house at companies like PrimeSource, together with his private practice experience representing public and private businesses, investment firms, family offices, institutions and individuals to advise clients on a wide variety of business and finance matters, including mergers and acquisitions, securities, intellectual property, real estate, compliance and corporate governance. Harvey earned J.D. and M.B.A. degrees from Wake Forest University and a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University. "I'm excited to begin this new chapter of my career working with good friends who are also great lawyers," said Harvey, in a statement by the firm. "I look forward to using my skills, contacts and experience to help Holland & Knight grow its corporate practice in Dallas and throughout Texas."
Houston Partner Inducted Into ACTL
Beck Redden in Houston announced that partner Fields Alexander has been inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Trial Lawyers at its spring meeting held in March in Tucson, Arizona. The college strongly supports the independence of the judiciary, trial by jury, respect for the rule of law, access to justice, and fair and just representation of all parties to legal proceedings. Alexander joins other Beck Redden attorneys, David J. Beck, Joe W. Redden Jr., W. Curt Webb, Kathleen A. Gallagher, and Thomas R. McDade, as a fellow of the college.
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