summa cum laude

Grace S. Miller

Whether you are a business or an individual, litigation can be extremely stressful. My clients know I’m in their corner from day one: learning their business, thinking ahead, and never treating their problem as routine.

Grace Miller helps Texas-based businesses with national problems and national businesses with Texas-based problems both inside and outside the courtroom. She represents plaintiffs and defendants in high-stakes disputes across industries including software, FinTech, real estate, and healthcare.

Grace handles a broad range of commercial and consumer matters, including breach of contract, deceptive trade practices, and non-compete and trade secret disputes. From initial litigation assessment through trial and appeal, she has represented clients in state and federal courts and in arbitration across the country.

Grace approaches every matter with a practical mindset: litigation is a means to an end, not an end in itself. She works to understand each client’s goals from the outset, anticipates opposing counsel’s next move, and looks for creative solutions — without losing sight of what it takes to successfully take a case to trial.

Brandon L. Hurwitz

My practice is built on relationships and grounded in trust. I don’t take for granted the confidence clients place in me when they invite me into their business decisions — often some of the most important they’ll ever make. I believe good counsel starts with perspective. My job is not only to get the deal done, but to help clients keep sight of what really matters — the big picture behind the transaction. I’m at my best when I can bring clarity to complexity, help steady the room, and remind everyone what success actually looks like.

Brandon Hurwitz represents businesses and entrepreneurs in a wide range of transactional matters, with a practice focused on mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate, financing, and general commercial matters. His work includes structuring and negotiating business acquisitions and sales, preparing and reviewing complex operating and purchase agreements, and advising clients on entity formation, governance, and succession planning.

Brandon’s practice is relationship-driven and grounded in a holistic understanding of each client’s true business and personal goals. He serves as a trusted advisor to companies, helping them navigate both high-stakes strategic transactions and everyday commercial needs. Thus, in addition to major deals, Brandon regularly provides counsel on ongoing business relationships, vendor and service agreements, licensing arrangements, and other commercial contracts essential to his clients’ operations.

For his clients involved in real estate, Brandon regularly assists with setting up entity structures and joint ventures, negotiating purchase and sale agreements and leases, and coordinating development from the ground up.

By combining practical business insight with a focus on long-term relationships, Brandon delivers advice that is not only legally sound but strategically aligned with each client’s broader objectives and vision for growth.

Stan Borodyansky

Stan Borodyansky is an associate working primarily in our Litigation Group. Before practicing law, Stan spent more than a decade as a business owner, co-founding and operating a multi-location indoor rock climbing company, experience that gives him a practical perspective on the challenges facing entrepreneurs and businesses in litigation.

Stacy L. Stevens

Stacy Stevens focuses her practice on employment law and complex commercial litigation. She represents clients, primarily employers and businesses, across state and federal courts in employment disputes, Fair Housing Act matters, and breach of contract claims. Her approach is the same regardless of the matter: understand the business context, identify a practical path forward, and move efficiently toward resolution.

Before joining Carrington Coleman, Stacy completed a federal clerkship with the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. There she gained firsthand experience across a broad range of matters, including employment discrimination claims under Title VII and the ADA, breach of contract disputes, consumer law issues, and Section 1983 civil rights claims. That experience sharpened her instincts for how courts think and what actually drives outcomes in litigation.

Stacy also brings a distinct perspective on First Amendment law. As a student attorney in her law school’s First Amendment Clinic, she worked on cases involving the Texas Citizens Participation Act and the Public Information Act, two areas with growing relevance for businesses, employers, and government-facing clients.

Phillip A. Hecker

Phil Hecker is an associate in our transactional department, where he assists clients with a wide variety of real estate transactions, including purchasing, selling, leasing, and financing real property. Phil has worked on significant legal matters, including multimillion-dollar deals and the sale of a multi-family housing portfolio containing 25 apartment complexes. Clients appreciate his knowledge, attention to detail, and determination to achieve the best possible outcomes in every transaction.

Victor Solyanik

Victor Solyanik is recognized for his strong litigation skills and clutch potential when it matters most. Comfortable under pressure, he achieved notable success in a moot court competition at Texas Law, ranking in the top 10% of his class and showcasing his advocacy ability. With nearly two years of experience at various District Attorney’s offices, Victor developed valuable skills in trial preparation and high-stakes litigation. He is committed to building lasting client relationships and delivering exceptional results tailored to each client’s needs.

LaCrecia Perkins

LaCrecia is a member of Carrington Coleman’s Business Litigation Practice Group. She represents businesses and individuals in a variety of industries and practices in both state and federal courts. After law school, LaCrecia served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Renée Harris Toliver, United States District Court Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas.

LaCrecia Perkins is a real estate lawyer that assists property owners and property interest holders alike in navigating through complex litigation. She helps her clients navigate a wide variety of real estate issues involving purchase and sale agreements, lease agreements, property management agreements, and other real estate contracts. She’s pursued and defended against claims that include breach of contract, fraud, negligent misrepresentation, commercial evictions, and large commercial foreclosures. LaCrecia’s experience extends to real estate finance disputes under construction loan agreements, including promissory notes, deeds of trusts, mortgages, and personal guarantees.

LaCrecia is also adept at navigating the legal complexities of legal practice across a variety of other industries, including private equity, telecommunications, insurance, public housing, and others. Her extensive background allows her to provide comprehensive legal solutions tailored to the unique needs of her diverse clients. Skilled in advisory, pre-litigation, and litigation roles, LaCrecia has consistently demonstrated the ability to achieve favorable outcomes for her clients.

Tayler Gray

Tayler Gray practices employment and commercial litigation. She represents employers in both state and federal court in discrimination and retaliation claims, including Title VII, ADA, and ADEA claims.

Mark A. Castillo

After decades of practice at both a global law firm and my own boutique firm, I appreciate that no matter the size of the issue, my clients care deeply about their companies and their cases. From billion-dollar restructurings to six-figure lawsuits, my clients know I am 100% invested in their success and will pursue their best interests with indefatigable determination.

Mark Castillo has developed a diverse practice with significant experience in all areas of bankruptcy law, litigation, and corporate matters. Through representation of numerous Chapter 11 debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, official committees, and Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 trustees, Mr. Castillo has developed a broad knowledge of the law and the Bankruptcy Code, including pre-bankruptcy planning and prepackaged acquisitions, pre-negotiated reorganizations, bankruptcy liquidation and non-bankruptcy dissolution, assumption, assignment, and rejection of leases and contracts, utility and reclamation issues, claims objections, avoidance and recovery actions, disclosure-statement and plan drafting and negotiation, and various confirmation and post-confirmation issues. Mr. Castillo has tried suits involving millions of dollars in bankruptcy-related claims, including claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, turnover, conversion, and contract claims, and has litigated or settled millions more in preference and fraudulent-transfer claims for both plaintiffs and defendants. Mr. Castillo represents numerous clients in all areas of corporate formation and management, collection of difficult receivables, and handling of various operational matters.

J. Michael “Mike” Sutherland

With four decades of experience as a bankruptcy attorney, Michael Sutherland guides companies in insolvency issues, business ownership disputes, directors and officers, litigation, insolvency and reorganization, the occasional receivership action, and professional liability matters. Michael’s clients include primarily Texas- and New York-based large corporate lenders, debtors, healthcare companies, airlines, and retail giants, as well as not-for-profit organizations and municipalities.

Michael defends officers and directors in cases of alleged negligence and fellow bankruptcy attorneys in cases of alleged malpractice, as well as a range of other business clients. Lawyers often bring him in on cases that have proven to be particularly difficult and complicated because they appreciate his keen legal and business insights, his calm way of operating, and his ability to bring order to chaos. Michael also excels at seeing the end game earlier than most. Anticipating where a case is going gives him an advantage in crafting strategy.

Anyone can figure out a way to tear down a company, but I find it highly rewarding to first explore if there’s a way to fix a broken company’s problems and build it back up. Bankruptcy negotiations can sometimes get heated, but I work on constantly lowering the temperature in a case rather than heating things up. In addition, I’m often told that I have a better than average ability to see around corners, and then certainly helps me in these repair efforts.