summa cum laude

Debrán O’Neil

Debrán O’Neil is a well-rounded trial lawyer who practices commercial and construction litigation. Her experience handling commercial cases across a wide variety of industries gives her the adaptability necessary to quickly learn the case and drill down on the key issues. Debrán draws on her experience handling construction and business disputes, breach of contract actions, products liability, and personal injury defense to guide her clients through litigation strategies. In her construction practice, Debrán primarily represents private and public owners, developers, and product manufacturers in connection with the construction of large commercial or infrastructure projects, such as highways, water treatment facilities, manufacturing facilities, and commercial buildings.

I understand clients need more from a litigator than effective advocacy skills; they need an advisor who they can trust to guide them through stressful times. I enjoy using my extensive experience and ability to relate to others to make clients feel comfortable and confident throughout the dispute process. I walk them through step by step, explain key issues in layman’s terms, and lay out their options and the pros and cons of each potential path.

Christie A. Newkirk

With a Texas-based practice focused on management-side employment law, Christie Newkirk advises employers and finds practical solutions to the variety of human resources matters they face. Clients regard Christie as a true advisor and rely on her in navigating COVID-19 laws and workplace issues, planning and implementing reductions in force, managing employee and executive performance issues, making high-risk employment decisions, and drafting confidentiality, noncompetition, and executive employment agreements.

Always bringing honesty and excellent people skills to her work, Christie deeply values the long-term client relationships she’s built over two decades. When workplace problems surface, she fully understands the spectrum of considerations at stake. These include business goals and legal risks, but also real-world concerns such as an organization’s unique work environment. She assists companies in evaluating each of these factors and weighing them against one another. Adept at finding creative paths, Christie ensures all solutions are tailored to her clients’ unique needs.

When difficult issues arise, I’m very good at staying calm, helping clients feel better about whatever they’re dealing with, and crafting a well-thought-out response. I candidly talk them through all their options, and, once we’ve chosen a palatable plan of action, we execute it as a team.

Ashley E. McMillan

Focusing on individuals and families seeking personalized and quality representation in her northwest Texas-centered practice, Ashley McMillan handles estate planning, trust administration, wealth succession and protection, probate and estate administration, guardianship, and corporate matters, as well as litigation. With a commitment to treating all clients with kindness and respect, she provides an individualized approach to each case, whether it involves dynastic family wealth planning, a business succession, planning for the care of minor children, financial questions that arise as parents grow older, or the death of a loved one.

Ashley believes that creating and maintaining a comprehensive estate plan brings peace of mind to all family members involved. It can be difficult to think about and plan for what would happen upon death but completing an estate plan lifts the burden and worry that keeps many people awake at night. When a loved one passes away, dealing with the administration of their estate is challenging, not only because it can be a complicated matter, but because it is emotional. Drawing on her educational background in psychology, Ashley approaches these situations with professionalism and sensitivity to what can be delicate or sensitive topics for people to discuss.

Ashley works with many high net worth families and individuals to help achieve their goals. Whether working with the first generation or the fifth, each family has a unique story and priorities. Ashley ensures the family’s goals are prioritized and helps formulate creative ways to achieve those goals.

As a trust and estate lawyer, I draw on excellent legal skills and also a great deal of compassion and understanding to help people plan for the future and deal with tough family issues. I want them to feel comfortable being honest with me and know that they won’t be judged. I’ll do everything within my power to help them create and implement a plan for the future or get through a difficult time.

Rodney H. Lawson

With decades of experience in advocating vigorously and successfully for his clients, Rodney Lawson specializes in health care law and litigation, as well as business litigation, products liability, and oil and gas litigation. His practice largely serves Texas-based organizations, particularly in the Dallas area, including many area hospitals and medical practitioners. He also practices out of the firm’s East Texas office in Longview.

Rodney brings a great deal of expertise and confidence to each matter. At the same time, he rejects cookie-cutter solutions and never operates by rote. Instead, he recognizes the unique circumstances and nature of each case and approaches them accordingly. Rodney constantly looks for opportunities to minimize clients’ expenses by resolving matters advantageously before they go to trial.

I firmly believe that there is a reasonable solution for every problem, and I fight hard to get the results my clients want and need. For me, being a lawyer isn’t a 9-5 job, but rather a way of life. My clients know I’m entirely committed to them and am passionate about helping them around the clock, every day of the week.

Monica W. Latin

Passionately advocating for clients in her national commercial litigation practice, Monica Latin counsels organizations through courtroom trials, arbitrations, and appeals. She deftly handles disputes arising in a variety of arenas, including professional services, business ownership, real estate, employment, technology, manufacturing, retail, non-competes, trade secrets, and others.

Combining intellectual prowess, a fierce competitive spirit, great breadth of experience, and a deep-thinking, inquisitive nature, Monica is truly the complete package. Her keen analytical skills and exceptional dedication drive her to chart a strategic and efficient course of action. Monica’s colleagues also recognize that her outstanding leadership skills extend well beyond litigation and chose her to be their managing partner.

I bring much more to the practice of litigation than a mechanical application of the law to the facts. Whether I’m representing clients in highly complex litigation, or a relatively small matter, I care about all cases with an equal intensity. My clients know I’m their teammate. I make it a priority to get an in-depth understanding of the dynamics and nuances of each situation, and use that knowledge to frame our strategic approach.

Charles C. Jordan

With a passion for solving the “parade of problems” encountered by private companies, family offices, and other organizations, Charles Jordan tackles the wide range of matters that his clients need help with, in Texas and beyond. These include large real estate deals, private equity investments, commercial leasing, public-private partnerships, environmental enforcement, and complex capital stack issues in structuring pass-through entities.

Deeds and misdeeds; trusts and mistrust: It takes a special kind of lawyer to handle competing interests in property and money, especially when family members or business partners are involved. Charles thrives on the ongoing challenge of understanding family relationships and the spice that adds to client bonding.

The people I represent trust me with their most sensitive issues. Emotions can run high when family dynamics complicate getting business done. That’s when I come in with a cool head, a clear understanding of the issues, and complete discretion to sort everything out. In addition to advising family office and private equity clients, I counsel clients who develop and invest in real estate.

Kelli M. Hinson

As head of the firm’s Professional Liability group, Kelli Hinson helps navigate cases for major law firms, healthcare institutions, corporations, and the professionals who run them. She has handled claims against lawyers and law firms from almost every angle — representing other lawyers and major law firms around the country, serving as general counsel of her firm, and sitting on the Dallas Grievance Committee and the Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals.

Kelli’s practice is both broad and deep, and she applies her highly informed legal acumen to shareholder disputes, derivative claims, and employment cases, including non-competition, discrimination, and FLSA matters. Her broad range of experience makes her a “go-to” attorney for high-stakes business litigation. As an amazingly quick study, she has yet to meet a legal problem she couldn’t eventually master. Kelli’s meticulous dissection of cases against her clients can leave the other side wondering what hit them.

I know how to craft innovative solutions to problems and plot strategies that win cases for my clients. When I present an argument, the adverse lawyers tend to see aspects of the case they hadn’t considered and often must rethink their position. That’s the kind of advocacy it takes to overturn $88 million verdicts and win major summary judgments and dismissals.

Ken Carroll

Ken Carroll is a former federal prosecutor turned litigator who handles an array of business-related matters—including stockholder derivative actions and other director and officer matters, legal malpractice cases, antitrust disputes, and class action lawsuits, as well as appeals. Whether Ken is in trial, drafting an appellate brief, or analyzing a complex issue of corporate governance, one thing is constant: his commitment to meeting the client’s needs.

While Ken understands that succeeding in a case for the client’s benefit can involve compromise as well as combat, he fundamentally approaches all matters with the same tenacity he brought to criminal prosecution. And whether his client heads a multinational corporation or is one person with one problem, he makes certain they receive the same level of dedication and careful attention. This approach has earned him peer recognition and numerous accolades. But, more important to Ken, it’s what his clients expect of him and what he expects of himself.

When I was with the U.S. attorney’s office, an expert witness once told me, “You really do chew on an old bone.” While that made me smile, it’s true that I tend to make my clients’ problems my own, think deeply about them and commit to doing whatever it takes to solve them. I don’t let things go or give up. Diving into challenging waters is what attracted me to law in the first place.