Partner – Page 2

Andrea N. Perez

Andrea represents collectors, artists, estates, museums, auction houses, galleries, art advisors, non-profits, and other professionals in the arts. She is a consultant for law firms with art law-related matters and a sought-after specialist, expert witness, speaker, and writer in art law. Andrea is the head of the Art Law Section at the firm, and she manages and curates the firm’s art collection.

Combining her love and knowledge of the arts with her sharp legal acumen, Andrea enthusiastically advocates for her clients and works tirelessly to protect their interests. Discrete as she is knowledgeable, she finds creative and efficient legal solutions to a variety of matters in the art world while ensuring the privacy and confidentiality of her exclusive clientele.

Empathy and compassion guide me in how I practice law. I bring to my practice deep experience and knowledge of the issues surrounding the worlds of art, commerce, and entrepreneurship. This knowledge helps me negotiate and advocate favorably for my clients and develop creative solutions tailored to their unique needs.

Marisa O’Sullivan

Providing pragmatic, business-focused counsel in her national practice, Marisa O’Sullivan focuses on insurance recovery for commercial policyholders. She draws on her experience and excellent strategic thinking skills to guide clients through large-scale litigation and arbitrations that maximize recoveries. In addition, Marisa assists in the preparation and presentation of complex claims and proofs of loss. She also facilitates claim dispute resolutions with insurers prior to litigation when that’s the best path forward.

On the advising side, Marisa analyzes insurance programs and individual policies to identify holes or overlaps in coverage, make sensible policy recommendations, and accomplish risk transfer objectives. She also scrutinizes the interplay between the client’s insurance policies, the policies maintained by vendors and contractors, and the insurance and indemnity provisions in contracts.

Clients count on me to distill complex problems, deliver practical advice, position them optimally, and achieve outstanding results. My ability to identify pressure points and negotiate advantageous resolutions has enabled me to skillfully advocate for those I represent over the course of my career.

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.

Alex More

Combining outstanding trial advocacy with deep legal knowledge and acumen, Alex More focuses his practice on bet-the-company disputes, securities and fiduciary duty litigation, digital assets, artificial intelligence, corporate governance, and other business litigation matters.

Alex advocates vigorously for clients nationwide. His work encompasses a broad spectrum of conflicts, specifically including derivative, shareholder, partnership, and LLC disputes. Although Alex relishes the chance to take off the gloves in a courtroom battle, he knows that reasonable compromise sometimes best serves the clients’ interests, and that’s what comes first.

I’m passionate and tactical — a sniper rifle, not a rocket launcher. Once I understand a client’s goals, I assess the best realistic outcome and find the most effective path to get there. I’m creative and often find novel approaches and arguments that increase the likelihood of success.

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.

Stephen L. Levine

Throughout his 25-plus years as an intellectual property lawyer, Steve Levine has applied a rich combination of legal skills, technological prowess, and business acumen to serve clients. Steve advises on business transactions and patent and trademark issues globally and provides copyright counseling. He also represents clients in the Patent and Trademark and Copyright Offices, as well as in federal courts.

In recent years, Steve has handled many trademark cases — an area that’s increasingly important in a world dominated by advertising, strong brands, and consumer impressions. He enjoys helping companies grow and protect the crucial public-facing symbols of their businesses. For more than a decade, he has acted as sole outside U.S. trademark counsel, also interacting internationally and routinely with various foreign counsel, for a Fortune 250 technology company.

I bring extensive experience, resolute persistence, and an absolute commitment to mastering new technology to my practice. Making my clients’ lives easier by solving their problems and protecting their interests is highly gratifying. I strive to relieve them of their burdens so they can focus on their businesses and responsibilities.

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.

Joshua D. Kipp

Providing an exceptional level of client service, litigator Joshua Kipp handles a broad range of issues for individuals and big and small businesses in a variety of industries. His significant experience encompasses the areas of real estate, securities, director and officer, business, and employment litigation and counseling.

Although Joshua’s practice centers on the greater Dallas-Fort Worth area, its scope is national. He handles matters in both state and federal court, as well as private arbitration. No matter whether a case can be resolved out of court or proceeds through trial, Joshua prides himself on thoroughly understanding his client’s objectives and preferences and maintaining clear communication at every stage.

I realize that my clients would often rather not need to hire me because they’d rather not be involved in litigation at all. Always keeping that in mind, I focus on making the process as smooth, painless, and efficient as possible. It’s gratifying for me to take problems off their plates so they can concentrate on what they do best: running their businesses.

Jason M. Katz

Jason has a diverse commercial litigation and bankruptcy practice that provides significant experience in a wide range of matters, including commercial disputes, adversary proceedings (bankruptcy litigation), judgment collection, business divorces, and employment matters.

Jason’s litigation practice is primarily Texas based. His bankruptcy practice, however, takes him all over the country. In addition to representing creditors in high-profile bankruptcies, he also prosecutes and defends creditors in bankruptcy adversary proceedings (bankruptcy litigation).

I provide straightforward advice to my clients. They appreciate that I excel at providing unique, practical solutions to very complex issues and getting great results at reasonable rates. My clients and fellow lawyers frequently call me to come in to clean up messy and difficult cases.