Vinson & Elkins Elects 20 New Partners, Names 20 New Counsel

November 22, 2022 – Vinson & Elkins is pleased to announce the election of 20 lawyers to its partnership, the largest Partner class in its history, and the promotion of 20 lawyers to Counsel, effective January 1, 2023. The new Partners and Counsel represent a broad array of the firm’s practice areas across offices, including Austin, Dallas, Houston, London, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. 

PARTNERS

Rafael Alvarado, Finance, Dallas – Rafael represents financial institutions and corporate borrowers in a wide range of commercial lending transactions. He has assisted clients with domestic and international transactions, including syndicated credit facilities, senior and subordinate credit facilities, energy loans, acquisition financings and other leveraged financings.

Nadine Amr, Mergers & Acquisitions and Project Development, London – Nadine advises clients on a broad range of cross-border energy and infrastructure projects, transactions and regulatory matters, with a particular focus on energy M&A across Europe, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.

Abby Branigan, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, Dallas – Abby counsels private equity funds, their portfolio companies, and a variety of public and private companies in connection with strategic investments, joint ventures, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, as well as on general corporate matters.

Stephanie Coco, Project Development and Mergers & Acquisitions, Houston – Stephanie represents clients in the areas of project development, complex structured transactions, joint ventures and M&A. She has experience in multiple sectors of the energy industry, including solar, wind, EV charging, other energy transition areas, midstream, LNG, RNG, downstream and chemicals, and power generation.

Miguel Colebrook, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, London – Miguel focuses his practice on M&A, private equity transactions and strategic joint ventures. He also has experience advising issuers and underwriters on a variety of debt and equity capital markets transactions.

Alex Cross, Finance, Houston – Alex represents alternative capital providers, publicly and privately held corporate borrowers and issuers, private equity funds and sponsors, credit funds and commercial banks. He has experience on complex financing transactions, including workouts and reorganizations, mezzanine, alternative, and other forms of direct lending, acquisition financings, and asset and reserve-based loans.

Jeff Crough, Commercial & Business Litigation, Dallas – Jeff’s practice focuses on representing companies and their directors and officers in disputes relating to mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and federal securities laws. He has extensive experience at the trial and appellate levels in Delaware and federal courts.

Nettie Downs, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, Houston – Nettie advises private equity funds, their portfolio companies, other financial sponsors and public and private companies on M&A, joint ventures, fundraising, corporate structuring and other general corporate matters across industries, including renewable and traditional energy, infrastructure, healthcare, real estate, technology and others.

Stancell Haigwood, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity and Capital Markets, New York – Stancell advises private equity funds and their portfolio companies and other private and public companies in all aspects of their business and investments, with a particular focus on complex corporate transactions, including M&A, strategic investments, SPACs and IPOs, and general corporate needs, including advising on securities law and corporate governance.

Courtney Hammond, Real Estate, Dallas – Courtney advises a wide range of real estate clients, including public and private real estate investment trusts, private equity investors and real estate developers. Her practice focuses on the acquisition, development, financing and disposition of commercial real estate projects across a variety of asset types throughout the country.

Josh Heideman, Renewable Energy and Project Finance, Los Angeles – Josh’s practice focuses on renewable energy asset finance, acquisitions and the energy transition. He has represented clients in numerous renewable energy transactions in solar, wind, storage, geothermal, and biomass, with a particular emphasis on tax equity financing. 

Chris James, White Collar Investigations & Defense, Litigation, and Data Privacy, San Francisco – Chris’ principal areas of practice include anti-corruption, antitrust, securities law, shareholder derivative suits, data privacy and corporate risk and compliance. He works with a variety of individuals and private and public companies in technology, finance and banking and energy sectors.

Megan James, Tax, Dallas – Megan focuses on complex domestic and cross-border transactions, advising public and private companies, private equity funds and their portfolio companies, governmental entities and high-net-worth individuals on a wide range of transactions, including domestic and off-shore fund formations and investment partnerships, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and SPAC transactions.

Michael Marek, Mergers & Acquisitions and Private Equity, Houston – Mike advises private equity firms, other financial sponsors, portfolio companies and a variety of public and private businesses in connection with a wide range of strategic transactions. His work spans a variety of industries, with a particular focus on the energy, services and infrastructure sectors, including traditional hydrocarbon and energy transition segments.

Christy Mazzola, Real Estate, New York – Christy advises a wide range of real estate clients, from institutional investors to family offices, on commercial real estate matters including mixed-use development projects, portfolio and single asset acquisitions, dispositions, financings, joint ventures, ground leasing, real estate funds and workouts and restructurings.

Dario Mendoza, Executive Compensation & Benefits, Dallas – Dario advises public and private companies, REITs, private equity firms, portfolio companies, boards of directors, compensation committees, management teams and individual executives on a wide range of compensation and benefits matters, including applicable tax, securities law, corporate governance and disclosure implications associated with such matters.

Stephanie Noble, Commercial & Business Litigation, Houston – Stephanie has experience representing clients in a wide array of cases, including energy, contract, shareholder, and construction disputes. Her experience also includes representing companies in international and domestic arbitrations, as well as administrative appeals.

Jackson O’Maley, Corporate Finance and Securities, Houston – Jackson’s principal areas of practice are corporate finance and securities law, including IPOs, other public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities, and general corporate representation, including periodic reporting compliance and corporate governance matters.

Brian Russell, Tax, Dallas – Brian focuses on the U.S. federal income tax aspects of domestic and cross-border transactions, advising clients across industry sectors including investment funds, real estate funds, public and private companies, SPACs, REITs, MLPs and high-net-worth individuals.

Zach Swartz, Corporate Finance, Securities and REITs, New York – Zach’s principal areas of practice are capital markets and securities law, private equity, fund and joint venture formation, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance matters. He has particular experience advising on corporate and securities transactions involving equity and mortgage REITs and SPACs.

COUNSEL

Randy Aman, Finance, Dallas – Randy’s practice focuses on the representation of banks, financial institutions and corporate borrowers in the negotiation and documentation of secured and unsecured loan transactions.

Michelle Arishita, Commercial & Business Litigation, Austin – Michelle has represented clients in both federal and state courts in commercial disputes involving contract, antitrust, oil and gas, construction, and trade secret law.

Caroline Bailey, Corporate Finance, Securities and REITs, Richmond – Caroline’s principal area of focus includes securities offerings, private equity, M&A and general corporate representation with a particular concentration on REITs.

Joanna Enns, Corporate Finance and Securities, Dallas – Joanna advises domestic and foreign issuers on securities and corporate finance matters, including IPOs, public and private debt and equity offerings, M&A, restructuring and strategic transactions and general corporate matters, including reporting, ESG and corporate governance.

Victoria Godfrey, Energy Regulatory, Washington – Victoria represents clients in the energy industry in transactional, regulatory, and litigation matters involving the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

Lindsay Hall, Environmental & Regulatory, Washington – Lindsay advises clients on a wide range of environmental and regulatory matters at issue in project development and financings and assists clients with navigating the energy transition, with a particular focus on climate change risk management.

Brian Howard, Government Investigations & White Collar Criminal Defense, Washington – Brian’s practice focuses on helping clients manage their compliance risks, as well as conducting internal investigations and defending clients in investigations brought by U.S. and international regulators and in related litigation.

Megan Menniti, Project Development and Mergers & Acquisitions, Houston – Megan’s principal areas of practice are domestic and international business transactions. Her work focuses on project development, M&A, joint ventures, and commercial agreements.

Evan Miller, Antitrust, Washington – Evan represents clients in antitrust matters with an emphasis on government investigations, the review of mergers by antitrust enforcement agencies, Hart-Scott-Rodino filings and civil litigation.

Katherine Mull, Executive Compensation & Benefits, Dallas – Katherine’s experience includes negotiating, designing and drafting a wide variety of executive compensation arrangements, including employment and severance agreements, equity and equity-based compensation vehicles, and incentive plans. 

Carter Olson, Finance, Houston – Carter focuses on secured finance matters, representing borrowers, lenders, private equity sponsors and portfolio companies in complex debt financings. Additionally, he works with both end users and financial institutions in negotiating a variety of hedging transactions, including commodity and interest rate swaps.

Brett Peace, Corporate Finance, Securities and Shareholder Activism, Houston – Brett’s principal area of practice includes securities offerings, private equity and M&A. He also advises public companies in competitive proxy solicitations, hostile takeover and other unsolicited bids, strategic investor relations, and corporate governance.

Peter Rogers, Tax, Dallas – Peter represents clients in connection with the tax aspects of mergers and acquisitions, spin-offs and other divestitures, reorganizations, joint ventures, securities offerings and bank financings.

Andrew Schulte, Corporate Finance and Securities, Houston – Andrew’s principal area of includes securities offerings, private equity, M&A, and general corporate representation. His experience includes representation of both issuers and underwriters in IPOs, as well as public and private offerings of equity and debt securities. 

Victoria Short, Real Estate, Dallas – Victoria focuses on real estate and general business transactions, including the acquisition, financing, development, joint venture, operation, leasing and disposition of real estate. She has experience drafting and negotiating complex purchase contracts, leases, licenses, loan agreements and other contracts.

Melissa Spohn, Executive Compensation & Benefits, Dallas – Missy’s practice focuses on executive compensation, employee benefits, public company compensation and securities law disclosures required by the Securities and Exchange Commission, and compensation or benefits issues related to M&A, IPOs and other corporate transactions.

Phileda Tennant, Labor & Employment, Houston – Phileda has extensive experience in non-compete, non-solicit and trade secret litigation and advises clients in drafting non-competition, non-solicitation and confidentiality agreements, as well as best practices with respect to onboarding employees from alleged competitors. 

Jing Tong, Mergers & Acquisitions and Shareholder Activism, Houston – Jing advises clients in a variety of M&A transactions involving companies across industries. He also counsels both companies and shareholders on board elections, merger contests, unsolicited bids, withhold the vote/vote “no” campaigns, and other shareholder activism proposals.

Ciaran Williams, International Construction Disputes, London – Ciaran focuses on all forms of construction and engineering dispute resolution, including court proceedings, arbitration, adjudication and mediation. He has experience across the main construction and energy sectors, including infrastructure, tunnel, rail, road, signaling, water treatment, oil and gas, biomass, petrochemical, and nuclear projects.

Steven Zundell, Restructuring & Reorganization, New York – Steven focuses on all aspects of restructuring and reorganization work, including the representation of debtors, creditors, and equity holders in both chapter 11 cases and out-of-court restructurings.

About Vinson & Elkins
For more than a century, Vinson & Elkins has provided outstanding client service across important industries that drive the global economy. Built on a strong culture of collaboration across 12 offices worldwide, V&E lawyers are committed to excellence, offering clients decades of legal experience in handling transactions, investments, projects and disputes across the globe. Learn more by visiting www.velaw.com or follow us on Twitter @VinsonandElkins or connect with us on LinkedIn.

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