Andrews Kurth Elects New Partners for 2016

(Houston, TX)—Andrews Kurth announced today the election of Isabel Crosby, Brian J. Dillavou, Courtney B. Glaser, Matthew B. "Matt" Grunert, Jordan Hirsch, Julia R. "Julie" Houston, Stephanie A. Kroger, Cindy Y. Lin and Michelle P. Scheffler to the partnership. They will assume their new positions on January 1, 2016.

"This group of new partners carries on a 113-year tradition at Andrews Kurth of recognizing exemplary legal work," said Bob Jewell, Managing Partner. "These new partners will strengthen our ability to provide outstanding service to our clients."

Isabel Crosby | Dallas

Isabel provides advice to and advocates for employers at all stages of the employment relationship, including pre-litigation and litigation advocacy. Isabel’s representative experience includes claims of discrimination, harassment, retaliation, wrongful discharge, breach of contract, misappropriation of trade secrets and other confidential information, and includes a wide variety of wage and hour disputes brought under both the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and state law. Her trial experience includes the representation of employers in single-plaintiff actions and in national class and collective actions. In the last year, Isabel’s trade secret protection practice has included the negotiation of an agreed permanent injunction restricting both competition and the dissemination of confidential information against a former employee, the conducting of an internal forensic investigation against a founding partner of a client counterparty and the securing of both a significant monetary recovery and successful enforcement of various restrictive covenants against a former employee and his new employer. Her recent FLSA matters include the management of two nationwide putative collective action lawsuits with potential class sizes of approximately 8,000 and 4,000 members, and the negotiation of a favorable settlement with a group of former employees claiming entitlement to unpaid overtime and vacation pay. Isabel is committed to partnering with employers at all stages of the employment relationship, successfully fostering a positive working environment and avoiding litigation. She received her J.D., with honors, in 2005 from The University of Texas School of Law, and earned her B.A. in 2000 from The University of Texas.

Brian J. Dillavou | Austin

Brian’s practice encompasses corporate and transactional matters primarily in the context of venture capital financings, public and private offerings, mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance. His experience includes representing companies, investors and financial institutions in mergers and acquisitions, capital markets transactions, including IPOs, and other equity and debt financings. Brian also advises startup and early-stage businesses on corporate legal issues, venture capital and other financings, stock options and other compensation matters. Recent transactions include the representation of a medical device company in a $92 million follow-on offering, the representation of a privately held medical device company in its $150 million sale to a strategic buyer and the representation of a privately held software company in its $10 million preferred stock financing. Brian received his J.D. in 2007, with honors, from The University of Texas School of Law, and earned his M.P.A. and B.B.A. in 2004 from The University of Texas.

Courtney B. Glaser | Houston

Courtney has a diverse civil litigation practice, with an emphasis on complex commercial and business disputes. Courtney has handled contested matters ranging from high-profile energy cases to representation of clients in the firm’s managed care practice. She has experience with a wide variety of complex litigation proceedings, arbitration and counseling matters, including breach of contract, breach of warranty, business torts, construction litigation, insurance litigation, real estate litigation, deceptive trade practices, products liability, antitrust and fraud. Courtney's practice includes a focus on litigation in the managed care industry, and she has represented group insurers, plan administrators, third-party claim administrators and employers in lawsuits and arbitrations involving medical benefits, including ERISA and state law tort claims. Recent representative matters include the litigation of multiple affirmative overpayment and fraud claims to recover millions in damages relating to medical claim payment disputes and defending clients in several other multimillion-dollar contested proceedings. Courtney received her J.D. in 2007 from Vanderbilt Law School and her B.A. in 2004 from Louisiana State University.

Matthew B. "Matt" Grunert | Houston

Matt's practice focuses on tax matters with an emphasis on employee benefits. Matt works with clients in the design, implementation, maintenance and termination of defined contribution plans, defined benefits plan, health and welfare plans and executive compensation plans. He also has experience with the employee benefits aspects of mergers, acquisitions, dispositions and spin-offs. Matt represents clients on benefits-related matters before the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Labor and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation. Recently, Matt represented a publicly-traded partnership in its $5.7 billion acquisition of a retail fuel business. He also recently represented a private equity firm in its $1 billion acquisition of a wholesale fuel distribution business. Matt earned his L.L.M. from the New York University School of Law in 2005. He received his J.D. in 2004, cum laude, from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, where he was a member of the Order of the Coif and the Technology Director of SMU Computer Law Review and Technology Journal. In 1998, Matt earned his B.A. from Trinity University.

Jordan Hirsch | Houston

Jordan’s practice covers corporate and securities matters with a particular emphasis on MLPs and the oil and gas industry. He assists clients in U.S. capital markets transactions, including public and private offerings of debt and equity securities, and public and private merger and acquisition transactions. Jordan also regularly advises public companies in connection with periodic reporting, insider/ownership reporting, corporate governance issues and other requirements of the federal securities laws, the New York Stock Exchange, the NASDAQ Stock Market and other securities markets. Jordan recently represented an ethanol transportation and storage company in connection with its $300 million initial public offering. He also recently represented one of the world’s largest oil and gas companies in connection with its agreement to sell 15 U.S. terminals for approximately $350 million. He received his J.D. in 2007, magna cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center and his B.B.A. in 2004, with high honors, from The University of Texas.

Julia R. "Julie" Houston | Austin

Julie's practice encompasses various aspects of traditional public finance and public/private project financing. Julie has served as bond counsel to various state agencies and local governmental entities, including special districts, cities, counties and public facility corporations; as underwriter and bank counsel to financial institutions that underwrite and purchase governmental obligations; and as outside counsel to a public facility corporation that owns and operates a convention center hotel and to professional sports teams that lease bond-financed venue facilities. Julie also has experience representing domestic banks that provide credit facilities for tax-exempt financings. Recent transactions include the representation of a state agency in its issuance of $500 million in premium revenue bonds on behalf of an insurance association for the payment of losses in the event of a hurricane in the Texas coastal counties, and the representation of a county in its issuance of $16 million in special assessment revenue bonds to finance improvements in a public improvement district, which was the first public improvement district financing by a Texas county. Prior to entering private law practice, Julie served as an assistant attorney general in the Public Finance Division of the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas. Julie earned her J.D. from the University of San Diego School of Law in 1993 and her M.S. from Illinois State University in 1985. She received her B.A. from Marian University in 1983.

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Stephanie A. Kroger | Austin

Stephanie concentrates her practice on electricity regulation and electricity and natural gas transactions. She brings substantial experience on all issues related to electric utility regulation and energy purchasing. Stephanie was deeply involved in the legislative and regulatory development of the competitive electricity market structure in Texas and now assists a wide array of clients in understanding and transacting in competitive electricity and gas markets. She has assisted numerous public and private entities in the development of electricity purchasing strategies. Most recently, Stephanie represented the City of Houston in a complex transaction under which the City of Houston will receive the output of a new 30MW solar facility to be constructed in West Texas by a solar developer who will sell the renewable energy to the City’s retail provider, who will, in turn, sell and provide delivery of the power to the City. Stephanie also assists many power generation companies with regulatory matters relating to project development and interconnection, energy sales and mergers and acquisitions. She recently represented a large national generation company in its purchase of a retail electric provider active in numerous states, focusing on the state regulatory issues raised by the acquisition. Stephanie received her J.D. in 1991 from Columbia Law School where she was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar and her B.A., summa cum laude, in 1988 from Coe College.

Cindy Y. Lin | Houston

Cindy has a corporate and securities practice emphasizing mergers and acquisitions, private placements, venture capital and private equity investments. Her representation of public and private clients includes structuring, drafting and negotiating purchase and sale transactions, advising on federal securities and blue sky laws, and drafting complex partnership and limited liability company agreements. She recently represented a publicly-traded midstream partnership in the sale of its offshore Gulf of Mexico pipeline and service business for $1.5 billion that involved significant corporate restructuring and several multiple survivor mergers. Cindy also recently represented a private equity company in its purchase of one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of fence systems in North America. She represented the same private equity company in its recent sale of a leading manufacturer and supplier of innovative surface preparation equipment and related aftermarket parts and services, which involved cross-border coordination in multiple jurisdictions including the United States, Mexico, China, Germany and Italy. Cindy's M&A experience extends to the electric industry, including her recent representation of a company in the $340 million sale of a 700MW power plant. Cindy also has particular experience advising management teams with investments from private equity or institutional investors. She recently represented a management team in the formation of an exploration and production company and its initial and subsequent capital raise of approximately $1.8 billion of equity and debt securities. Cindy received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 2005, where she was a staff editor of the Texas Journal of Women and the Law and President of the Asian Law Students Association. In 2002, she received her B.A., with honors, from The University of Texas at Austin. 

Michelle P. Scheffler | Houston

Michelle is a commercial litigator who balances the business and legal needs of her clients in executing trial strategy.  While Michelle’s practice focuses primarily on clients in the oil and gas industry, she also handles trial and appellate matters in a wide variety of fields involving contract disputes, property rights and business torts. Michelle regularly represents clients in multi-million dollar lawsuits in both state and federal courts across the country. One of her recent successes includes the favorable settlement of a lease termination case on behalf of a producer, and she is currently defending an international oil and gas company in several disputes involving area of mutual interest agreements, joint operating agreements, royalty payments, and complex title issues. Additionally, during her time seconded to the commercial litigation group of one of the world's largest oil and gas companies, Michelle gained not only subject-matter experience, but unique insight into in-house counsel and business concerns, making her a more effective advocate for her clients. She received her J.D. in 2006, magna cum laude, from the University of Houston Law Center where she was Order of the Barons and Notes and Comments Editor of Houston Law Review. She earned her B.S. in 2003, summa cum laude, from the University of Houston.

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As released by the former Andrews Kurth Kenyon LLP