Hunton Andrews Kurth’s Gail Merel Receives Working Group on Legal Opinions Distinguished James J. Fuld Award

The Working Group on Legal Opinions Foundation presented Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP special counsel Gail Merel with its annual James J. Fuld award at its meeting on October 29, 2019. Each year, the prestigious award is given to a single person or entity that has made a significant contribution to the field of legal opinions in business transactions.

Merel has practiced corporate and commercial law for over 40 years, with a particular emphasis on corporate finance. Her practice has included syndicated loan and letter of credit transactions, debt restructures, project financings, asset securitizations, cross-border and multi-currency financings, venture capital investments and lender liability counseling.

“Gail is widely recognized for her experience in both financial transactions and legal opinion practice,” said Amy McDaniel Williams, chair of the firm’s opinion committee. “We are fortunate to have Gail’s depth of knowledge as a resource for all of us at Hunton Andrews Kurth.”

Merel is actively involved in the professional services community and has served in a variety of positions within the legal field, including Regent and Fellow of The American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, Director and past Chair of the Texas Business Law Foundation, past Chair of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and current and past Chair of the Business Law Section’s Legal Opinions Committee. Merel is currently a Vice President and Director of the WGLO Foundation. She has also served since 2006 as the editor for each of WGLO’s semi-annual seminar handbooks and is an author of numerous articles and reports on legal opinion practice.

The James J. Fuld award is intended to honor and encourage individuals who write and educate in the area of legal opinions as well as bar associations, law firms and others who contribute to the development of the law in the area of legal opinion practice.

According to WGLO:
WGLO's mission is to bring together all constituencies concerned with giving and receiving legal opinions in order to foster a national opinion perspective, broaden the consensus that exists and provide a continuing forum for discussion of opinion issues.