Shannon Gracey law firm hires
ex-bankruptcy judge Lynn
D. Michael Lynn has joined Shannon, Gracey, Ratliff & Miller LLP as senior counsel, after presiding over the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Texas in Fort Worth for the past 14 years.
During his tenure on the bench, Lynn oversaw the Chapter 11 cases of Mirant Corp., Pilgrim’s Pride Corp. and the Texas Rangers, among others. Previously he practiced as a bankruptcy attorney in the Dallas-Fort Worth area for nearly 30 years. He is the editor-in-chief of Bloomberg Law: Bankruptcy Treatise, has been a contributing author for Collier’s various bankruptcy publications and is a former columnist for Bloomberg Law.
“Judge Lynn offers extensive expertise in bankruptcy law and tremendous judicial insight to our attorneys and clients” said Rich Lowe, Shannon Gracey’s managing partner. “His reputation, immense integrity, compassion and strong dedication to justice support the founding principles of Shannon Gracey. Judge Lynn will work closely with the members of our Bankruptcy Group and develop the firm’s bankruptcy mediation practice.”
Lynn has been a visiting professor at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law, teaching, among other courses, the advanced bankruptcy course. He also was a visiting professor at Texas A&M School of Law. He graduated from Columbia Law School.
Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations
OCG PR added media buying to its list of services and hired Jamie Brown as vice president of strategic communication and Donald Stanislaus as director of media buying. Prior to opening her own public relations firm in 2008, Brown was public relations director at JPS Health Network. Brown began her career in television news and, after a stint in smaller markets, worked in local newsrooms including WFAA and KTVT. Stanislaus has more than 30 years in media buying. His experience includes employment at The Richards Group and Southwest Media Group, among other media firms. He also spent 10 years as an adjunct professor at Southern Methodist University.
Banking & Finance
First United Mortgage Group hired a new team of mortgage loan consultants in Fort Worth, led by Cue Lipscomb. Lipscomb has more than 20 years of mortgage experience and leadership. He is joined by loan consultants David Starkey, Catherine Closuit and Janice Thompson; loan assistant Kathy Morriss, and assistant mortgage branch manager Julie Matney.
Boards & Organizations
Rick Merrill, president and CEO of Cook Children’s Health Care System, has been elected treasurer of the Board of Trustees for the Children’s Hospital of Association.
The DRC, formerly Day Resource Center for the Homeless, added six leaders in business and public service to its board. They are Emily Crockett, Vaquero Ventures; Betty Dillard, Fort Worth Business; Alexandra “Alex” Martin, Pier 1 Imports Inc.; Selarstean Mitchell, Fort Worth Housing Authority; Sandy Martinez Russell, Crowley Independent School District; and Shannon Thompson, Finley Resources. Returning board members include Chairman Steve Christian, Vice Chairman Marianne Auld, Treasurer Robert Hampton, Secretary Raley Taliaferro, and board members Devan Allen, JL Cabrera, Dr. Saira Dar, Lou Friese, Errol Henry and Erin Verrett.
Officers and members for CASA of Tarrant County are: President Martin Durbin, Secretary Sharon Geider, Assistant Secretary Molly Davidson, Treasurer Clark Rucker, President-elect Matt Opitz; Past President Ricardo Coronado, member at-large Heath Coffman, and Sheri Brown, Craig Davis, Kathy Dial, Lisa Grady, Christina Judge, Charlotte Kauffman, Natalie Martin, Carol McQuien, Donna Mullen, Giana Ortiz, Amy Walton and Wendy Wright.
The Fort Worth Chamber of Commerce Workforce Development promoted Betty Harvey to director of Workforce Development/Military & Veteran Affairs and Glenn Spoons to director of education.
Since 2008, Harvey’s role has expanded from coordinating monthly Job Links business meetings to include facilitation of workforce opportunities and multiple veterans’ organizations in Tarrant County. Her efforts for Hiring Our Heroes job fairs resulted in the Fort Worth Chamber being named a “Chamber of Valor” by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 2015. On Feb. 6, she was inducted as honorary commander of the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth by the 301st Fighter Wing. Harvey led the marketing aspects of the chamber’s “Engineer Job Connect,” a Department of Labor contract with Workforce Solutions for Tarrant County. She also serves on the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney Citizens Advisory Council, the Fort Worth Safe Community Advisory Board and three community task forces: disaster management, road safety and communications. She is co-chairman of the Fort Worth Rotary Club’s Veterans Service Committee, and she established the Job Links Corporate Advisory Board, which she chairs.
Spoons collaborates with the Fort Worth Independent School District, chamber members and community organizations to help prepare students for college or careers. Since 2005, Spoons has provided advice and assistance for the establishment and implementation of GO Centers, primarily in the Fort Worth ISD, which help students research career opportunities, college options and financial aid. Spoons serves on many community committees, including the Tarrant County College Foundation Scholarship Committee, TCC Business Advisory Council, Fort Worth After School Coordinating Board, United Way Wild About Reading Planning Committee, Worth Reading Planning Committee, Higher Education Services Corporation, inspirED Advisory Committee, Tarrant Churches Together Advisory Council and Tarrant County Homeless Coalition.
Health Care
New hires at HCA North Texas are Denise Dwight, vice president of patient experience, and Ben Holland, regional vice president of business development. Dwight worked previously with HCA North Texas as the division patient experience coach through the Studer Group, where she was an account leader and coach since 2007. While there, she received the Flame Award and the Pillar Award for achieving outstanding performance outcomes. Prior to joining the Studer Group, she was the chief human resources officer for Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, Oregon, for six years.
Holland’s growth and development focus will include physician partnerships, service line development and rural outreach. His efforts will support Plaza Medical Center of Fort Worth, Medical Center Alliance, North Hills Hospital and Medical Center Arlington. He worked previously at Kurt Salmon, an Atlanta-based health care management consulting firm. He has more than 12 years of health care experience that include expansion and development initiatives for more than 90 hospitals and health systems nationwide, academic medical centers and freestanding health care facilities.
Sagora Senior Living named three new executive directors for its communities in Burleson, Fort Worth and San Antonio. Shelia Carwile at Heritage Place Assisted Living in Burleson was most recently a community sales director and then promoted to executive director at an established assisted-living community in Grapevine. She was also an eldercare adviser for the national referral site A Place For Mom for six years. Carwile is a petty officer first class in the U.S. Navy Reserve. Kevin Willmeth has helped implement quality assurance programs for nursing homes and joins Sagora after 15 years of experience in the senior living industry as an interim administrator with care centers in Wichita Falls, Plano and Granbury. June Sulffridge will be executive director of Adante Senior Living in San Antonio. She comes to Sagora with more than 25 years of experience in the senior living industry in various roles such as executive director, chief financial officer and regional vice president of operations in established senior living communities as well as start-up companies.
Law
Lindsay P. Daniel is a new litigation associate in the Fort Worth office of Naman, Howell, Smith & Lee PLLC. Daniel’s practice consists of civil litigation, with an emphasis on first- and third-party insurance litigation, personal injury and wrongful death, products liability, construction, probate and trust, commercial, professional liability, employment matters, business and corporate litigation, and appellate law. She has represented both plaintiffs and defendants on a variety of matters in state and federal courts as well as arbitration and administrative proceedings.
Edward Copley joined The Blum Firm. His practice focuses on taxation, trusts and estates, with an emphasis on wealth transfer, estate planning, foundations, and income tax planning for high-net-worth individuals. Copley was an attorney for many years with Akin Gump in Dallas, where he was managing partner. Prior to Akin Gump, he worked for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust and Tax Divisions. Copley is a Fellow of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel.
J. Jeffrey Cash joined the Dallas-Fort Worth office of Phelps Dunbar LLP as a partner specializing in complex business transactions, including securities, mergers and acquisitions, strategic alliances, joint ventures and private equity investments as well as general corporate counseling. His experience includes advising private equity groups in fundraising, acquisitions and post-acquisition counseling for portfolio companies. He also has experience advising boards for companies in general and special situations, including matters before the Securities & Exchange Commission and FINRA.
Josef P. Reimer also joined the firm’s Dallas-Fort Worth office as counsel specializing in real estate, complex business transactions and general corporate representation. Reimer also practices in the areas of corporate formation and governance, commercial finance and corporate mergers and acquisitions. He has experience representing clients in commercial real estate transactions, with an emphasis on commercial lease transactions and the purchase and sale of real property, and has represented developers in real estate development issues. He most recently was a partner with Brown, Pruitt, Wambsganss, Ferrill & Dean PC in Fort Worth.
Real Estate
Doug Banerjee has been promoted from director to senior director at Greysteel, a Washington, D.C., commercial real estate investment services firm. He is a member of the firm’s executive committee and is the primary point of client contact for the firm’s Texas-based multifamily investment sales division. He is a member of Greysteel’s affordable housing practice and manages a team of investment sales, debt, equity and structured financing professionals. His experience includes start-to-finish deal execution on private capital and middle market multifamily property transactions with a specific focus on the greater Dallas submarkets.
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