Section Spotlight
Corporate Counsel Section:
A New Year of Advancing the Field of Corporate Practice
O
The Houston Lawyer
By Christopher Centrich, Leana Garipova, and Anthony Hilbert
ver the past 45 years, the HBA’s Corporate Counsel transactions. Featuring seasoned dealmakers, attendees gained Section has played a vital role in the legal commuinvaluable insights into the importance of adhering to ethical nity, bringing together in-house counsel and law firm standards while working towards successful outcomes for their practitioners to promote professionalism, collaboraclients from both the in-house and outside counsel perspectives. tion, and excellence amongst Houston’s corporate Beyond educational events for practice, the section provides opattorneys. As the section’s latest portunities for members to disdirectors and officers prepare for cuss career development, a cruits 2023-2024 year, the section is cial topic as the field continues to poised to address the latest chalsee rapid shifts in where and how lenges in a rapidly evolving encorporate work is done. In its revironment for corporate lawyers cent “Pathway to General Counthrough sponsored events, while sel” event, a panel of influential continuing its history of commugeneral counsels provided an nity outreach. exclusive look into the journey As part of its commitment to of becoming a general counsel for continuous growth and devel- Rebekah Bennett of ExxonMobil Pipeline Company and Leana Garipova of aspiring legal professionals, sharopment, the section sponsors a Akin presented in a joint event between HBA’s Corporate Counsel Section ing their experiences, challenges, number of lunch programs each and the Georgetown Club of Houston on March 30, 2023. and insights on making the tranyear, offering Houston lawyers invaluable time to meet and netsition from private practice to in-house counsel. work—particularly as the community reengages with one anothIn addition to its sponsored events, the section continues to er in-person—while addressing contemporary and emergent ethihelp advance the careers of others throughout Houston, including cal and practical business and legal issues. The section regularly through its scholarship program offering $2,000 to one student hosts events addressing practical issues in corporate practice. from each local law school interested in corporate law. In February, the section’s “Proxy Season Update,” hosted at the The HBA’s Corporate Counsel Section continues to serve as a offices of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld LLP (recently rebeacon of professionalism and excellence in the field of corporate branded to Akin) and presented by Kevin Schott, counsel at Akin, law in Houston and beyond. As we enter a new bar year, section and Kimia Jalalipour, associate at Akin, provided attendees with a leaders will continue to develop and expand its programming and comprehensive update on the latest developments and best pracoutreach while remaining committed to its core mission of protices ahead of proxy season. The event provided a window into moting the objectives and standards of professionalism within the the shifting landscape of shareholder activism, regulatory develHouston legal community. opments, and evolving expectations for corporate governance, offering crucial updates ahead of the year’s annual shareholder Christopher Centrich is a partner at Akin in the Corporate group. meetings. His practice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and The HBA Corporate Counsel Section also held joint events with securities matters. He serves as outside counsel for clients in the other organizations. In March, the section, in collaboration with upstream, midstream, and oilfield services sectors. the Georgetown Club of Houston, offered the event “Deal or No Leana Garipova is a counsel at Akin in the Corporate group. Her Deal? Ethical Considerations for Dealmakers,” bringing together practice focuses on public and private mergers and acquisitions and two prominent groups of attorneys in Houston. Rebekah Bennett, other complex corporate transactions, and she counsels boards and general counsel at ExxonMobil Pipeline Company, and Leana management of public companies on corporate governance matters. Garipova, counsel at Akin—both Georgetown alums—presented Anthony Hilbert is an associate at Akin in the Corporate group. His to a packed house at the offices of Akin and delved into the ethipractice focuses on mergers and acquisitions, corporate and securical challenges that corporate attorneys face in M&A and related ties matters. 38
May/June 2023
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