Driving Diversity in Law & Leadership: Houston

Kimberly Snagg is a trial lawyer whose practice focuses on civil litigation.  She handles claims arising from general negligence, premises liability, products liability, breach of contract, deceptive trade practices, and professional negligence.  In the past, Kimberly has represented engineers, insurance agents, doctors, and other healthcare professionals.  Prior to practicing law, Kimberly was a Hospital Corpsman (Medic) in the United States Navy.  She also held a nursing license (LVN) in the State of California.

Victor Wright is an experienced labor and employment law attorney, litigator, and strategic business advisor with more than 25 years of professional work experience within the federal government, private practice law firm, and public corporation sectors. A retired military officer and proven leader, Victor possesses a unique client service skill set which quickly allows him to build the requisite trust and confidence of his clients required in handling difficult and complex business matters. Victor Wright currently serves as Director, Global Labor and Employment Law at KBR, Inc., where he leads, manages and directs the delivery of all labor law, employment law, and employment dispute and litigation legal support services for more than 29,000 employees globally across KBR’s Government Solutions and Sustainable Technology Solutions business segments.

Victor is a member of the Board of Directors of the University of Houston Law Center Law Alumni Association where he currently serves as immediate past president and formerly served as the Law Center’s First African American President of the Law Alumni Association in the law school’s history.  He is also a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel where he formerly served on the Board of Directors of the ACC Houston Chapter.  In his local community, Victor serves as a member of the Board of Trustees at a local private school and at his church.  He also serves as a mentor with the Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America organization.

Stephanie Tolson is a trial lawyer who represents those in the financial services industry, as well as a variety of other corporate clients, in complex litigation. She has extensive experience handling large commercial cases, commercial bankruptcies, and loan workouts.

In the financial services arena, Stephanie works with national lenders, credit card processing companies, floor plan lenders, loan servicers, and premium finance companies, representing them in litigation, bankruptcy, and restructuring matters. Armed with more than 25 years of bankruptcy-related experience, Stephanie has advised clients on the full range of adversary proceedings—including representing creditors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcy. She has handled Chapter 11 issues for national lenders and financial services companies, national floor plan lenders, and oil and gas companies, as well as automotive manufacturers, heavy equipment manufacturers, and individuals.

Stephanie also works with heavy industrial construction companies and manufacturers. This includes helping them with drafting and negotiating master contracts and purchase orders, handling lien and payment issues. She also represents them in litigation, including matters concerning contract disputes and construction defects.

In addition to defending her clients in both state and federal courts and before arbitrators, Stephanie has extensive appellate experience. She handles a large volume of appellate cases at the state and federal levels and before administrative agencies in Texas.

A trusted advisor, Stephanie also serves in an outside general counsel role for several clients. She has advised them on contracts, commercial collections, lien resolution, and insurance-related issues, as well as personal injury and workers’ compensation claims, payment disputes, and general commercial litigation.

Stephanie McGraw represents clients in product liability, cannabis, and business litigation in state and federal courts. She is an experienced litigator with first chair trial experience. Stephanie also has considerable alternative dispute resolution experience, including mediation and arbitration. She advises product manufacturers and distributors on pre- and post-market safety issues including compliance with state and federal regulations across industries and product recall and corrective action best practices. Stephanie is a member of Shook’s Search Committee, working on recruiting for law school graduates, summer associates and lateral hires, and has been recognized for her pro bono work at the firm. 

Sheila is an associate in the Capital Markets practice group in the Firm’s Houston office. Sheila primarily advises clients in securities transactions, including public and private debt and equity offerings, as well as general corporate governance matters.

Immediately prior to joining White & Case, Sheila was a Vice President in the private bank division of a large financial institution. Sheila began her career as an associate in the Houston office of another global law firm, where her practice was focused on the representation of investment banks and issuers in primary and secondary debt and equity securities transactions.

While in graduate school, Sheila served as a judicial intern for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, a student advisor for a cross-campus startup accelerator during the Masters of Business Administration program, and a Net Impact Board Fellow for a nonprofit organization. She was also an editor for the Texas Law Review and managing editor for the Texas Journal of Entertainment & Sports Law.

Rishi Varma serves as General Counsel and oversees Hewlett Packard Enterprise’s legal department globally. Rishi and his team handle, among other things, HPE’s corporate governance, strategic acquisitions, divestitures and investments, litigation, intellectual property, commercial contracting, sales and supply chain issues, securities law compliance and disclosure, treasury and financing transactions, and certain other corporate transactions and restructurings, bankruptcy, credit and collections matters and employee compensation and retiree benefits. From 2013 – 2017, Rishi served as Deputy General Counsel overseeing HPE’s corporate, securities and M&A practice.

Before joining Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Rishi served as general counsel for two different publicly traded companies from 2005 to 2013 – TPC Group, Inc., a petrochemical company, and Trico Marine Services, Inc., a global subsea service provider. During his time at Trico, Rishi also served in additional management roles including chief operating officer and president. Prior to these companies, Rishi served as securities counsel and director of investor relations for EGL, Inc., a publicly traded global freight forwarder (2002 – 2005), and as a business associate in the New York office of Brobeck, Phleger & Harrison, LP (1998 – 2002).

He holds a Juris Doctor degree from the Georgetown University Law Center and also graduated magna cum laude from Georgetown University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science. Rishi and his wife, Michelle, have three children.

Naana Danquah Jefferson is the General Counsel Americas Land, for SLB located in Houston, Texas.  She is an integral member of the Basin HQ Management team and over sees a team covering onshore operations in the US, Canada, Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Colombia, and Peru.  She has worked with SLB for over 16 years in various legal positions providing support and guidance to operations and technology, and in compliance roles in benefits and human resources.   She serves on the Steering Committee and as the Community Outreach chair for the Black Organization for Leadership and Development (BOLD), a SLB Employee Resource Group.

Naana holds a Juris Doctorate from South Texas College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Sociology from Tulane University. She is a member of the board of directors of the Lupus Foundation Texas Gulf Coast Chapter with a focus of raising awareness and funds for Lupus, and Literacy for Life with a current focus of building a library for children in a Ghana, which is the birthplace of both her parents.  She has a passion for helping others via mentoring, volunteering, and fundraising activities on a state, local and individual levels. 

Naana resides in the greater Houston area with her husband, young daughter and adopted fur baby.  She is a creative who enjoys dancing, crocheting and jewelry making, and the opportunities to share these loves with her daughter and others.

Hillary Holmes is a partner in the global law firm Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP and Co-Chair of the firm’s Capital Markets practice group.  Hillary advises public and private corporations, private equity firms and investment banks on long-term and strategic capital raising.  She regularly counsels companies on disclosure and reporting obligations under federal securities laws, corporate governance and ESG issues. She frequently advises boards of directors, special committees, and financial advisors in transactions involving conflicts of interest or unique complexities. 

Hillary has been recognized as top of her field. She is the only woman and the youngest lawyer to be recognized by the premier legal review organization Chambers USA in the category that covers capital raising in the energy industry, receiving ranking in the highest level, as well as in the categories covering national oil and gas transactions and Texas corporate transactions.  She has also been recognized by the National Law Journal as a Finance, Banking and Capital Markets Trailblazer, a Most Effective Dealmaker by Texas Lawyer, a Woman Who Means Business by the Houston Business Journal, as well as by Who’s Who, the Legal 500, the Houston Bar Association, the Greater Houston Women’s Partnership, and the National Association of Women Attorneys, among others. 

Hillary regularly writes and speaks on topics relating to the capital markets, developments in securities regulation, ESG issues and the state of the energy industry, and she is Co-Editor of the academic blog the Securities Regulation and Corporate Governance Monitor.

Hillary demonstrates a strong commitment to providing free legal services to those who cannot otherwise afford to access them, particularly abused women and immigrant girls, and serves on the board of directors of several local nonprofits, including Houston Volunteer Lawyers and Harrison’s Heroes.

Hillary received her law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and her Bachelor of Arts from Duke University. Hillary is a native Houstonian who loves to run marathons and watch Avengers movies  with her two active young sons and one lovable pug.

Yurima Falcon-Grace is a civil and common law licensed transactional attorney and corporate adviser with over 18 years of experience in the oil and gas industry. She is currently in charge of the contractual processes in the Americas for Atlantic Trading & Marketing, Inc. (ATMI), the trading arm of the French company Total, the fourth largest oil and gas major.  Yurima provides expert advice to ATMI, Total Trading & Marketing Canada, and Total Atlantic Trading Mexico, among other Total’s affiliates, on a variety of legal matters undertaking a broad range of corporate transactional work and pre-litigation claims. Yurima has worked for CITGO, Itochu Corporation, and PDVSA, among other companies, on multiple cross-border projects, covering the whole oil and gas spectrum, general corporate matters, and defining country-entering strategies. Yurima holds an LL.M degree in Energy Law from the University of Houston Law Center, a Juris Doctor degree from UGMA, and two specialized degrees in International Economic Law and International Business from Universidad Central de Venezuela and Universidad Metropolitana, respectively.  Yurima is fluent in Spanish and English with working knowledge of French and Portuguese and she is active in several international law and international energy organizations. 

Versatile, business-savvy attorney with broad range of experience gained as an out-sourced and in-house counsel, including secured and unsecured lending, real estate matters, commercial transactions, corporate governance and compliance.  Actively involved in NAMWOLF, Diversity Committee and Pro-Bono Committee at Toyota.

Amelia Y. Xu is a senior associate in the Corporate, M&A & Securities practice. Her practice focuses on securities offerings, securities reporting, M&A, international transactions and corporate governance including board advisory. Amelia’s clients include corporations in the energy, technology, real estate and healthcare sectors. She also has experience in general corporate matters like joint venture, international business reorganization, executive compensation and shareholder engagement.

Amelia previously served as the managing counsel for M&A & Securities and Assistant Corporate Secretary for a NYSE-listed energy company. Amelia serves on the Board of Women’s Energy Network and Palmer Drug Abuse Program and is a member of the State Bars of Texas and New York, Asian American Bar Association and Association of Corporate Counsel.

Angelia Tucker joined the Memorial Hermann Legal Department in May 2018 as Assistant General Counsel. She provides advice and counsel regarding hospital commercial transactions.

Angelia is lead counsel for Supply Chain, Pharmacy, Equipment Purchases and Leases, Laboratory, Memorial Hermann Foundation, Clinical Research, and other complex transactional matters affecting hospital operations.

Prior to joining Memorial Hermann, Angelia spent six years at Texas Children’s Hospital as the Assistant Director of Contracts. She also spent over four years at Baker Hughes, a GE company, negotiating complex Information Technology contracts. Her experience also includes tenure in the energy, non-profit, and death care services industries. In 2006, Angelia joined the faculty of The University of Houston-Downtown as Adjunct Professor of Business Law and Supply Chain Management. 

Angelia is a former Board Member of the Greater Houston Black Chamber of Commerce. She serves as an Executive Member of The Society, Incorporated – Supporting the Arts (Houston), a national non-profit organization of women dedicated to enhancing, exposing, and promoting youth in the arts for the betterment of our communities. She is also the current Parliamentarian for the Julia F. Thompson Foundation, Inc., a non-profit charitable organization which focuses on educational programs, scholarships, and community outreach projects.

Angelia earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University. She received her Master of Business Administration from Texas Woman’s University, and her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Houston.  

*Office: (713) 242-2783 / Executive Assistant: De’ Henderson / (713) 242-2771

Sweta Sethna is Chief Counsel at Energy Transfer LP, one of the largest and most diversified midstream energy companies in North America. Sweta is a graduate of Columbia University and lives in Houston with her husband, Minoo.

Cheryl is a senior associate at Reed Smith who represents oil and gas, financial services, and health care clients in a variety of litigation matters, with a focus on labor and employment and commercial matters. She has a great breadth of experience in general civil litigation, working mainly for small litigation boutiques prior to joining Reed Smith. Cheryl’s strengths lie in civil procedure and litigation strategy regardless of the subject matter or field.  In the labor and employment context, Cheryl’s practice focuses on representing clients in labor arbitrations and employment discrimination and retaliation matters.

Natara is the General Counsel & Corporate Secretary of Trace Midstream II, a Quantum Energy Partners portfolio company. Natara was the General Counsel of Trace Midstream I and the SVP, General Counsel of Intensity Midstream from 2019 to 2022 and both companies were successfully sold in 2022. From 2012 to 2019, she was the Assistant General Counsel of Oasis Petroleum (now Chord Energy) managing a diverse workload of transactional and other legal matters. Prior to going in house, Natara was an associate in the Energy Transactions & Project Finance group at the law firm of Vinson & Elkins where she represented Fortune 500 energy and oil and gas companies in matters involving upstream and midstream transactions, strategic investments and corporate and project financing and development. Natara began her career at Norton Rose Fulbright as an associate in the Corporate Department in 2005. Natara currently serves on the Tahirih Justice Center Advisory Committee and the Event Host Committee and was the 2022 Auction Committee Chair for the organization’s annual gala. She has also provided pro bono representation for the Tahirih Justice Center and for other various nonprofit organizations throughout her career. Natara earned her Juris Doctor degree from Duke University School of Law and has a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in International Business and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Spanish from Stetson University.

Alex Wilde represents clients in complex business transactions.  She focuses her practice on key areas of the energy industry and has completed more than $30 billion of transactions.  Her recent representative matters include venture capital and private equity investments, acquisitions, divestitures, carve-outs, and joint ventures involving renewable energy, specialty chemicals, pipeline processing and transportation systems, terminals, oil field services, and oil and gas properties. Additionally, she regularly counsels clients on a variety of corporate governance and commercial contracts matters.

Alex received her law degree from the University of Michigan Law School and her Bachelor of Science from The University of Texas at Austin. Outside of work, Alex enjoys spending time with her husband, two daughters and two rescue dogs.

Bridgett Matthes, Associate General Counsel of the AIG Life & Retirement Regulatory Team, joined AIG in 2013 after 14 years as a medical malpractice/insurance defense litigator.  

From 2013 to 2017, she managed litigation for the AIG life and individual retirement companies, advising business leaders on liability/exposure, settlement recommendations, and business protocol risk-related guidance. In 2017, Bridgett stepped into a new role to lead the Life Insurance Business Unit Legal Team, providing practical end-to-end legal advice on product manufacturing, underwriting, distribution, marketing, consumer & regulatory complaints, and media inquiries. In 2021, Bridgett joined the AIG Life & Retirement Regulatory Legal Team, and her focus today is management of the legal and regulatory body of work related to AIG’s domestic life insurance companies’ state exams, filings and inquiries.  She also provides guidance on emerging regulatory issues.   

Bridgett served on the inaugural organizing committee for Life & Retirement Legal’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Working Group and remains active in its programs. Bridgett is also passionate about the AIG Global Pro Bono Program Committee and volunteers as a court-appointed guardian ad litem with Child Advocates, Inc.  In 2020, she was elected to the non-profit’s Board of Directors.

Bridgett holds a B.S. in Journalism/Public Relations from the University of Texas at Austin (1996) and a J.D. from South Texas College of Law in Houston (1999).  She was recognized as a Texas Rising Star-Super Lawyer by “Texas Monthly” in 2010.

Kindel Nuño currently serves as EVP, Legal, General Counsel and Secretary of Mattress Firm, Inc., the nation’s largest specialty mattress retailer operating over 2,500 retail stores across the country.  She joined Mattress Firm in July 2012 as its sole attorney, in the role of Vice President and General Counsel. She was promoted to Executive Vice President in January 2014.  Ms. Nuño is primarily responsible for the oversight and management of the legal, risk, compliance, insurance and, until July 2020, internal audit functions.  She regularly advises on strategic transactions and provides guidance and assistance in connection with acquisitions, marketing, merchandising, operations, safety, real estate and lease administration, commercial, corporate governance, intellectual property, employee relations, franchisee and financing matters.  She handled the public securities filings for the company from July 2012 until Mattress Firm was taken private in September 2016.  In 2017, Ms. Nuño won the company’s Integrity Award, which is one of three annual value awards given to an employee for exemplifying the core values of the company: Service, Integrity and Passion. Throughout the fall of 2018, Ms. Nuño managed the Chapter 11 restructuring of Mattress Firm, including the negotiation of DIP and exit credit facilities involving parties in Europe and Africa as well as over 1,000 lease amendments.  In November 2019, Ms. Nuño was awarded the Magna Stella Award for General Counsel of the Year – Small Legal Department by the Texas General Counsel Forum.  In June 2020, Ms. Nuno was named the 2020 Association of Corporate Counsel – Houston Chapter’s General Counsel of the Year Award for a Small Legal Department.

After graduating from The University of Texas School of Law in 2004 until mid-2012, Ms. Nuño worked at the Houston office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P., an international law firm (now known as Norton Rose Fulbright LLP). During that time period, Ms. Nuño spent one year on secondment in Tokyo, Japan with Mitsui & Co., Ltd., a large trading company traded on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.  At Mitsui, she advised on oil and gas matters involving North and South America.  Since January 2016, Ms. Nuño has served on the board of directors and finance committee of Children at Risk, a Texas non-partisan research and advocacy organization dedicated to addressing the root causes of poor public policies affecting children in the areas of health and nutrition, early childhood education, parenting, human trafficking, and immigration.  In January 2022, Ms. Nuño was recognized by Children at Risk as the 2021 Board Member of the Year.  Ms. Nuño holds a B.A. in Psychology and Political Science from Vanderbilt University and a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law. She lives in Houston with her husband and dog but enjoys exploring the world at every opportunity.

Monica White advises a full spectrum of financial institutions and companies on capital markets transactions at all stages of the business lifecycle. 

Ms. White advises investment banks, as well as public and private companies in the energy, technology, and healthcare industries, on capital markets transactions, including high yield and investment grade debt offerings, follow-on equity offerings, complex liability management transactions, and initial public offerings, including special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

She also advises public companies on matters relating to corporate governance, Securities and Exchange Commission compliance, and stock exchange rules.

Ms. White guides clients using a commercial approach drawn from her significant experience with complex transactions. She excels at partnering with clients to develop creative strategies and solutions to navigate economic cycles and market uncertainty.

Ms. White actively supports diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives both within the firm and in the broader legal industry. She has served on the firm’s Recruiting Committee, actively engages with the Women Enriching Business committee, and frequently speaks at law schools and industry conferences.

Holly Chastain Nini is Managing Counsel for CITGO Petroleum Corporation (CITGO) and the Corporate Secretary for CITGO’s 501(c)(3) charitable foundation and previously served as the Corporate Secretary for CITGO and several of its affiliates.  She advises executive management and the Board members of CITGO’s charitable foundation and leads internal and external teams of attorneys and paralegals towards achieving CITGO’s strategic objectives.  

She has more than 20 years of experience and manages the legal affairs for CITGO’s midstream and several other multi-billion dollar businesses and its 501(c)(3) charitable foundation and previously the legal affairs for Schlumberger’s upstream oil and gas, technology and manufacturing businesses in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland.  

Her experience includes a broad range of strategic and high level domestic and international transactions, complex litigation, corporate governance, compliance, financings, risk management, regulatory and tax matters, tax exempt charitable matters and other legal areas.  

Ms. Nini received her Juris Doctor from The University of Alabama School of Law with honors and a B.S. in Commerce and Business Administration with studies in International Business and French from The University of Alabama, graduating Summa Cum Laude and with other high honors, including a Presidential Scholarship and 3 other Scholarships.  Ms. Nini also studied at the University of Provence in Aix en Provence, France.

Ms. Nini is a fellow of the Houston Bar Foundation and is a mentor to young girls through CITGO’s STEM program and supports a number of other charitable causes.

Jennifer Flatten Gallagher is Vice President of Legal for the Chemicals Division of Sasol Ltd. an international integrated chemicals and energy company listed on both the Johannesburg and New York Stock Exchanges.  In this role Jennifer manages an international team of attorneys and other professionals providing legal support to the chemical manufacturing, transportation, sales and marketing activities of the company.  Prior to joining Sasol, Jennifer was Senior Counsel at Chevron Phillips Chemical Company an international plastics and chemicals manufacturing company where she provided legal support to multiple divisions and to the Sustainability function, Deputy General Counsel of Nexeo/Univar Solutions an international chemicals and plastics distributor with $9B in revenue where she managed the legal, regulatory (environmental, transportation, product safety) and real estate functions of the company. Jennifer also worked in private practice in the Corporate section of Adams and Reese, LLC and for insurance industry leaders Aon and AIG.  Jennifer received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and B.A. with honors in Government from the University of Texas, Austin. She is married and has one child, Matthew.  Jennifer enjoys fishing with her family, kayaking, swimming, reading and (sometimes) exercising. 

Jennifer Lee is Assistant General Counsel for First Solar, Inc. (NASDAQ:  FSLR), a leading solar module manufacturer.  She supports the company’s North America and Latin America business development division, product management division, and the company’s General Counsel.  Jennifer advises on a diverse set of matters, including commercial contracting, sales and supply chain issues, warranty and technical product documentation, pre-dispute matters, corporate governance matters, among other things.  Jennifer is involved in the company’s global employee network groups, including the women’s network and blacks in renewables network groups.

Jennifer previously provided legal counsel to First Solar’s project development division, advising on real estate and permitting matters.  Prior to joining First Solar, Jennifer worked at EDPR North America, a renewable energy company, supporting the project development division with a focus on real estate law.

Jennifer received her law degree from South Texas College of Law and her Bachelor of Science from the University of Houston.  Jennifer is a native Houstonian who enjoys traveling, hiking, and antiquing.

Jessica is a partner in the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution practice. Jessica’s practice involves litigation in state and federal courts, mediation, arbitration, and internal investigations. Jessica’s trial and case experience arises out of a variety of business and financial concerns, including energy industry litigation, securities litigation, banking litigation, shareholder claims, failed business transactions, failed companies, business torts, commercial contract disputes, directors’ and officers’ liability, commercial real estate disputes, bankruptcy and restructuring litigation, regulatory issues, and internal investigations for publicly traded companies.

In 2016, Jessica was selected by the Houston Business Journal as a recipient of its annual “40 Under 40” award, and she was named as a Rising Star by Texas Super Lawyers in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016 for her commercial litigation experience.

Jessica is co-chair of the firm’s pro bono Asylum practice, a member of the firm’s U.S. pro bono committee, and a member of the firm’s litigation training committee. Jessica also serves in leadership roles in multiple community and non-profit organizations. She is currently a member of: the Advisory Board of Tahirih, a national non-profit that provides pro bono legal assistance to immigrant women fleeing gender-based violence; the Houston Chapter of the NAACP’s Legal Redress Committee; the Houston Museum of Natural Science Catalysts Steering Committee; and the Houston Pro Bono Network’s Planning Committee.

Jessica received her JD from the University of Houston Law Center, Magna Cum Laude, and her BS in journalism from Texas A&M University, where she was the Editor-in-Chief of her university daily newspaper, The Battalion.

Kelly’s practice focuses on complex commercial and labor and employment litigation. With both in-house and big law experience, she offers employers extensive experience in cases related to discrimination, termination, restrictive covenants, the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) and statutory employee benefits. She also provides litigation-preventive counseling for employers by reviewing and drafting personnel policies, handbooks and other employment documentation. 

Prior to joining Munsch Hardt, Kelly was a litigation partner in the New York office of a national law firm. She also served as General Counsel for an international staffing company, where she was chiefly responsible for compliance with global employment laws.

Following law school, Kelly served as a law clerk to former Chief Judge Jose L. Linares in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.