John A. "Jack" Townsend

Brittany Sakowitz is a corporate partner in the Houston and Austin offices of Kirkland & Ellis LLP, concentrating her practice on mergers and acquisitions and private equity. Brittany advises private equity and venture capital investors, their portfolio companies, and other public and private companies across a broad range of industries, including infrastructure, energy and energy-related services, renewables, technology and digital infrastructure. She primarily counsels clients on public...

A trial lawyer in the truest sense, Rob Ford has led the defense and prosecution of complex civil cases at every phase of litigation, from discovery and pretrial motion practice through trial, final judgment and appeal. Licensed in Texas, Louisiana, and Arkansas, Rob practices in state and federal courts throughout Texas and the greater Gulf Coast, where he represents plaintiffs and defendants in an array of high-stakes civil litigation, including complex commercial litigation, trade-secrets ...

Tim Shelby focuses on complex commercial litigation and oil and gas-related litigation. When interviewed by Chambers USA, clients offered the following assessments: “Tim is an excellent trial lawyer;” “Tim has good common sense and comes up with great strategy, which always leads to good results;” and “Tim is excellent at what he does.” Tim is recognized by Best Lawyers in America for commercial litigation in Texas from 2015 – 2025. Tim is recognized ...

Layla Panjwani is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Immigration Law. Layla, who practices law in Houston, Texas, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Layla is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Michael McBride is an intellectual property and patent trial lawyer who focuses primarily on high-stakes, complex patent litigation and patent prosecution matters in which his deep technical skills as an electrical engineer are a powerful asset to his clients. His vast experience in patent disputes over the last 13 years includes cases in venues across the country involving semiconductor manufacturing and transistor design, flash memory controllers, fiber optic networks, digital video compres...

Stephen Pate focuses his litigation practice on property insurance matters, Directors and Officers insurance matters, business interruption issues, CGL insurance matters, builders risk matters, commercial general liability insurance disputes, fraud, and various other extracontractual litigation matters. Over a 30 year career in coverage work, he has tried more than 45 first-party extracontractual cases to verdict. Prior to joining the firm, Stephen had been partner in the Houston office of an...

Margaret Bryant is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Appellate Practice and Litigation - Construction. Margaret, who practices law in Houston, Texas, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Margaret is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Susan B. Murphy is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Health Care Law. Susan B., who practices law in Houston, Texas, has been recognized since 2016. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Susan B. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Harvey J. Heller is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Real Estate Law. Harvey J., who practices law in Houston, Texas, has been recognized since 2024. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Harvey J. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

S. Scott West is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Personal Injury Litigation - Plaintiffs. S. Scott, who practices law in Sugar Land, Texas, has been recognized since 2021. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which S. Scott is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.