Joseph G. "Chip" Galagaza

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...

Joe Roden grew up in Liberty, Texas and attended the University of Texas as an undergraduate, where he graduated in 1988. He then went into the U.S. Marine Corps. Joe attained the rank of 1st Lieutenant and was a decorated officer in the Marine Corps during Desert Storm, the first Gulf War. After leaving the Marine Corps, he graduated from the University of Houston Law Center with honors and then clerked for Justice Murry Cohen on the First Court of Appeals. After clerking for the Court of Ap...

Patrick Hayes' practice focuses on commercial real estate, and assisting clients in acquiring, disposing, capitalizing and forming companies. Patrick’s real estate practice covers all aspects of commercial real estate, including acquisition, development, capitalizing, financing, leasing and disposition of all product types of commercial real estate. His corporate/commercial practice centers on the formation and restructuring of commercial entities, including corporations, partnerships a...

Board Certified in Construction Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, Tim Ross has a practice focused on the transactional and dispute resolution aspects of construction law. He works with clients in all phases of the construction process with an emphasis on contract drafting and negotiation, dispute avoidance during construction, field management and administration, project close-out and dispute resolution. Tim’s legal acumen is complemented by field experience with a large c...

Robert E. Ammons is the founding partner of The Ammons Law Firm. Rob received his B.A. from Baylor University in Waco, Texas. After receiving an academic scholarship, Rob continued his education at Baylor University School of Law where he was Editor of the Baylor Law Review, a member of the Order of the Barristers, and a member of Phi Delta Phi Legal Fraternity. He received his J.D. cum laude in 1988 and was selected to serve as a Briefing Attorney for the Texas Supreme Court.Rob has represen...

Teresa Valderrama is a partner in the firm's Houston office. She has more than 25 years of experience representing employers in all aspects of workplace law, including corporate investigations and compliance, wage & hour collective action defense, and defense of all manner of discrimination, workplace harassment and other work-related claims. This includes advice and counsel regarding trade secrets/business-asset protection, defense of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act (SOX) and other whistleb...

Kent has served as a justice on the Texas Court of Appeals, a judge for the 80th District Court in Harris County, Texas, and as First Assistant Attorney General, the second-highest-ranking official of the Texas Office of the Attorney General. In 2017, he was appointed by Governor Greg Abbott to serve as the Texas Commissioner of Insurance, the state’s top insurance regulatory position, responsible for the policies, operations, and enforcement activities of the Texas Department of Insura...

Alexandre A. Afanassiev is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Immigration Law. Alexandre A., who practices law in Houston, Texas, has been recognized since 2020. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Alexandre A. is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

For over twenty-eight years, Paul Smith has been very successful trying many different types of cases to juries. He has also tried numerous bench trials and argued in federal and state appellate courts. Paul has tried a variety of cases on both sides of the docket, including oil & gas, environmental, commercial, personal injury, products liability, professional liability and employment cases. Paul started his career in the Tort section at Vinson and Elkins before joining Ware Jackson. He ...

Bob Collie serves as bond, disclosure, and underwriters’ counsel in tax-exempt bond transactions for clients including cities, counties, school districts, and special authorities throughout Texas. He has also worked on education, transportation, utility, aviation, port, convention center, and sports facility financings. Bob draws on his experience as City Attorney of Houston to represent local governments as special counsel in joint public/private development, election, redistricting, a...