Shell USA’s Cisselon Nichols Hurd Is Advancing Diversity While Setting the Standard in Environmental Law
After meeting a lawyer at her elementary school’s career day, Cisselon Nichols Hurd went home and informed her mother she did not want to follow in her footsteps of becoming a teacher. She wanted to become a lawyer instead.
That’d be just fine, her mother replied.
Fast forward to 2009, and Hurd’s mother accompanied her to the U.S. Supreme Court, where Hurd helped steer a groundbreaking environmental case that narrowed seller liability, endorsed apportionment principles and remains a cornerstone to the Superfund practice.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring Hurd, Shell USA Senior Counsel, with the Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion award at the May 28 ceremony.
Shell USA Senior Counsel Sara Keith ‘Does It All’
Sara Keith is one of those people who seems to do it all and make it look effortless.
At Shell USA, where she serves as senior legal counsel of global litigation, Keith manages complex legal matters while also devoting significant time to pro bono work, mentoring young lawyers and leading service initiatives across Houston’s legal community — all while raising two daughters.
The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring Keith with the Harry Reasoner Pro Bono Advocacy Award at the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards on May 28.
P.S. — Hilgers’ Cynthia Schmidt Trades Partner Role for Nonprofit Calling
In this edition of P.S., the Pro Bono & Grants Committee of the State Bar of Texas Corporate Counsel Section announced its annual grant recipients. The success of the Champions of Pro Bono sponsorship program pushed this year’s giving to $79,000 — above the initial goal, according to committee chair Michael Marin.
The University of Houston Law Center more than doubled last year’s fundraising haul at its 49th annual Law Gala and Auction, generating more than $1.6 million, while honoring distinguished alumni.
In Dallas, 33 Dykema lawyers and staff packed welcome baskets filled with household necessities for individuals and families who are exiting homelessness with the help of The Stewpot, a nonprofit that provides housing programs that pair subsidized housing assistance with case management and support services.
And former Hilgers partner Cynthia Schmidt discusses her recent decision to leave the firm to lead the nonprofit Catholic Pro-Life Community.
After Finding a ‘Port in a Storm’ in Lawyers, Lyondell Basell’s Dave Louie Now Serves as One for Others Through Pro Bono Work
When Dave Louie was 17, he caused a car wreck. His father feared the family could lose everything in a resulting lawsuit, a possibility that weighed heavily on Louie. But his nerves eased after he met with the legal team hired by the family’s insurance company.
“They were like a port in a storm,” Louie said.
Now a lead counsel at LyondellBasell, Louie strives to provide that same sense of reassurance to the families he serves through his pro bono work. The Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston Chapter and The Texas Lawbook are honoring Louie, along with Shell USA Senior Litigation Counsel Sara Keith, with the Harry Reasoner Pro Bono Advocacy Award at the 2026 Houston Corporate Counsel Awards on May 28.
Toyota CLO Sandra Phillips to Retire from ‘Dream Job’
Toyota Motor North America chief legal officer and corporate secretary Sandra Phillips told The Texas Lawbook Tuesday that she is retiring from the company’s top legal post July 31 to spend more time with her parents, who are in their 80s, and to focus more on serving on corporate boards.
Texas Access to Justice Gala Raises Record $1.05M for Legal Aid, Veterans
The Texas Access to Justice Commission’s Champions of Justice Gala in Austin topped last year’s record-shattering haul with $1.05 million raised for legal aid and veterans. Co-chaired by Toyota Motor North America CLO Sandra Phillips and CenterPoint Energy GC Monica Karuturi, the event Thursday honored Texas lawyers for their contributions to advocacy.
P.S. — ‘Our Bar Card Is Not Merely a Ticket to a Better Bank Account,’ Retired Fifth District Court of Appeals Justice Kenneth Molberg Says Accepting Dallas Bar Foundation Award
In this edition of P.S., retired Fifth District Court of Appeals Justice Kenneth Molberg urged lawyers to defend the rule of law and ensure their efforts extend beyond the privileged to those most in need, while accepting the Dallas Bar Foundation’s 2026 Fellows Justinian Award.
DOJ’s Plans to Revoke Naturalizations Could Undo Hundreds of Convictions
The DOJ's accelerated plans to revoke the citizenship of hundreds of naturalized citizens who “committed fraud” in the naturalization process will rely, in part, on a provision allowing revocation when the citizen is convicted after naturalization of a crime that started or occurred before naturalization. Ironically, such a move could provide the legal predicate to invalidate the very convictions the government will use to seek denaturalization. Citizens who pled guilty to pre-naturalization crimes likely had no idea that doing so could lead to denaturalization. Unless they were warned of this risk — and in our experience they were not — their guilty pleas may now be subject to challenge as uninformed and involuntary, even after the fact.
Immigration Habeas Filings Jump 250% in North Texas After Policy Shift, Judge Says
Facing a “tsunami of litigation” driven by the Trump administration’s expansive classification of noncitizens as “applicants for admission” — making them ineligible for bond — lawyers and judges in the Northern District of Texas have “answered the call,” with attorneys stepping forward to represent immigrants on a pro bono basis and with judges working around the clock to issue timely, thoughtful orders, U.S. District Judge James Wesley Hendrix said Friday during closing remarks at the district’s annual Bench Bar Conference, held this year in Arlington.
‘People Are Definitely Going to Get Sick’: Trial Over Texas Prison Heat Awaits Ruling
Brandon Duke gazed out a glass wall overlooking downtown Austin and the Colorado River from the 33rd floor of O’Melveny & Myers’ office.
It was April 9, and he had just concluded a nine-day federal trial over a lack of air conditioning in Texas prisons. Outside, the sky hung gray from afternoon rain.
Duke was already worried about the heat inside prison walls that will only intensify in the months ahead.