Haynes and Boone, LLP has promoted to counsel eight lawyers from the firm’s Austin, Dallas, Dallas-North, Houston, New York, and Orange County offices.
The new counsel are: Raquel Alvarenga, Edward Bontkowski, Andrew Cohn, Sam Drezdzon, Natalie DuBose, Chad Hammerlind, Joseph Lawlor, and Scott Thompson.
“We are pleased to elevate these deserving lawyers to counsel,” said Managing Partner Taylor Wilson. “They have distinguished themselves through strong leadership and their dedication to providing the highest level of client service.”
Learn more about the firm’s new counsel below:
Raquel Alvarenga
Raquel Alvarenga focuses her practice on counseling corporate clients on critical workplace issues. Raquel has extensive experience litigating all manner of labor and employment disputes and regularly advises corporate clients on labor and employment issues in the context of major corporate transactions. Raquel also has first-chair experience conducting internal investigations for corporate clients, non-profit organizations, and higher education institutions concerning allegations of employee misconduct and sexual assault. She received her bachelor’s degree from Harvard University, her master of business administration from New York Institute of Technology, and her juris doctor from Cornell Law School
Edward Bontkowski
Edward Bontkowski is a member of the Finance Practice Group in the firm’s Houston office. Edward concentrates his practice on the representation of financial institutions and borrowers in complex financing transactions and other energy-related financing transactions. He has experience with corporate financing transactions, including asset-based lending, senior secured and subordinated debt financings and acquisition financings. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and his juris doctor from Columbia Law School.
Andrew Cohn
Andrew Cohn is a member of the Intellectual Property (IP) Practice Group in the firm’s Orange County office. His practice focuses on patent prosecution and patent analysis, and he has experience in the following technical fields: financial technology and digital payment systems, software applications, mobile devices and mobile applications, artificial intelligence, computer animation and visual effects, user interfaces, video and Internet gaming, digital content and delivery, and wireless computer networks. He received his bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Southern California and his juris doctor from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.
Sam Drezdzon
Samuel Drezdzon is a member of the IP Practice Group in the firm’s Dallas-North office. Sam’s practice focuses on patent litigation and inter partes review (IPR) proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. He has experience defending Fortune 500 companies in IPR proceedings involving complex technologies such as telecommunications, audio/video codecs, wireless and internet networks, and semiconductor chip fabrication. Sam’s practice also includes litigating patent cases before U.S. District Courts and the U.S. International Trade Commission and negotiating licensing agreements for patent portfolios declared standard essential. He received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin – Madison, his master’s degree from Duke University, and his juris doctor from George Washington University Law School.
Natalie DuBose
Natalie DuBose is a member of the Insurance Recovery Practice Group in the firm’s Dallas office. Natalie has successfully represented public and private policyholders in disputes across Texas on all types of insurance coverage matters, including directors and officers, commercial general liability, property, errors and omissions, event cancellation, and builders risk, and cyber coverage. Natalie has represented corporate policyholders in coverage disputes in state and federal courts, arbitration, mediation, and appeals. She received her bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and her juris doctor from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Chad Hammerlind
Chad Hammerlind is a member of the IP Practice Group in the firm’s Austin office. His practice focuses on drafting and prosecuting foreign and domestic patent applications related to electrical, telecommunication, mechanical, medical device, software, and computer technologies. Before joining Haynes and Boone, Chad was a Lead IP Attorney at a Fortune 50 cloud computing/information technology company. Prior to becoming an attorney, Chad was a radiation oncology field engineer and led installations and commissioning of multimillion-dollar radiation oncology treatment systems including imaging systems, patient positioning systems, radiation collimators, and cancer treatment planning software. He received his bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering with an emphasis in cell and tissue engineering from University of Minnesota and his juris doctor from William Mitchell College of Law.
Joseph Lawlor
Joseph Lawlor is an IP and advertising lawyer in the firm’s New York office. He litigates and counsels clients involved in high-stakes advertising, branding, media, and First Amendment disputes. Joe frequently appears in federal courts, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), and the National Advertising Division (NAD). He frequently provides client counsel and thought leadership on cutting-edge advertising and trademark issues. Joe’s clients span a wide variety of industries, including consumer goods, higher education, media, retail, pharmaceuticals, professional sports, and cryptocurrencies. He received his bachelor’s degree from St. John's University and his juris doctor from Fordham University School of Law.
Scott Thompson
Scott Thompson is a member of the Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation Practice Group in the Dallas office. He represents buyers and sellers in corporate transactions by identifying and correcting employee benefit plan issues (such as retirement plan qualification failures and compliance with Sections 409A and 280G of the Internal Revenue Code), as well as negotiating and drafting the purchase agreement and other transaction-related documents. Scott also advises clients on payroll and unemployment tax complexities and issues that may arise when employee groups are consolidated with or transferred to another entity in a corporate transaction or reorganization. He helps public and private companies implement and administer executive compensation and employee stock ownership plans (ESOPs). Scott received his bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and his juris doctor from Texas A&M University School of Law.
Haynes and Boone is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., London, Mexico City and Shanghai, providing a full spectrum of legal services in energy, technology, financial services and private equity. With 600 lawyers, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest U.S.-based firms by The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and The Lawyer. It was recognized across the board for excellence in the BTI Consulting Group’s 2020 “A-Team” report, which identifies the law firms that in-house counsel commend for providing superior client service.