Six Haynes and Boone, LLP lawyers — in the Dallas, Fort Worth and Houston offices — have been elected to membership as Fellows of the Texas Bar Foundation.
They are Partners Sakina Rasheed Foster and Janice V. Sharry in Dallas; Partner Stephen M. Pezanosky and Counsel Sharon M. Cooper in Fort Worth; and Associates Wolf McGavran and Arsalan Muhammad in Houston.
Fellows are chosen for their outstanding professional achievements and their demonstrated commitment to the improvement of the justice system throughout Texas. Each year, one-third of 1 percent of State Bar of Texas members are invited to become Fellows. Once nominees are selected, they must be elected by the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees.
The Texas Bar Foundation is the largest charitably funded bar foundation in the United States. Founded in 1965, the organization uses contributions from its members to build a strong justice system for all Texans and has distributed more than $18 million to help nonprofit groups with a wide range of justice-related programs and services.
Here’s more about the new Fellows:
Sakina Rasheed Foster: A partner in the Finance Practice Group, Foster is experienced in secured and unsecured lending and leads teams representing major international corporate borrowers, airlines, private equity sponsors and other financial institutions in complex high-dollar financing and corporate deals. She is also part of the firm’s Aviation Practice Group and was key to the firm engaging a large international aviation client for its U.S. legal needs.
She has served as president of the Dallas Asian American Bar Association and as Dallas Bar Association secretary-treasurer. She is a DBA director and helped lead the DBA group that in 2017 formed the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program Endowment to raise long-term funding for legal aid to the poor in North Texas.
She also chairs the State Bar of Texas Lawyers Assistance Program, co-chaired the 2017-2018 Equal Access to Justice Campaign benefiting the DVAP and volunteers with the Orchid Giving Circle (a Dallas Women’s Foundation group that raises funds for North Texas Asians in need). She completed Leadership Dallas in 2016 and served as an adviser for the 2017 class.
Dallas Business Journal recognized Foster as a 2018 “40 Under 40” honoree in North Texas. She also is a member of The American Lawyer’s new Young Lawyer Editorial Board, which was announced in February. In 2017, Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars named her among the Up-and-Coming 50 Women in Texas, and the National Diversity Council chose her as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Dallas. The Dallas Association of Young Lawyers named her Outstanding Young Lawyer in 2015, and D Magazine recognized her as a Best Lawyer for Banking and Finance in 2016.
Janice V. Sharry: A partner in the Capital Markets & Securities Practice Group, Sharry has decades of experience across a wide array of areas, including the energy, aviation, healthcare and food industries.
She has been recognized by Chambers USA, Chambers & Partners, 2008-2018, as a leading corporate securities and mergers and acquisitions lawyer. Over the course of her career, she has advised numerous corporations (public and privately held) and private equity firms navigating complex multinational transactions and capital raises. She has assisted clients with fiduciary duty and conflicts issues, initial public offerings, issuance of new debt or equity securities, SEC filings, shareholder relations, and acquisition, divestiture and restructuring of portfolio companies.
Sharry has been recognized by Texas Super Lawyers, published by Thomson Reuters and by Best Lawyers in America, published by Woodward/White, Inc. She is an active member of the Executive Women’s Roundtable of the Dallas Regional Chamber and is a part chair. Her involvement with the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas includes serving on the Steering Committee of the Women of Tocqueville and the Executive Leadership Team for the Go Red for Women Luncheon. She also is a Dallas Women’s Foundation Executive Committee member and serves on Know College Board of Trustees.
Stephen M. Pezanosky: A partner in the Restructuring Practice Group, Pezanosky has more than 25 years of experience handling complex financial restructurings. He represents debtors, lenders, lender groups and other constituents in insolvency matters across the United States and has handled cases in more than a dozen states. He also represents buyers and sellers of distressed companies. Pezanosky has worked in numerous business sectors over the years and has developed particular knowledge in the energy, real estate and technology industries.
He has been recognized as one of the top restructuring practitioners over the past decade by inclusion in Chambers USA, Chambers & Partners (2010-2018); The Best Lawyers in America, Woodward/White, Inc. (2005-2018); Texas Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters (2003-2017); D Magazine's Best Lawyers in Dallas, D Magazine Partners (2015-2017); Fort Worth, Texas, Magazine's Top Attorneys, Bankruptcy, Panther City Media Group, LP (2004-2017); Fort Worth Business Press “Attorneys of Excellence – Elite 100” (2003-2005); and D Magazine’s “Best Lawyers in Dallas Under 40,” D Magazine Partners (2002).
Sharon M. Cooper: A counsel in the Corporate Practice Group, Cooper concentrates on mergers, acquisitions, corporate securities, corporate governance, reporting obligations and other general corporate compliance issues for a wide array of publicly traded and private companies. She previously served as in-house counsel for a publicly traded company, giving her the insight to advise corporate clients on how her legal advice affects the bigger picture for their businesses.
She has been named among Fort Worth Magazine’s Top Attorneys for Corporate Finance/Mergers and Acquisitions 2009-2017, Panther-City Media Group. And she serves on the Member Networking Committee of Texas Wall Street Women.
Wolf McGavran: An associate in the Litigation Practice Group, McGavran handles complex legal disputes in a variety of industries, including claims involving breach of contract, indemnity, misappropriation of trade secrets, breach of warranty, business torts and environmental issues.
He has been selected for Texas Super Lawyers Rising Stars, Thomson Reuters, in business litigation, 2013-2018. He is active in the community, including with the United Way, the German American Chamber of Commerce, the Texas Civil Rights Project and the BP MS 150 bike ride benefitting multiple sclerosis research, advocacy and support programs.
Arsalan Muhammad: An associate in the Restructuring Practice Group, Muhammad focuses on bankruptcy law, bankruptcy-related financings, acquisitions and litigation. His experience includes representing Chapter 11 debtors, secured and unsecured creditors, petitioning creditors and other parties-in-interest.
He is a member of the American Bankruptcy Institute and The Honorable Arthur L. Moller/David B. Foltz, Jr. American Inn of Court. He also is active in Haynes and Boone’s pro bono work, recently representing a low-income individual in a Chapter 7 bankruptcy adversary proceeding.