Locke Lord Elects 6 New Partners in Austin, Houston and Los Angeles

October 6, 2022 – Locke Lord has promoted six lawyers representing the Firm’s Austin and Houston offices to Partnership level, effective Jan. 1, 2023. The lawyers are members of the Firm’s Health Care, Labor and Employment, Litigation and Real Estate and Finance Practice Groups.

The new Partners are:

In Austin:

Nicole Olvera Cook focuses her practice on commercial real estate transactions and financing. She has extensive experience representing banks in financing secured by commercial real estate, such as retail, office, multifamily, industrial and affordable housing projects. She regularly advises clients with respect to loan originations as well as loan modification, workouts, assumptions and enforcement proceedings.

Daniel Durell has broad litigation experience, including putative class action defense, covering all stages of litigation from pre-trial matters through appeal and post-judgment collection. He represents both plaintiffs and defendants in disputes related to consumer-protection statutes, breach of contract, breach of warranty, real estate transactions, mortgage lending and servicing practices, partition rights, business divorces and leasehold disputes.

Ashley Wheelock concentrates her practice on transactional and regulatory health care matters. She is adept in mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, reorganizations and formations of new professional entities. Her practice also includes advising health care providers and organizations on day-to-day operational issues and dealings involving state and federal compliance, telemedicine and telehealth, Medicare and Medicaid enrollments, state licensing and enforcement issues.

In Houston:

Sagar Patel has broad commercial litigation experience, including business litigation, construction litigation, employment-related disputes, white collar and insurance matters. He has represented both plaintiffs and defendants at every stage of the litigation process in state and federal courts as well as claimants and respondents in domestic and international arbitrations.

Deanna Markowitz Willson represents clients in complex commercial litigation and dispute resolution matters involving contract and license disputes, tort claims, construction litigation, insurance coverage, royalty disputes, fiduciary relations issues, environmental claims, administrative agency actions and alleged statutory violations. She is particularly well regarded for her creative strategies and ability to manage large, multiparty cases, substantial discovery challenges and preparing witnesses for testimony. 

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Locke Lord is a full-service law firm with global reach and 20 offices designed to meet clients’ needs in the United States and around the world. The Firm has a history that spans more than 130 years and is a leader in the middle market arena. Locke Lord focuses on providing the highest levels of commitment, quality and service to clients across its five Key Sectors: Energy and Infrastructure; Finance and Financial Services; Insurance and Reinsurance; Pharmaceutical; and Private Equity. In addition, the Firm advises clients across a broad spectrum of other industries, including fund formation, venture capital, health care, public finance, real estate, technology, cybersecurity and white collar, while providing a wealth of experience through its complex litigation, intellectual property, tax, regulatory and transactional teams.