Seven Haynes Boone lawyers have been recognized in Fort Worth Magazine’s 2022 Top Attorneys list in the Greater Fort Worth area. They are Karen Denney, Stephen Pezanosky, Tom Williams, Brian Barnard, Karen Precella, William Greenhill, and Brian Singleterry.
The annual listing is drawn from peer nominations and the recommendation of attorneys in the region. The lawyers will be recognized in the December issue of Fort Worth Magazine.
Learn more about the lawyers below:
Karen Denney, partner – Fort Worth
Karen Denney is a partner in the Labor and Employment Practice Group and is board certified in labor and employment law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Karen represents employers in employment litigation and arbitration matters involving a variety of claims, including claims concerning age, sex, gender, race, national origin, disability, religion, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Fair Labor Standards Act, retaliation, misappropriation, gross negligence, breach of contract, defamation, tortious interference, covenants not to compete and other employment laws and related torts.
She also has represented employers in negotiations and/or proceedings with the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, and the Texas Workforce Commission and parties in numerous arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority and the American Arbitration Association. She frequently prepares employment agreements and employment-related policies, provides management training, and counsels employers on various employment issues concerning hiring, disciplining and terminating employees, investigating employee complaints, social media-related issues, covenants not to compete and in a variety of other areas.
Stephen Pezanosky, partner
For three decades, Steve has handled complex financial restructurings. Steve represents debtors, lenders, lender groups, and other constituents in insolvency matters across the country, as well as buyers and sellers of distressed companies. Although he has worked in numerous business sectors over the years, Steve has developed particular knowledge in the energy, real estate, and technology industries. Steve’s practice is national in scope, including recent matters in New York, Delaware, California, Colorado, Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, and Puerto Rico.
Steve has been recognized as one of the top restructuring practitioners over the past decade in Chambers USA, 2010-2022, Chambers and Partners; The Best Lawyers in America, 2005-2022, Woodward/White, Inc.; and Texas Super Lawyers, 2003-2022, Thomson Reuters. He is a Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy.
Tom Williams, partner
Tom has served as a trusted counselor to companies, individuals, lawyers, and his community for more than 30 years. An experienced litigator and one of only a handful of members of the firm invited to join of the American Board of Trial Advocates, Tom has handled cases across a spectrum of practice areas, including those involving claims of libel, invasion of privacy and other First Amendment issues, copyright and trademark infringement, professional responsibility and professional liability claims, oil and gas disputes, employment disputes, and a variety of commercial, corporate, and business issues.
Tom is well-established in the local legal community, and judges and opponents alike respect his subject-matter knowledge and litigation skill. Before the age of 30, Tom served as vice-chair of the City of Fort Worth Charter Review and Revision Commission. He was appointed by the Supreme Court of Texas to serve the maximum two terms on the Board of Disciplinary Appeals, a statewide judicial body of 12 attorneys appointed by the Supreme Court to hear certain lawyer discipline cases.
Brian Barnard, senior counsel
For more than 35 years, Brian has been providing legal advice and business counsel to senior management teams, boards of directors and in-house lawyers of public and private companies on general corporate matters, mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings, reporting requirements and corporate governance. He has earned recognition for his work on a number of landmark transactions and he was named as a BTI Client Service All-Star by BTI Consulting Group in 2018 based on nominations from general counsels and other legal decision-makers.
Brian counsels buyers and sellers of public and private companies through merger and acquisition transactions, including documenting and negotiating the transaction. Clients in the securities and capital markets have the benefit of Brian's experience with assisting both issuers and underwriters in a range of public and private equity and debt offerings.
Karen Precella, senior counsel
Karen has secured favorable rulings in all phases of trial and appellate proceedings—from pre-trial summary judgment to post-verdict motions for judgment notwithstanding the verdict to appeals at the intermediate and supreme court levels. Karen, co-chair of Haynes Boone’s Appellate Practice Group, has briefed and argued numerous cases in the Fifth Circuit and Texas appellate courts. She understands that an appellate practice involves not only an in-depth knowledge and respect of the law but also working together with the trial team to get the best results for the client.
Karen speaks and writes frequently on appellate issues and has earned a state-wide reputation on jury charge and mandamus procedures through her legal writing and bar service. She served a three-year term as Chair of the State Bar Pattern Jury Charge Committee for the Business Volume, served on the Pattern Jury Charge Oversight Committee, and now serves on the Pattern Jury Charge Committee for the Oil and Gas Volume.
William Greenhill, counsel
Bill advises corporate decision makers, in-house counsel, and financial industry executives on structuring complicated corporate and financial transactions to promote their business objectives. His clients include established public and private corporations involved in debt, equity, and merger and acquisition transactions; financial institutions involved in structured financings; start-up companies whose goal is either to "go public" or to build up their business to become attractive for purchase; and businesses, including underwriters, borrowers, collateral agents, and trustees involved in sophisticated taxable and tax-exempt municipal bond transactions.
During the course of his 30+ years of practice, Bill has also assisted large corporation, start-ups and emerging businesses in navigating the securities/capital markets and the complex laws which regulate them. Bill also advises clients who deal with land use regulation and zoning issues on a state-wide basis.
Brian Singleterry, associate
Brian Singleterry brings wide-ranging litigation experience to his client’s legal problems. Before attending law school, Brian worked in a corporate legal department, giving him first-hand knowledge of the client’s perspective on litigation. Brian then graduated first in his class from Texas A&M School of Law, where he served as an article editor on the Texas A&M Law Review and earned a business-law certificate. Before joining the firm, Brian gained a broad array of litigation experience, having worked as a state prosecutor, a federal-court law clerk, and in private practice handling personal-injury, professional-liability, and business cases.
Now an associate in the Haynes Boone Litigation Practice Group, Brian counsels clients from the Fort Worth office. His practice focuses on commercial and employment litigation. Outside work, Brian runs half marathons, reads history, and enjoys time with his wife and two daughters.
