Dallas Women Lawyers Association (DWLA) is pleased to announce the recipients for the organization’s 2021 Annual Awards Reception. Our honorees represent an outstanding group of legal and community leaders.
The prestigious Raggio Award is named for DWLA co-founder and Dallas legal pioneer Louise B. Raggio, who was the first female prosecutor in Dallas County history and who helped develop the Texas Family Code. Each year, the organization presents the Raggio Award to someone who has demonstrated the highest levels of professionalism while making significant contributions to the advancement of women attorneys. Other awards include Outstanding Corporate Counsel, Outstanding Woman Lawyer, Outstanding Jurist, Rising Raggio and the James E. Coleman Jr. “Her Champion” award, which recognizes a man who has supported, encouraged, uplifted, mentored, and promoted the advancement and development of women in the legal profession.
DWLA’s Awards will be presented virtually on Wednesday, October 27. More details to come.
LOUISE B. RAGGIO AWARD RECIPIENT
Irma Carrillo Ramirez was sworn in as United States Magistrate Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, on September 9, 2002. In that role, she handles federal civil cases, matters and motions in a wide variety of areas, as well as criminal preliminary felony proceedings, motions, and trials and sentencings in misdemeanor and petty offense cases.
Prior to her appointment, she served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, where she spent time in both the criminal and civil divisions. Before joining the United States Attorney’s Office, she was an associate attorney in the general commercial litigation section of the law firm of Locke Purnell Rain Harrell L.L.P.
She received her law degree in 1991 from Southern Methodist University School of Law, Dallas, Texas, where she was a Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Fellow. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree from West Texas State University, Canyon, Texas, in 1986.
Judge Ramirez has received the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law’s Distinguished Alumni Award for Judicial Service, the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association’s La Luz Achievement Award, the SMU Women in Law Distinguished Alumna Award, a Federal Executive Board Public Service Award, and the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers’ Outstanding Mentor Award. She is a member of SMU Dedman School of Law’s Executive Board, a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and the Texas Bar Foundation, a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation, a Sustaining Life Fellow of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, a Fellow of the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation, a Master in the William “Mac” Taylor Inn of Court, and an SMU Community Fellow. She is also a member of the Judicial Division of the American Bar Association, the Texas Bar Association, the Dallas Bar Association, the Dallas Chapter of the Federal Bar Association, and the Federal Magistrate Judges Association. She has served two terms on the Board of Trustees for the Texas Center for Legal Ethics, including as the Chair, and as a Trial Advocacy instructor at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. Judge Ramirez is also a frequent presenter at educational programs sponsored by legal and civic groups as well as schools.
OUTSTANDING CORPORATE COUNSEL AWARD RECIPIENT
A. Lynne Puckett is the Senior Vice President and General Counsel for Celanese Corporation. She joined Celanese in February 2019 as Senior Vice President and General Counsel. Prior to Celanese, Ms. Puckett was Senior Vice President‚ General Counsel, and Secretary of Colfax Corporation since 2010.
Prior to Colfax‚ she was a Partner with the law firm of Hogan Lovells. Her experience includes a broad range of corporate and transactional matters‚ including mergers and acquisitions‚ venture capital financings‚ debt and equity offerings‚ and general corporate and securities law matters. Before entering the practice of law‚ Ms. Puckett worked for the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and a major U.S. defense contractor.
Ms. Puckett holds a J.D. from the University of Maryland School of Law and a B.S. degree from James Madison University.
OUTSTANDING WOMAN LAWYER AWARD RECIPIENT
Scarlet McNellie is Norton Rose Fulbright’s US Head of Corporate, M&A and Securities.
She has experience representing public and private companies in the energy, insurance, technology, media, life sciences, health care, and banking sectors, in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and spin-off transactions, securities transactions including equity and debt offerings, tender offers, rights offerings and exchange offers, power and alternative energy transactions.
Her focus also includes compliance work with respect to federal and state securities laws and SEC, NYSE and Nasdaq rules and regulations, corporate governance matters, private equity transactions and venture capital investments. In addition, Scarlet represents insurance companies providing M&A representations and warranties insurance coverage.
Scarlett has a JD, from the University of Texas School of Law (2003) and a BA, Economics at Dartmouth College (2000)
RISING RAGGIO AWARD RECIPIENT
Haleigh Jones is an attorney with Crawford, Wishnew Lang. She has broad commercial litigation experience representing both plaintiffs and defendants at every stage of lawsuits involving breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, fraud, business divorce, and real estate.
The most important component of Haleigh’s practice is service to others. She is an attentive and zealous advocate for her clients, as well as a servant of the local and state bar. She serves as the Treasurer of the 2021 Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, she chairs several committees of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers, and has participated in multiple leadership classes hosted by the State Bar of Texas and local bar associations. Haleigh also volunteers her time to coach SMU law students in moot court programs that compete nationally.
The advocacy skills Haleigh developed in law school have played a fundamental role in Haleigh’s ability to earn recognition and results early in her career. She is known for her ability to communicate effectively with courts in writing and in argument. Those skills have earned her recognition on D Magazine’s List of “Best Lawyers Under 40” since 2020 and on Thomson Reuters’ list of “Rising Stars” in the area of business litigation since 2019.
Prior to attending law school, Haleigh studied Spanish and Political Science at the University of Cincinnati, and worked in D.C. for Cincinnati Congressman Steve Chabot of the First District of Ohio. She joined Crawford, Wishnew & Lang PLLC after clerking for the Honorable Justice Douglas Lang of the Fifth District Court of Appeals of Texas and beginning her practice at an American Lawyer top-50 firm.
OUTSTANDING JURIST AWARD RECIPIENT
The Honorable Audrey F. Moorehead is the first woman elected Judge of Dallas County Criminal Court No. 3. Based in Dallas for fourteen years, Judge Moorehead had her own practice specializing in Criminal Defense, Domestic Relations, Wills, Trusts and Probate. She is the 2021 President-Elect for the Texas County Court at Law Judges Association. She began her professional career in executive management with the Visiting Nurse Association of Texas. She was a Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Judge Jay Patterson, 101st District Court and Judicial Intern for the Honorable Judge Sam A. Lindsay, Northern District of Texas.
Judge Moorehead served as the only African American female on the Board of Directors of the State Bar of Texas (SBOT) from 2015-2018 including the Executive Committee. She is a former Regional Director for the National Bar Association and former President of the SBOT African American Lawyer’s Section. She served two terms on the Board of Directors of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association (TCDLA) and the only African American to serve on the Executive Committee. Judge Moorehead serves on the Board of Trustees, is a faculty member and frequent lecturer for the Texas Center for Legal Ethics. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Dallas Bar Association and the CASA Children’s Council. Judge Moorehead is a member of the 2017 class of Leadership Texas, serves on the Board of Directors for Legal Hospice of Texas, Advisory Board of Dallas Women Lawyers and Unlocking Doors, an innovative prison reentry program. She is a member of the Dallas Bar Foundation and Texas Bar Foundation. Moorehead serves on the American Bar Association Judicial Council and is a presidential appointee to the ABA Ethics and Professionalism Committee. She is a frequent speaker and has presented for the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, SBOT Advanced Family, Advanced Criminal, Advanced Labor and Employment and many others.
She holds a Master of Business Administration and serves on the Alumni Board of Texas A & M School of Law. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, National Council of Negro Women, Top Ladies of Distinction, Incorporated, National Association of Negro Business and Professional Women’s Clubs, Incorporated, National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Incorporated, the Dallas Summit, Lions Club International and The Rotary Club of Dallas
JAMES E. COLEMAN, JR. “HER CHAMPION” AWARD RECIPIENT
During his 25 years as a corporate finance partner at Haynes and Boone, Paul Amiel has helped CEO’s, CFO’s, private equity sponsors and lenders of every type negotiate, document and close billions of dollars of debt financings. Clients who rely on Paul to represent them in these critical negotiations, whether they are small business owners, public companies, local financial institutions or large money-center banks, value his broad experience in all types of debt, his knowledge of market trends, his practical approach to negotiations and most of all his commitment to understanding and focusing on the client’s goals.
Paul’s experience early in his career representing Texas banks, savings and loan associations and other financial institutions in structuring and documenting loan transactions and workouts has given him the knowledge to successfully represent his corporate and private equity clients as they negotiate financing transactions with their lenders – transactions which are frequently vital to the continued success of their operations. Paul has broad experience in documenting and negotiating senior secured and unsecured debt, second lien loans, mezzanine investments and other forms of subordinated debt, as well as all forms of acquisition financing. Paul also represents clients in drafting and negotiating various types of commercial contracts and counseling them on general corporate matters. Paul’s technical experience, coupled with his practical approach, has won him the respect of both his peers and his clients.
Prior to commencing his legal career with Haynes and Boone, Paul spent six years as a naval officer serving on Admiral Rickover’s staff at the United States division of Naval Reactors, learning firsthand the importance of commitment to ideals and a rigorous approach to one’s vocation. This training helped Paul recognize that understanding a client’s business and goals is equally as important as technical legal skills. With a finance degree from Notre Dame, an MBA from George Washington University and a law degree from University of Virginia, Paul has the educational background and knowledge necessary to fully comprehend the challenges of operating a successful business in today’s challenging business environment.
Paul has served as a member of the board of directors of several local charitable organizations. He has been involved with many of Haynes and Boone’s internal committees, and served as the firm’s chief information officer for more than 20 years.
“It is an honor to celebrate this year’s recipients at our Virtual Awards Reception. Each recipient expemlifies the values of our mission to elevate the standing of women in the legal profession. It is a pleasure to recognize them for their legal achievements and their involvement in the community,” says Jennifer A. King, President, Dallas Women Lawyers Association.
Dallas Women Lawyers Association was founded in 1969 and is a non-profit organization that works to benefit women attorneys and elevate the standing of women in the legal profession. Founding members include acclaimed Dallas lawyers Louise B. Raggio, Judge Sarah T. Hughes and Joann Peters.
