Chamberlain Hrdlicka adds Eight Attorneys in Houston

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Christine Borrett, John Fields, Christopher Hydrick, Karl Jackson, Jr., Tara LeDay, Michael Preng, Calla Sprague and Renu Tandale join Chamberlain Hrdlicka Houston Office

Christine BorrettJohn FieldsChristopher HydrickKarl Jackson, Jr.Tara LeDayMichael PrengCalla Sprague and Renu Tandale recently joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Houston office, adding to the Bankruptcy, Restructuring & Creditor Rights; Commercial Litigation; Corporate, Securities and Finance; Labor & Employment; Tax Controversy; Tax Planning & Business Transactions; and Trusts & Estates practices.

“Our ability to attract up-and-coming attorneys in an increasingly competitive landscape is a reflection of Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s reputation in the market,” said Larry Campagna, managing shareholder for Chamberlain Hrdlicka. “Talented young attorneys understand that our mid-size, entrepreneurial structure provides them with hands-on opportunities as well as the mentorship of experienced attorneys, leading to an accelerated pace of professional development.”

Christine Borrett

Borrett joined the firm as senior counsel in the Trusts & Estates practice, where she will focus on income, gift and estate tax planning. With more than 20 years of legal experience, her expertise includes all aspects of wills and trusts, marital property agreements, retirement planning, asset preservation planning, business transition planning, entity formation, real estate transactions involving estates and family limited partnerships, as well as charitable planning strategies with private foundations and split-interest trusts. Borrett also has extensive experience in probate and estate administration, including preparing estate and gift tax returns and provides legal counsel in contested matters for estate and trust administrations.

Borrett graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin and received her law degree from the University of Houston Law Center, where she has been an adjunct professor since 2020, teaching a course on Post Mortem Estate Planning. She is a frequent speaker at seminars and professional association meetings and is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in estate planning and probate. Active in the legal community, she is a board member of the Wednesday Tax Forum and The Estate Forum, and a past president of the Houston Estate and Financial Forum. She is also a member of the Houston Bar Association’s Taxation Section Probate, Trusts & Estate Section and the Houston Business & Estate Planning Council. She’s been serving on the Editorial Committee for Texas Probate System, 4th Ed., James E. Brill and Russell W. Hall ed., State Bar of Texas since 2014 and was named Texas Rising Star in Estate Planning and Probate Law from 2011 to 2016.

John Fields

Fields joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Tax Planning & Business Transactions group as an associate, where he advises corporations, partnerships, and limited liability companies on the federal income tax aspects of business transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, partnership arrangements, and financial restructurings. Prior to joining the firm, he worked for a business law firm and as general counsel to a financial services company based in Houston. He brings experience helping clients handle business and tax issues associated with owning, operating, and transferring a business.

Fields graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor of business administration degree, with a major in accounting and management. He earned his law degree from the University of Houston Law Center. While in law school, he was an Articles Editor for the Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy and a Presenter on the University of Houston Law Center’s Honor Board. Governor Greg Abbott appointed Fields to serve as a Regent on the University of Houston System Board of Regents during the 2019-2020 term

Christopher Hydrick

Hydrick joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka as an associate in the Corporate, Securities and Finance practice. His experience includes representing clients in manufacturing, oil and gas, technology, healthcare, and commercial real estate in cross-border and domestic corporate transactions. He also advises on corporate structuring and corporate governance matters.

Hydrick received his law degree, cum laude, from the University of Miami School of Law. While there, he was named Dean’s Fellow and received Dean’s Merit Scholarship. During law school, he participated in the Investor Rights Clinic, a pro bono securities arbitration clinic, and was a summer law clerk at Grandway Law (北京国枫律师事务所) in Chengdu, China. Prior to law school, he earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, in International Relations from the University of Alabama, where he was the Presidential Scholarship Recipient, Russian Strong Scholarship Recipient and a member of the Russian Honor Society. He also received a master’s degree in Translation in Spanish and Russian from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In addition to Spanish and Russian, he also speaks basic conversational Mandarin.

Karl E. Jackson, Jr.

Jackson joined the firm as an associate in the Tax Controversy practice. With four years of legal experience, Jackson has represented retailers, clinical research companies, manufacturers, commodities sellers, developers, and high-net-worth individuals strategize and implement business and tax-planning strategies, negotiate and finalize acquisition documents, and successfully resolve tax controversies.

Jackson graduated from Lindenwood University with a bachelor’s degree in accounting. He earned both his law degree and his LL.M. degree in Taxation from the University of Houston Law Center. While there, he was a Graduate Research Assistant. He served as a contributing editor for the Consumer and Commercial Law Journal and as the Vice Chair of Finance for the Board of Advocates.

Tara LeDay

LeDay joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Bankruptcy, Restructuring, & Creditor Rights practice as an associate, where she will represent bankruptcy trustees, creditors, and corporate and high net-worth debtors. She has over five years of experience representing creditors in national bankruptcy matters, with a particular focus on property tax representation. She also served in a supervisory capacity as managing attorney of the bankruptcy group and Compliance Director.

LeDay has graduated with a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Southwestern University and earned her law degree from Baylor Law School. She is a member of the Young Lawyer Committee of the Bankruptcy Section of the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to over twenty-five federal courts across the nation.

Michael Preng

Preng joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka as an associate in the Tax Planning & Business Transactions practice, where he will represent closely-held businesses, public companies and individual business owners on a wide range of corporate matters, including formation, governance, contract negotiation, and developing efficient tax planning strategies to maximize their revenues and minimize risk. With 12 years of corporate and tax law experience, he is an experienced corporate M&A attorney with extensive expertise in mergers & acquisitions, including legal research, planning, structuring, as well as other related transactional matters. Prior to joining the firm, he worked in the M&A tax practice for a Big Four accounting firm and the corporate transaction practice for an international law firm.

Preng earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Tulane University, received a law degree from South Texas College of Law and graduated with an LLM degree in Taxation from the University of Houston Law Center. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Tax Section and the Houston Bar Association, Tax Section.

Calla Sprague

Sprague joined the firm as an associate in the Tax Planning & Business Transactions practice, where she will focus on the formation and governance of corporations, limited liability companies, and partnerships. With five years of Estate Planning and Estate and Gift Tax experience, she previously helped clients minimize estate tax.

Sprague graduated from Wichita State University, cum laude, with a bachelor’s degree in political science and government. She received her law degree from Washburn University School of Law. She’s a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Houston Young Lawyers Association. She’s been named to Texas Rising Stars in 2022 and Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in 2021

Renu Tandale

Tandale joined Chamberlain Hrdlicka’s Labor & Employment and Commercial Litigation practices as an associate. Prior to joining the firm, she represented plaintiffs and defendants in a wide range of commercial litigation issues, with a primary focus on employment-related disputes.

Tandale graduated from the University of Houston with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and earned her law degree from South Texas College of Law Houston. While in law school, she worked as a law clerk for a personal injury firm, served as a representative for the Student Bar Association and the American Bar Association, and was the lead student representative for LexisNexis. She is a member of the Houston Bar Association, South Asian Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, Texas Young Lawyers Association, and Texas Association of Defense Counsel.

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