DALLAS (Sept. 17, 2024) – Dallas-based FBFK Law today announced that seven of its shareholder/ attorneys, Dan Baucum, Kelly Kubasta, Todd Shadle, Richard Spencer, Rachael Smiley, Steve Toland and Chris Williams have been selected to the distinguished 2024 Edition of the Texas Super Lawyers list.
Super Lawyers is a rating service of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas who have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement. The selection process includes independent research, peer nominations and peer evaluations. Of those nominated, only five percent of the total lawyers in the state are selected for inclusion.
FBFK attorneys selected as 2024 Texas Super Lawyers include:
A tax and business attorney with extensive private practice and IRS experience, Baucum is a four-time Texas Super Lawyer and represents business owners and investors with tax planning, business issues, and federal tax disputes. He also consults with legal and accounting professionals on federal tax matters and IRS practice. Baucum is a past Chair of the State Bar of Texas Tax Section, a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel, and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law and at Baylor Law School. He is a seven-time The Best Lawyers in America honoree.
A 16-year Texas Super Lawyer and leader of FBFK’s intellectual property practice group, Kubasta counsels on a wide array of intellectual property issues, including developing and maintaining patent and trademark portfolios, monetizing intellectual property assets through technology and marketing transactions, and enforcing and defending intellectual property assets through the courts, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board, and the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board. He is a nine-time The Best Lawyers in America honoree, has previously served as a Board Member of organizations such as TeXchange DFW and My Possibilities and works with various non-profit organizations.
A five-time Texas Super Lawyer and Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law, Shadle has spent nearly 30 years handling complex employment law cases before state and federal agencies, and litigating claims that cannot be resolved. He also handles complex business disputes including cases involving breach of contract, partnership disputes and others. Shadle has been selected as one of the nation’s 100 Most Powerful Employment Lawyers by Lawdragon, named to the 2024 Dallas 500 by D CEO Magazine, was chosen as a “Best Lawyers in Dallas” by D Magazine, is a five-time honoree by The Best Lawyers in America, and is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell®.
Recognized for 22 consecutive years as a Texas Super Lawyer, Spencer is triple-Board Certified in real estate law and was a member of the Texas Board of Legal Specialization real estate advisory commission. He is a Fellow in the American College of Real Estate Attorneys, a Director of the Texas Bar College, and was Chairman of both the Real Property Probate and Trust Law (REPTL) Section of the State Bar Texas and the Texas College of Real Estate Attorneys. He is also a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and a recipient of the REPTL Distinguished Real Estate Attorney Lifetime Achievement Award, State Bar of Texas Weatherbie Workhorse Award and Standing Ovation Award, and the State Bar College Jim Bowmer Professionalism Award. He’s also a 2024 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Real Estate Lawyers honoree, a Society of Legal Scholars member and a well-recognized Course Director, author, and presenter in advanced real estate law courses.
A seasoned bankruptcy and restructuring attorney and chair of the FBFK restructuring group, Smiley has specific expertise in all steps of the Chapter 11 reorganization process, including asset sales, plan confirmation, and post-confirmation plan administration. A four-time Texas Super Lawyer and a 2024 honoree by The Best Lawyers in America, she serves as Global President-Elect of the Turnaround Management Association (TMA), she is a Member of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the Dallas Bar Association – Bankruptcy and Commercial Law section and has served as Chair of the DFW network of IWIRC (International Women’s Insolvency and Restructuring Confederation).
A five-time Texas Super Lawyer and Board Certified in Criminal Law, Toland has more than 20 years of experience focused on federal and state criminal defense, with an emphasis on federal white-collar defense and investigations. Additionally, Toland is a certified data privacy specialist (CIPP/US), who regularly advises companies on managing risk in connection with extensive data collection and use through the creation and implementation of privacy and information security programs, and development of written data privacy policies and procedures. He is an honoree of The Best Lawyers in America, an active member of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, National Association of Criminal Defense Attorneys, and International Association of Privacy Professionals.
A more than 25-year corporate attorney and chair of FBFK’s corporate transactional group, Williams is a two-time Texas Super Lawyer and has extensive experience in corporate securities, mergers and acquisitions, transactional and compliance areas including public offerings and private placements of equity and debt securities, mergers and acquisitions. He has represented public and private companies on a broad range of corporate governance issues and provided corporate secretary duties, including providing counsel directly to boards of directors and C-level executives.
