Texas Lawyer Names Feld Lifetime Achievement Award Winner

DALLAS, Texas, Aug. 31 -- Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, a law firm, issued the following news release:

Alan D. Feld, one of four senior executive partners at Akin Gump, has been named a recipient of this year's Texas Lawyer Lifetime Achievement award. The recognition is part of the publication's 2018 Professional Excellence Awards and honors those lawyers "who have made their mark on the legal profession in the Lone Star State."

Mr. Feld has more than four decades of experience in corporate finance and securities law as well as a variety of other business transactions. Throughout his career, he has also served in many leadership roles.

In 1985, Mr. Feld was appointed to a position on the Texas State Securities Board, serving as its chairman through 1991. He is presently the chairman of the Southern Methodist University School of Law's executive board and has also served on the American Bar Association Commission on Opportunities for Minorities in the Profession.

Additionally, Mr. Feld has been a lecturer at the Southwestern Medical School and Practising Law Institute and was a member of the board of directors of the Dallas Citizens Council. He is a member of the board of trustees of Southern Methodist University, where he is also chairman of the board's audit committee. Mr. Feld also has served on the board of directors of two New York Stock Exchange-listed companies, Clear Channel Communications, Inc. and Center-Point Properties, Inc.

Of the changes he has seen in the legal profession over the years, Mr. Feld told Texas Lawyer that when he joined Akin Gump in 1960, "very few firms had branch offices or recruited lateral partners," and most firms were concerned about expansion because of the associated risks. Today, he said, "firms are much more aggressive around recruiting laterals." What hasn't changed, he pointed out, "is the steadfast and continued credence and courtesy shown between the members of the profession." For those new to the field, Mr. Feld suggested always adhering to the canons of ethics, "because if you lose your reputation, that is something that you can never recover."