HOUSTON (Nov. 13, 2019) – Hicks Thomas LLP is pleased to congratulate Mattress Firm’s talented general counsel Kindel Elam Nuño and senior litigation counsel Mindy Harper for winning 2019 Magna Stella Awards from the Texas General Counsel Forum.
Each year the TGCF recognizes excellent in-house counsel work at Texas corporations, organizations and agencies with its Magna Stella Awards.
“As the GC Forum notes, ‘magna stella’ means ‘magnificent star,’ and that is an apt description for Kindel and Mindy and their work handling litigation for our client Mattress Firm,” said Hicks Thomas co-founder John B. Thomas whose firm nominated the pair. “We were very fortunate to have them as our partners in litigating and negotiating a variety of issues facing the company.”
Ms. Nuño, executive vice president and general counsel, was chosen for her work and leadership in the Small Legal Department category. Ms. Harper, vice president and senior litigation counsel, earned honors in the Major Litigation category. Their employer, Houston-based Mattress Firm, is the largest specialty mattress retailer in the country, and Hicks Thomas regularly serves as outside counsel for the company.
Ms. Nuño has led the company through several legal challenges as both a private and public company. She guided major litigation with Mattress Firm’s principal supplier and championed its financial restructuring that strengthened the company’s balance sheet and optimized its nationwide store footprint. In a span of 18 months, she managed the resolution of Mattress Firm’s primary legal disputes, completed a pre-packaged financial restructuring and counseled the company in its successful efforts to reunite with Tempur-Pedic.
Ms. Harper, who spent many years as a successful litigator in private practice, now uses her litigation skills to manage the retail giant’s nationwide litigation docket and oversees numerous outside counsel on a diverse docket of cases. Her recognition by TGCF for handling major litigation recognizes her strategic vision for helping to successfully resolve numerous contract and intellectual property disputes with the company’s long-term suppliers as well as shutting down unfair competition tactics of competitors.
The Texas General Counsel Forum has more than 650 in-house counsel members representing over 450 companies across the state. To see all the Magna Stella honorees, visit https://www.tgcf.org/magna-stella-awards-dinner/.
About Mattress Firm
Since 1986, Mattress Firm has made it easy to get a great night’s sleep by providing our customers an expertly curated collection of quality mattresses from the best brands. Today, with more than 2,500 neighborhood stores, we strive to become America’s most trusted authority on sleep by placing our customer at the center of everything we do. Our experts help more than three million people a year find the right solution for their sleep needs. Our selection of mattresses and bedding accessories include leading brands such as Serta®, Simmons®, Tempur-Pedic®, tulo™, Sleepy’s®, INTELLIbed® and Purple®. Committed to serving our communities, the Mattress Firm Foster Kids program, in partnership with the Ticket to Dream Foundation, hosts three collection drives a year in communities nationwide to help foster children get better sleep so they can shape a better future. For more information, visit www.mattressfirm.com.
About Hicks Thomas
Founded in 1997, Texas-based Hicks Thomas LLP is a premier litigation firm representing plaintiffs and defendants across the nation. With offices in Houston, Austin, Beaumont, Amarillo, and Sacramento, California, the firm provides in-depth experience in cases involving oil and gas, environmental, complex commercial, toxic tort, construction, products liability, corporate governance, securities, banking, insurance coverage, transportation, trade secrets and business litigation. Visit the firm at http://www.hicks-thomas.com.
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