Gregory M. Cokinos, Principal - Cokinos | Young

Gregory Cokinos is a founder of Cokinos | Young and he has earned a reputation as one of the preeminent lawyers in his field. Gregory’s practice includes all aspects of industrial and commercial construction, including pipelines, power plants, processing plants, refineries, highway construction, as well as offshore production and drilling platforms as well as office buildings, high rise condominiums and schools. Gregory also has extensive experience in real estate transactions and development, having represented owners, developers, landlords and tenants in all areas of commercial real estate acquisition, financing, development, leasing and sale. His project involvement includes central business district office buildings, health care facilities, shopping centers, housing developments and apartments. Although his practice is concentrated in the area of construction and real estate development issues, Gregory has handled a wide range of litigation matters as well as contract negotiations, including significant cases in securities fraud, patent infringement, employment, banking, franchise agreements and oil and gas. Gregory has also handled serious personal injury cases, including brain damage, permanent paralysis and death. Gregory devotes considerable time to the advancement of the industry. After serving as editor of the State Bar Construction Law Section Newsletter, he was instrumental in creating and organizing the Construction Law Journal, a joint publication by the Construction Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and The South Texas College of Law. He became the first editor of the journal, a position he held for the first seventeen years of the publication, until 2019. Gregory is a member of the American College of Construction Lawyers and was the first lawyer from Houston inducted into this invitation organization. Gregory is also an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association, on both the commercial and construction panels, and for the International Center for Dispute Resolution.

Stephanie H. Cook, Principal - Cokinos | Young

Stephanie Cook has extensive experience with a wide range of business disputes, having successfully represented banks, insurance companies, owners, developers, and individuals in complex commercial and construction litigation and bankruptcy for over twenty years. She began her career at Winstead P.C. and worked in the Austin and Houston offices handling lender liability and workouts. She actively served in its leadership committee before moving back to Austin to work in a litigation boutique handling civil and appellate litigation in state and federal courts for insurers, national lending institutions, and construction clients. Stephanie has settled, tried or appealed a broad range of commercial cases in state and federal courts in Texas, from fraud, construction defects, commercial leases, subcontractor and general contractor disputes, director and officer liability, to lender liability and partnership disputes. She continues to represent international and national lending institutions relating to workout, debt restructuring, asset protection, and defaults. Her knowledge of lending practices translates into her ability to assess and protect clients, including contractors, in projects that are financially distressed. Her devotion to the construction industry includes representing contractors before the Texas Legislature on matters important to continued construction success in Texas. She is a member of the Associated General Contractors-Texas Building Branch, Legal Affairs Committee which monitors developing law affecting the construction industry, and partners with experts in engineering and architecture to understand all aspects of construction, engineering, and design. Frequently, she speaks with professional associations on best practices and developing law to understand business risks within the construction industry. Her experience also earned her acceptance into the American Arbitration Association roster for complex commercial and construction litigation.

James Haggerty, Deputy Editor - Chambers and Partners

Prior to his current role, James has been an Assistant Editor on the Chambers UK Bar team, having originally joined the company as a researcher on the UK/USA team. James has an MPhil in Viking and Medieval Norse Studies jointly awarded by the University of Oslo and the University of Iceland. He also has a BA in History from the University of Birmingham. He speaks conversational Norwegian.