We continue to expand our team, announcing today that two incoming associates will join the firm this fall following the summer bar exam.
The additions mark the first of several team announcements the firm plans to make in the coming months as we build out our bench across offices.
Kate Whitsett joins the firm from the University of Houston Law Center, where she held the role of Senior Articles Editor for the Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy. Her scholarship on due process and equitable access to mental health support within Special Education is slated for publication in that same journal. Kate's law school record also includes winning the Contract Drafting Championship, competing on the Alternative Dispute Resolution team, and serving with the Association of Women in Law and the Christian Legal Society. She holds a BA in Political Science with a minor in Special Education from Stephen F. Austin State University, where she graduated summa cum laude. Kate will practice out of the firm's Houston office.
Peyton Skoruppa brings a background in energy law to the firm, having earned a Master of Jurisprudence in Energy, Oil & Gas from Texas A&M University School of Law. She is a graduate of South Texas College of Law, where she was named a Presidential Fellow, held a spot on the Dean's Honor List, and served on the Journal of International Economic Law. Peyton earned her undergraduate degree in Agricultural Economics from Texas A&M University, graduating magna cum laude. She will be based in the firm's Corpus Christi office.
Both attorneys represent the kind of talent Merkley Jones Eastham is prioritizing as it grows: strong academic records paired with practical, specialized experience.
We will announce additional new hires in the coming weeks.