Three Houston attorneys and a corporate CEO and physician were recently added to the South Texas College of Law Houston board of directors, the governing body of the private, independent law school.
The new board members are Benny Agosto, Jr. ’95, managing partner at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz, and Stogner; Michael P. Donaldson ’87, executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary at EOG Resources, Inc.; the Hon. Sharon McCally ’90; and Setul Patel, MD, president of Girish Capital and CEO of FormulaMed.
Benny Agosto, Jr. ’95
Agosto is a distinguished trial lawyer with more than two decades of experience in personal injury, medical malpractice, and product liability cases. He is recognized as a leader in the legal community and has achieved notable success in securing favorable outcomes for his clients.
He oversees a team of attorneys and staff. He has worked at the firm more than 29 years and is known for his exceptional advocacy skills, strategic approach to litigation, and commitment to achieving justice. Agosto has successfully litigated cases in district, county, and probate courts, as well as arbitration proceedings. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Houston Christian University, completed graduate studies at the University of Houston, and earned his JD from South Texas Law in 1995. He founded the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas and co-founded the Hispanic National Bar Association Legal Education Fund.
Agosto and his wife Nichole’s generous gift to STCL Houston in late 2021 provided foundational support for the law school to launch the Benny Agosto, Jr., Diversity Center. Agosto previously served on the STCL Houston Alumni Association board of directors.
He has received numerous awards and honors. In 2023 alone, he received STCL Houston’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the Houston Christian University Alumni Association Spirit of Excellence Award, was named Top 100: Texas Super Lawyers, and Lawyer of the Year – Product Liability Litigation Plaintiffs Houston, Best Lawyers.
Michael P. Donaldson ’87
Donaldson is executive vice president, general counsel, and corporate secretary at EOG Resources, Inc., where he has worked for 17 years. Before joining EOG in 2007, Donaldson held in-house legal positions with TODCO, Burlington Resources, Union Texas Petroleum, and Pennzoil Company, and was previously associated with the law firm of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld.
He earned his B.A. in public administration and political science from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, his J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston, and his LLM from the University of Houston Law Center.
Donaldson currently serves as chair of the South Texas Law Board of Visitors and is a former member of the Harry L. Reed Oil & Gas Institute Advisory Council and the STCL Houston Alumni Association Board of Directors. He also is a member of the advisory board of the Institute for Energy Law of the Center for American and International Law and a past board member of the Houston Bar Foundation.
The Honorable Sharon McCally
McCally is a former justice of the Texas Fourteenth Court of Appeals and a former judge of the 334th Civil District Court of Harris County.
In 2016, McCally retired from the Texas judiciary to return to private civil trial and appellate law. Prior to running for office, she was a litigator with Fisher, Gallagher, Perrin and Lewis. She then formed Storey, Moore & McCally with friends Judge Daryl Moore and JoAnn Storey so she could focus on her practice on trial consulting and appellate work.
Sharon earned her B.A. in English from Southern Methodist University. She remained in Dallas and worked in the mechanical contracting field prior to law school. McCally earned a JD from South Texas Law, where she served on Law Review and achieved election to the Order of the Barristers. Following law school, she served as a law clerk to The Honorable David Hittner for the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.
She has been a supporter of the law school and an active moot court coach for STCL Houston for many years, and she recently served as a panelist and assisted with the law school’s Advocacy Orientation for new moot court and mock trial advocates. McCally served as an academy faculty for Baylor University Law and taught at the Academy of the Advocate at St. Andrews, The School of Appeal.
Setul Patel
Dr. Patel is an experienced healthcare and business executive. In 2014, he founded Girish Capital to assist in capital and venture needs of young entrepreneurs and startup companies, leveraging his ability to scale businesses with high growth potential. Girish Capital has worked with development groups across numerous industries including Sport Clips hair salons, freestanding emergency centers, Signarama Franchises, short-haul trucking, and professional eye care. He also is founder and CEO of the healthcare startup FormulaMed, which is poised to innovate technology driven subscription-based healthcare.
Patel served as medical advisor for STCL Houston during the COVID-19 pandemic. He has an MBA and a medical degree. Patel has led organizations that have been recognized for their culture, innovation, and best practices. In 2015, he was named the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year for the Gulf Coast region and was a finalist for the Houston Business Journal‘s CEO of the Year award in 2016.
Throughout his career, Patel has brought transformational change to the organizations he has led, and believes true success comes from empowering the culture of an organization to drive best practices and innovation. Patel, his wife Sejal, and their two sons have called Houston home since 2006. He enjoys spending time with his family, travel, and photography.
