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Of Counsel Advisory Team

The Icon Global  "Of Counsel" Advisory Team was formed to bring an “on call” resource in on specific expertise requirement’s in a range of real estate related issues and needs for individual icon sales teams formed on a project by project basis in matters of water rights, oil and gas, legal, taxation, mineral rights, 1031, wetland and stream-bed mitigation banking and more, as well as certain industry specific niches such as equine, bovine and equestrian and a multitude of land specialty issues needed to bear to best serve clientele on a variety of  listings and projects.

Dr. Charles Gilliland

A legend at the Texas A&M Real Estate Center, Dr. Gilliland concentrates on research of appraisal issues, development issues, property rights, rural land markets, property taxation, water marketing, and associated issues.  Dr. Gilliland has contributed expert testimony before the United States Senate, Texas Senate, and Texas House of Representatives.  He has an extensive publication record. 

 

Dr. Charles Gilliland, a native of Colorado, grew up on a cattle ranch and graduated from Regis College in Denver, Colorado with an A.B. degree.  After a stint as office manager and assistant assessor of the Hidalgo and Cameron Counties Water Control and Improvement District Number 9, an 80,000 acre irrigation district in the Lower Rio Grande Valley, Dr. Gilliland earned M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Texas A&M University.  During that time Dr. Gilliland served as chief deputy appraiser with A&M Consolidated Independent School District in College Station. 

 

Dr. Gilliland currently holds an appointment as a Research Economist with the Real Estate Center in the Mays School and an appointment as Adjunct Associate Professor of Agricultural Economics at Texas A&M University.  In addition, Dr. Gilliland is Helen and O.N. Mitchell Fellow of Real Estate and a Clinical Professor of Finance teaching real estate investment analysis for the Master of Real Estate program in the Mays School at Texas A&M University. 

 

In 2009, the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers bestowed its Golden Quill Award on Dr. Gilliland.  In 2010 The Farm Credit Bank of Texas inducted Dr. Gilliland into their Academy of Honor for significant contributions to agriculture.   

 

Dr. Ronald Kaiser

Dr. Ronald Kaiser is a Professor of Water Law and Policy at Texas A&M University and Chairs the Water Management and Hydrological Science graduate degree program.  He is also a Professor with the Institute of Renewable Natural Resources and the Department of Recreation, Park and Tourism Sciences at Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas. He is an Adjunct Professor of Maritime Studies at Texas A&M University in Galveston, Texas. He is also a Program Associate with the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station Texas Water Resources Institute.

 

His water policy research interests focus on: (1) urban water conservation strategies; (2) water marketing; (3) environmental flows; and (4) water planning.   A number of his water marketing and conservation research recommendations are incorporated in the Texas Water Code.

 

He has published over 70 articles, two books and seven book chapters. He is a graduate of Michigan State University, J.D. Thomas M. Cooley Law School and LL.M. School of Law, University of California Berkeley.

 

Sam Middleton

 

Sam Middleton is a third generation ranch broker headquartered in Lubbock, Texas.  Sam’s firm, Chas. S. Middleton and Son was established by his Grandfather in 1920.  Sam’s business generally consists of farm and ranch appraisals, and farm and ranch sales. Sam has served numerous times as an expert witness in court.  He has been appointed Receiver for the Court to manage and sell ranch property.

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In addition, Sam was Bernard Uechtritz’s sales partner on the 510,000 acre W.T. Waggoner Ranch in Vernon, Texas which was listed at $725 million.

 

He is a licensed Real Estate Broker in Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado and Kansas.  He is also a State Certified Appraiser in Texas, New Mexico and Colorado and holds the ARA (Accredited Rural Appraiser) designation through the American Society of Farm Managers and Rural Appraisers. 

 

Don Treadway

During his 41 year career with the American Quarter Horse Association, Don Treadway spent two thirds of his life promoting and marketing the world’s most popular breed of horse. Serving the most recent six years as its chief executive officer, Treadway has managed numerous industry initiatives, in North America and throughout the world. During his time at AQHA, he saw AQHA register more than four million American Quarter Horses, with membership reaching 353,000 worldwide.

 

He says his primary job description was to create programs and activities where people could connect with and then enjoy their horses. His greatest sense of accomplishment was witnessing the horse/person connection exceed expectations, literally thousands of times, whether it was success in the show or rodeo arena, or on the racetrack. Of particular satisfaction was seeing young people interact with their American Quarter Horses, learning life lessons which horses are experts at teaching. Guiding resurgence in the popularity of ranch horses and the development of competitions for different skills sets of riders were among his favorite projects.

 

A graduate of distinction of Oklahoma State University, Treadway resides in Amarillo, TX with Robbyn, his wife of 41 years. The couple has two children and three grandchildren. Now retired from AQHA, Treadway serves on the executive committee of Time to Ride, the marketing initiative of the American Horse Council, and is a board member of the Montana Center for Horsemanship, which partners with The University of Montana Western in providing the nation’s only four-year degree in Natural Horsemanship.      

 

On Call for Our $250M Sandow Lakes Project

Kathleen Hartnett White

Kathleen Hartnett White is the Distinguished Senior Fellow in Residence and the Director of the Armstrong Center for Energy and the Environment at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. This foundation is a non-profit research institute guided by core principles of limited government, economic freedom, personal responsibility and individual liberty.

 

Kathleen directs the CEE’s research and policy development on a range of issues including energy, climate change, air quality, water quality & water rights and waste. Kathleen has spoken across the country and has published in many national publications including the National Review, The Hill, Washington Examiner, Investors’ Business Daily, Daily Caller, Houston Chronicle, Dallas Morning News and the Austin American Statesman. Frequently invited to testify in Texas and U.S. Congressional committees, she recently testified in January 2013 to the House Committee on Science and Technology on “The State of the Environment.”

 

Kathleen White was Chairman and Commissioner of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) from 2001-2007. TCEQ is the second largest environmental agency in the world after the U.S. EPA. As the final decision maker, she presided over complex and controversial permitting issues including coal-fired power plants, ozone controls for Houston’s petrochemical industrial complex, climate change, water rights and radioactive waste disposal.

 

Prior to Governor Rick Perry’s appointment to TCEQ in 2001, Kathleen served on the Texas Water Development Board. She also served on the Texas Economic Development Commission and the Environmental Flows Study Commission. She recently completed her term as an officer and a director of the Lower Colorado River Authority from 2008-2013 - her fifth gubernatorial appointment

 

She has received many awards including the Texas Water Conservation Association’s President’s Award, the Colorado River Foundation’s Friend of the River Award and the Texas Chemical Council’s Leadership Award.

 

In addition to her energy and environment policy, White is a partner with her husband in a 130 year-old ranching operation in far western Presidio County Texas.

 

White received her bachelor cum laude and master degrees from Stanford University where she held the E. W. Lyman Scholarship for an Outstanding Woman in the Humanities. She was also awarded a Danforth National Fellowship for doctoral work at Princeton University and there won the Jonathan Edwards Award for Academic Excellence. She also studied law under a Lineberry Foundation Fellowship at Tech University.

 

White was Director of Private Lands and the Environment for the National Cattlemen's Association in Washington, D.C. and Executive Director of the Ranching Heritage Association in Lubbock, Texas while attending law school at Texas Tech.

 

A long-time breeder of National Champion Jack Russell Terriers, Kathleen Hartnett White lives with her husband Beau Brite White in Bastrop County Texas outside of Austin and in Presidio County, Texas on the far southwestern border of Texas on her family’s 130 year old Brite Ranch.

Aileen Hooks

Aileen Hooks serves as Deputy Department Chair of the Baker Bott’s Environmental Department. She advises clients on, and negotiates and manages the environmental and facilities-related aspects of, their projects. In particular, Ms. Hooks has considerable experience advising clients on environmental and safety regulatory developments and issues and liability considerations affecting the full spectrum of the energy industry.. She also regularly provides legal counsel to clients on environmental, health and safety regulatory, permitting and enforcement matters. She provides strategic advice to clients on matters before state and federal agencies, including the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Railroad Commission of Texas and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. . She has worked on transactions and agreements involving power plants, wind projects, ethanol plants upstream oil and gas assets, refineries, pipelines and terminals, as well as the chemical, paper and semiconductor industries. Additionally, her experience includes pipeline safety, fuels regulation, site and vessel decommissioning and contaminated site issues.

 

Ms. Hooks has developed extensive experience navigating complex and sensitive negotiations in both the environmental regulatory and transaction arenas. She also helps clients understand and resolve environmental liability concerns associated with their operations and with proposed projects and transactions.

 

Ms. Hooks’ environmental practice also encompasses sustainability and climate change issues. She is active in the United States Business Council for Sustainable Development. On a pro bono basis, she worked on the drafting and negotiation of a memorandum of understanding between the Council and the U.S. EPA on Scientific and Technical Cooperation in the Fields of Environmental Protection and Sustainable Development.

Wade Wheatley

Wade is a Registered Professional Engineer with 24 years of engineering experience and project management with specialized knowledge and focus on the following areas: 

  • industrial and hazardous solid waste

  • municipal solid waste

  • low-level radioactive waste

  • underground injection

  • energy & power

  • electronic waste

  • ordnance and explosive waste

  • recycling

 

FIELDS OF SPECIALIZATION

  • Multi-Discipline Project Management

  • Expert witness on solid waste matters before Texas legislative committees and administrative hearings

  • Participated in public outreach and public hearings, organized and conducted stakeholder working groups, and directed the re-write of the numerous Texas Composting, Recycling, Industrial & Hazardous, and Municipal Solid Waste Regulations

  • Directed the review of all types of hazardous waste units including combustion unit designs and operational requirements that included indirect risk assessments for compliance with State and Federal regulations

  • Conducted operations involving explosive waste thermal treatment

  • Trained in the detection, evaluation, containment and decontamination of chemical, biological and nuclear contamination

 

EDUCATION

BS in Mechanical Engineering – US Naval Academy, 1985

Explosive Ordnance Disposal School and Advanced coursework

Class A MS Facility Operator License

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PROFESSIONAL REGISTRATION

Registered Professional Engineer - State of Texas No. 76710

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PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

  • Vice President, Cook-Joyce, Inc. – Austin, TX; 2012 – Present

  • Private Practice – Firm 14196, 2012

  • Director of Facility Operations and Development - Texas Disposal Systems, Austin, TX; 2005 – 2012

  • Director, Waste Permits Division – Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), Austin, TX; 1992 – 2005

  • Manager, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Permits Section - TCEQ

  • Combustion Team Leader, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Permits Section - TCEQ

  • RCRA Permit Coordinator, Industrial and Hazardous Waste Permits Section - TCEQ

  • Captain, Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer/Engineering     Officer – United States Marine Corps, Camp Lejeune, NC;     1985 – 1991

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