Carey Olney and Nick Brown Join LCLD Fellows and Pathfinder Programs

Carey Olney, partner in the Austin office and a member of the Energy Practice, and Nick Brown, attorney in the Birmingham office and member of the Litigation Practice, will join the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) programs to support the next generation of leaders.

Carey joins the Fellows Program, which is designed for mid-career attorneys who have demonstrated potential for success in the legal sector. The program offers opportunities for professional growth, personal development and leadership skills. 

Nick joins the Pathfinder Program, an initiative tailored for early-career attorneys who have demonstrated high-potential in the legal field. This program offers foundational leadership and relationship-building resources throughout a seven-month professional development program.  

LCLD is comprised of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners, the profession’s top leaders, who are committed to creating an environment where all talent can thrive, with the ultimate goal of strengthening the legal field. 

Over the past four years, Balch’s Katie Hood, Katie Kimbrell, David Duhè and Tashwanda Pinchback Dixon completed the LCLD Fellows program and Katherine Carey, Ian Burt, Christina Nuñez and Irving Jones completed the Pathfinders program.

Carey advises electric utilities and energy clients on complex regulatory and administrative matters before the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). She has more than fifteen years of administrative law experience, with a practice focused on utility rate cases, generation and transmission CCN amendment proceedings, and grid resiliency initiatives. 

Nick focuses on a variety of civil litigation matters for institutional and private clients. He assists clients during all phases of litigation in both state and federal courts. Nick possesses extensive litigation experience from his previous practice as a plaintiff’s attorney at a firm which focused on arbitration and at a defense firm where he primarily represented clients in the worker’s compensation realm.

In 2025, Balch was named a 2025 Compass Award recipient by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) for the fourth consecutive year.  At Balch, we embrace inclusion as a core value of the firm. Our dedication to providing excellent client service is rooted in our commitment to cultivating an environment where people of all backgrounds, characteristics, and perspectives are valued for their contributions, skills, and talents.