Press Release

Dykema, a leading national law firm, today announced the addition of attorneys Israel R. Silvas, Mike Toth and Alexis B. Farrell to its growing Dallas office, and to the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group. In addition, Dykema’s Dallas office also welcomed Charleen Maranto as Practice Group Manager for its Dental Service Organizations Industry Group.

“These are outstanding lawyers who are also outstanding people,” said Chris Kratovil, Managing Member of Dykema’s Dallas office. “Israel, Mike, and Alexis each have exceptional credentials and further strengthen our already formidable Dallas litigation team. We’re proud to have grown our Dallas office to nearly 50 lawyers.”

An oil and gas trial lawyer, Silvas joins Dykema as a Member from Godwin Bowman PC, which is based out of Dallas, where he served as Co-Chair of that firm’s Bankruptcy/Creditors’ Rights Section. At Dykema, Israel will continue to serve oil and gas clients involved in a broad array of complex business disputes and negotiations.

A native of El Paso, Silvas earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a B.A. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from the University of Texas at El Paso. Following his graduation from law school, he clerked for United States District Judge Philip R. Martinez in the Western District of Texas.

Toth is a former justice on the Texas Third District Court of Appeals at Austin. Before taking the bench, Toth served as a special counsel to the Texas Office of Attorney General, where he developed and implemented litigation strategy in a broad range of high-profile cases involving significant executive-level deliberation on complex legal issues. Although primarily focused on commercial litigation, Toth’s unique background interacting with government agencies allows him to provide insight into federal and state regulations that few can provide. He actively litigated in state and federal courts across Texas and achieved numerous nationwide victories in cases involving federal regulations.

Toth earned his J.D., as well as an M.A. in History, from the University of Virginia, and a B.A., magna cum laude, in History from Stanford University. After graduating from law school, he served as a trial attorney in the United States Marine Corps, and Toth remains a major in the United States Marine Corps Reserves assigned to the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate to the Commandant of the Marine Corps in the Pentagon. Toth is a former law clerk to Judge Edith H. Jones on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Farrell joins Dykema as an Associate after graduating with a J.D. from Notre Dame Law School. She worked as a summer associate at Dykema in 2018. Her practice will focus on commercial litigation, including products liability matters. In law school, Alexis was an ABA team member of the Moot Court Board, served as Managing Editor of the Journal of Legislation, and was President of the Native American Law Students Association while working as an Alumni Fellow for the law school.

Farrell earned her B.S. in Political Science, summa cum laude, from Oklahoma Christian University where she was the Outstanding Political Science Graduate of 2016 and worked as a Political Projects Intern for the Oklahoma State Chamber of Commerce and a Law Clerk for the Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office.

An experienced dental professional, Maranto comes to Dykema with nearly two decades of experience working in the dental industry, including time serving as Chief Operating Officer of Electus Health and Dental Depot, as well as more than 18 years working with Henry Schein—a distributor of health care products and services with a presence in 34 countries. Throughout her career, Maranto has partnered with dental practitioners to help implement business systems and achieve growth and successful business outcomes. She earned a degree in Biology from the University of Indianapolis. “Charleen will be a tremendous asset to our innovative and industry-leading Dental Service Organizations practice,” remarked Brian Colao, Director of Dykema’s DSO Industry Group.