Gabe Vazquez

Headshot of Gabe Vazquez, adjunct faculty member at SMU Dedman School of Law.

Vice President & Associate General Counsel | Vistra Corp.

Adjunct faculty

Gabriel (“Gabe”) Vazquez is Vice President and Associate General Counsel for Operations for Vistra Corp. (“Vistra”), a leading Fortune 500, integrated power company based in Irving, Texas, which offers retail energy products and owns generation facilities in approximately 18 states and six of the seven competitive markets in the U.S. Vistra has over five thousand employees and is one of the largest independent power producers and competitive residential electricity providers in the country serving nearly 4.3 million customers.

Gabe has been with Vistra and its predecessors since 2008 and is responsible for managing and supporting the day-to-day legal operations of Vistra and its national retail energy businesses serving residential, commercial, and industrial customers with retail electricity and gas and the commercial needs of Vistra’s diverse portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery storage facilities. He is also responsible for overseeing legal department operations, including fiscal reporting and department project planning. Additionally, Gabe led the development of Vistra’s Enterprise Crisis Management Program, including its ransomware playbook and, as the lead crisis coordinator, facilitates the execution of the crisis program with senior management and the board of directors of Vistra. Gabe also serves as chair of Vistra’s political action committee and is executive sponsor of its Hispanic employee resource group.He and his team broadly support:

  • Retail energy regulatory compliance

  • Direct Selling compliance with state and FTC regulations

  • Marketing and Advertising compliance

  • Intellectual Property (e.g., licensing, portfolio management and counseling)

  • Cybersecurity and Data Privacy

  • Mergers and Acquisitions (e.g., due diligence, compliance, antitrust, integrations)

  • Contracts and Procurement support, including retail electricity and retail gas

  • Technology agreements (e.g., SaaS, software licensing, cloud)

  • Real Estate (e.g., sales, leases, licenses, liens)

  • Legal Department Operations (e.g., administration, fiscal reporting, planning)

He is a graduate of the General Counsel Forum’s Institute for Leadership in the Law and Deloitte’s Next Gen CLO Academy. Prior to his current role, Gabe Vazquez served as vice president and general counsel of TXU Energy, the leading competitive retailer in Texas and a subsidiary of Vistra. He was also a corporate attorney for Michaels Stores, Inc. and in private practice with the law firm of Gardere Wynne (now Foley & Lardner) as an associate in the corporate and securities practice group.

Gabe received his undergraduate degree from Southern Methodist University in 1999 and his law degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law in 2002 as a Sarah T. Hughes Fellow. As a law student, he worked at the Supreme Court of Texas as the recipient of the William E. Collins Clerkship and was also inducted into the Order of The Barristers, a service organization dedicated to service and leadership.

Gabe was born and raised in Dallas, Texas and attended Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas where he was captain of the varsity soccer team.