Leaders

Officers

Reagan Boyce — Chair

Reagan Boyce of Dallas is Chair and past Vice-Chair/Membership and past CLE Committee co-chair.  She primarily practices medical malpractice law, product and premises liability law, intellectual property law, and bankruptcy litigation.  More information is available here.

Sarah Nicolas — Chair-Elect

Sarah Nicolas of Austin is Chair-Elect and past Treasurer and past council member. She practices in the areas of ethics-legal malpractice, commercial litigation and personal injury litigation. She is the Managing Member of Ramon Worthington’s Austin office. More information is available here.

Myra Morris — Secretary

Myra Morris is Secretary and a past section council member. More information is available here.

Laura Kugler – Treasurer

Laura Kugler of Dallas is Treasurer and (i) past Finance Committee co-chair, (ii) a past Chronologist, and (iII) past Business Development Workshop Committee co-chair, and (v) a National Association of Women Lawyers member.  She primarily practices products, premises, employment, and professional liability litigation as a partner at Thompson Coburn LLP.  More information is available here.

Gabriella A. ‘Gaby’ Guerena — Immediate Past Chair

Gabriella Guerena of Edinburg is the Immediate Past Chair and past website and social media chair. She practices criminal law at the Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney’s Office. More information is available here.

Sylvia Borunda Firth — Vice-Chair, Membership

Sylvia Borunda Firth of El Paso is (i) Vice-Chair/Membership, (ii) past section council member and (iii) past President of the State Bar of Texas.  She specializes in governmental, administrative, real estate and general business law.  More information is available here.

 

Elizabeth Cantu – Vice-Chair, Newsletter

Elizabeth Cantu of Edinburg is Vice-Chair/Newsletter and (i) past Chair, (ii) past Website and Social Media Chair, (iii) past Annual Meeting Committee co-chair, (iv) a past section council member, and (v) a past Scholarship Committee co-chair. She primarily practices civil litigation at Ramon Worthington, P.L.L.C. More information is available here.

Stephanie Ibarra – Website Chair

Stephanie Ibarra of Corpus Christi is Website Chair and past section council member.  She is a Staff Attorney with Eleventh Court of Appeals. More information is available here.

 

Chief Justice Rebeca Martinez — Chronologist

Chief Justice Rebeca Martinez of San Antonio is Chronologist and a past section council member.  She is Chief Justice to the Texas Fourth Court of Appeals . More information is available here.

 

Natasha Martinez — WAL Liaison 

Natasha Martinez of Edinburg is WAL Liaison and (i) past Chair, (ii) past Secretary, (iii) past Vice-Chair/Membership, (iv) past Treasurer, and (v) past Chronologist.  She practices civil litigation at Orendain & Dominguez Law Office.  More information is available here.

Council Members

Cindy Tisdale

Cindy Tisdale of Granbury is a section council member and past president of the State Bar of Texas. She is a Partner with Goranson Bain Ausley, PLLC. More information is available here.

Kirby Drake 

Kirby Drake of Dallas is a council member and  (i) past Chronologist, (ii) past CLE Committee co-chair, and (iii) a past Chair. She primarily practices intellectual property law as founder and managing partner at Kirby Drake Law, PLLC. More information is available here

 

Robin Thorner

Robin Thorner of San Antonio is a section council member. She is the Assistant Dean for Career Strategy and serves as the Director of Professional Identity Formation at the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. More information is available here.

Rosalind Perez

Rosalind Perez of Victoria is a section council member.  She is Owner of Perez Law. More information is available here.

Jessenia Ruiz

Cindy Tisdale of Waco is a section council member. She is the founder of Law Office of Jessenia A. Ruiz. More information is available here.

Rebecca “Becky” Walker 

Rebecca “Becky” Walker of Austin is a section council member.  She is a Staff Attorney at the Third Court of Appeals. More information is available here.

Krisi Kastl

Krisi Kastl is a section council member.

Lynne Clarke

Lynne Clarke is a section council member.

Deborah Cordova — Emeritus Council Member

Deborah Cordova of Edinburg is an Emeritus Council Member and (i) past Chronologist, (ii) past Secretary, (iii) past Texas Women Lawyers President, and (iv) representative to the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors for medium-sized sections.  She primarily practices real estate, banking, business, estate planning, and probate law as a member of Walsh McGurk Cordova Nixon.  More information is available here.

Leigh Hunt Goodson — Emeritus Council Member

Leigh Hunt Goodson of Tyler is an Emeritus Council Member and  (i) a past section Chair, (ii) section representative to the State Bar President’s Task Force on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, (iii) a past section Secretary (iv) President-elect of the East Texas Estate Planning Council and (v) past President of the Smith County Bar Association. Having earned an LL.M. in taxation, she primarily practices trusts & estates and business law as the owner of The Goodson Firm, P.C. More information is available here.

Judy Ney — Emeritus Council Member

Judy Ney of Houston is an Emeritus Council Member and (i) past Finance Committee co-chair, (ii) a past section Chair, (iii) a Barbara Culver Clack Award recipient, (iv) a past Treasurer, and (v) a past representative to the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors for medium-sized sections. She practices workers’ compensation law as an administrative law judge at Texas Department of Insurance, Division of Workers Compensation. More information is available here.

Deborah Race — Emeritus Council Member

Deborah Race of Tyler is an Emeritus Council Member and (i) a past section Chair, (ii) a Barbara Culver Clack Award recipient, and (iii) a past Smith County Bar Association President. Board-certified in civil appellate law, she primarily practices appellate law as the owner of Deborah Race, Attorney at Law. More information is available here.

Committees

Annual Meeting Committee

Sarah Nicolas
Gabriella Guerena
Rebeca Martinez
Elizabeth Cantu
Deborah Cordova
Natasha Martinez
Judy Ney


Awards Committee

Judy Ney
Deborah Race
Jessenia Ruiz
Robin Thorner
Rebecca Walker


Finance Committee

Laura Kugler
Sarah Nicolas


Newsletter Committee

Elizabeth Cantu
Stephanie Ibarra
Sarah Nicolas
Rosalind Perez
Samantha Smith
Jessenia Ruiz
Rebecca “Becky” Walker

CLE Committee

Reagan Boyce
Kirby Drake
Noelle Hicks
Kristi Kastl
Rebeca Martinez
CJ Rejada-Ponce
Linda Schonmaker

 


Membership Committee

Lynne Clarke
Veronica Elizalde
Sylvia Borunda Firth
Leigh Goodson
Gabriella Guerena
Natasha Martinez
Robin Thorner
Cindy Tisdale


Website and Social Media Committee

Reagan Boyce
Elizabeth Cantu
Deborah Cordova
Gabriella Guerena
Stephanie Ibarra
Natasha Martinez


International Women’s Day Committee

Anna Archer
Elizabeth Cantu
Deborah Cordova
Glenda Duru
Sylvia Borunda Firth
Leigh Goodson
Gaby Guerena
Lauren Scott
Cindy Tisdale


Law Symposium Committee

Reagan Boyce
Elizabeth Cantu
Deborah Cordova
Gaby Guerena
Laura Kugler
Robin Thorner
Cindy Tisdale

Past Chairs

2020-2030

2025-2026 Gabriella A. ‘Gaby’ Guerena
2024-2025 Natasha Martinez
2023-2024 Elizabeth Cantu
2022-2023 Denise Paul
2021-2022 Leigh Hunt Goodson
2020-2021 Teresa Schiller

2010-2020

2019-2020 Nicondra Chargois-Allen
2018-2019 Deborah Lee Cordova
2017-2018 Kirby Blair Drake
2016-2017 Deborah Race
2015-2016 Chelsie Garza
2014-2015 Nora Bryant
2013-2014 Melissa Dorman
2012-2013 Alison Colvin
2011-2012 Patricia H. Blackshear
2010-2011 Carol E. Jendrzey

2000-2010

2008-2009 Teri L. Danish
2007-2008 Tonya Carter-Clary
2006-2007 Carmen Samaniego
2005-2006 Mara Asya Blatt
2004-2005 Teresa Oxford
2003-2004 Judy Ney
2002-2003 Misty M. Ventura
2001-2002 Deborah L. Ingraham
2000-2001 Irene Jackson

1990-2000

1999-2000 Ralph H. Brock
1998-1999 Ronnie E. G. Harrison
1997-1998 Suzanne M. Duvall
1996-1997 Malinda Ann Gaul
1995-1996 Judge Guadalupe Rivera
1994-1995 Beatrice Mladenka-Fowler
1993-1994 Jonita Boyd Borchardt
1992-1993 Terese Marie Easter
1991-1992 Carolyn F. Moore
1990-1991 Aida S. Flores

1980-1990

1989-1990 Hon. Barbara E. Rosenberg
1988-1989 Leslie D. Banks
1987-1988 Cynthia O’Bryant Caldwell
1986-1987 Judge Nikki DeShazo
1985-1986 Judge Maxine Darst
1984-1985 Jane H. Macon
1983-1984 Iris Robinson
1982-1983 Mannette Dodge
1981-1982 VaLinda Hathcox
1980-1981 Judge Barbara Culver