Western District of Texas

Biographical Information:

Year Service Began:

1998

Education:

• Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., LL.M, 1982
• University of Wisconsin-Madison, J.D., cum laude, 1978
  • Order of the Coif; Articles Editor, Wisconsin Law Review; University scholarships
• University of Texas-Austin, M.A., 1976
  • University fellowships
• Marquette University, Milwaukee, WI, B.A., magna cum laude, 1973
  • Phi Beta Kappa; graduated fourth in class

Legal Practice:

• United States Magistrate Judge, 1998 - present
• United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas, 1983-1998
  • First Assistant - Criminal Division; Chief, Major Crimes Section; Assistant United States Attorney in Criminal Section; Assistant United States Attorney in Civil Section
    • selected job duties: as First Assistant-Criminal Division, supervised criminal prosecutors in San Antonio, Alpine, Austin, Del Rio, El Paso, Midland, Pecos, and Waco; one of only seven members of nationwide Criminal Chief's Working Group advising U.S. Attorney General Janet Reno; member of Attorney General Richard Thornburgh and Attorney General Robert Barr's Advisory Groups on federal Grand Jury practice; tried cases and handled appeals in this District and Circuit and in other courts
    • awards and commendations: Director's Award for Superior Performance as an AUSA; Texas Governor's Advisory Committee on Arson Law Enforcement Award; Texas Narcotics Officers' Association, Prosecutor of the Year Award; ATF; IRS; FBI; FDIC; Federal Reserve; San Antonio Police Department; Texas Department of Public Safety; U.S. Border Patrol; U.S. Customs Service; U.S. Department of the Treasury; U.S. Postal Service; U.S. Secret Service; U.S. State Department; and others
• Senior Staff Attorney, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Chicago IL, 1981-1983
  • supervised 11 staff attorneys; director of settlement conference program
• Law Clerk and Staff Attorney, Judge Walter J. Cummings, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Chicago, IL, 1978-1980
• Adjunct Professor of Law, Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, 1982-1983
  • taught classes in copyright, trademark, unfair trade practices

Memberships:

• Federal Bar Association, San Antonio Chapter, Board of Directors (and, formerly, the President of the Chapter);
• San Antonio Bar Foundation, Board of Directors
• Bexar County Women's Bar Association & Foundation, Judicial Advisor
• American Bar Foundation, Fellow
• San Antonio Bar Association, Fellow
• Texas Bar Foundation, Fellow
• William S. Sessions American Inns of Court, Master

Other:

• Recipient of:  2012 Rosewood Gavel Award for achievement in judicial service, St. Mary's University School of Law; 2009 Earl W. Kintner Award for Distinguished Service, the Federal Bar Association's highest award for outstanding achievement and service in the FBA; Texas Bar Association Board of Directors' Special Resolution; San Antonio Bar Association's President's Award; Bexar County Women Bar Association's President Award
• Lectured for:  American Bar Association, Texas State Bar Assiciation, San Antonio Bar Association, Bexar County Women's Bar Association, Federal Bar Association, U.S. Attorney General's Advocacy Institute, and others
• Authored law review and journal articles in the areas of: arbitration, civil law and procedure, criminal law and procedure, professional responsibility
• Co-Chair, joint bench-bar committee rules revision committee that re-drafted, for style and substance, the Local Criminal Rules, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas.