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Attorneys in practice 10 years or less are invited to a mentor lunch with 353rd District Judge Sherine Thomas! This is a first-come, first-served event, so RSVP to delaine@austinbar.org now!

Date: June 12, 2025

Time: 12 - 1 p.m.

Location: CFCF, 10th floor jury room

Lunch will be provided

Posted by: Billy Huntsman

Attracting the best candidates has never been easier than with the Austin Bar Association Career Center.

Here's how you can boost visibility and engagement with your job postings:

  • Priority listings put your jobs higher on the job search page, so candidates see them first.
  • Use a standout company profile showcasing your benefits, workplace culture, and what makes your organization unique.
  • Banner ads that keep your brand front and center across every page.

The ABA Career Center is the go-to career hub for professional candidates - making it the ideal place to reach your next great hire.

Start hiring smarter today!

We invite you to submit articles for publication in our monthly newsletter, Austin Lawyer!

General guidelines :

  • Minimum of 500 words;
  • Maximum of 1,000 words;
  • Can be about a substantive law issue or non-substantive law-related topic;
  • Author headshot and 50-word bio requested.

In addition to being published in our physical publication, your article will also run on austinlawyeronline.com.

Please fill out our author interest form, and we'll be in touch shortly!

Amy M. Rodriguez is a civil litigation associate in the Austin office of Leland Shaffer LLP and her practice centers on complex business and commercial disputes at the trial and appellate levels.   Amy came to Austin to attend UT Law School and has been an Austin resident since then. She is a native Spanish speaker and was a participant in UT Law's Human Rights and Criminal Defense Clinics.  After UT Law, Amy was an Assistant Attorney General with the Texas Attorney General’s Environmental Protection Division. Amy is an active member of the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin and a director of the Austin Young Lawyers Association. 

Amy is originally from Boston, Mass. and a graduate of Wellesley College. In her free time, she enjoys traveling back to the East Coast for the fall foliage as well as films, cheese tastings, and reading.

If you were not able to attend the Metro Bar Conversation on the ABA Accreditation of Texas Law Schools CLE live, the recording is available for all bar members, and CLE credit can be claimed.

Click here to access the recording. 

Full program is credited for 3.00 general CLE and 0.5 ethics.

The email with the link to the recording will include the new course number, which you can use to claim CLE credit.

In the latest episode of Stop the Stigma podcast, Austin Bar President Mary-Ellen King talks with past Austin Bar President David Courreges and licensed clinical psychologist Katy Sutton about living with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

Watch on YouTube.

Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Listen on Spotify.

The Austin Bar is co-sponsoring a CLE on practicing in Texas' major urban counties. 201st District Court Judge Amy Clark Meachum will be one of the panelists.

This event is held in conjunction with the Tarrant County, Houston, Dallas, and San Antonio bar associations and is free for all members of each organization.

Date: June 10, 2025

Time: 12 - 1 p.m.

Location: Virtual (Zoom)

Cost: Free for bar members

Credit: 1.00 CLE

Register here.

In the next episode of the Council of Firsts, Amanda Arriaga, first Latina president of the Austin Bar, talks to Pete Gallego, former U.S. Congressman.

Watch on YouTube.

Listen on Apple Podcasts.

Listen on Spotify.

Posted by: Billy Huntsman

CIVIL/FAMILY

CAUSE NO.: C-1-CV-24-000300; SAMER CHABAN VS. KATHY MOBARRA, ARMAN ESHRAGHI

JUDGE: TODD WONG

DATES: April 22, 2025

ATTORNEYS:     

Plaintiff: Michael Navarre, Law Office of Thomas J. Henry

Defendants: Brian McGiverin, Austin Community Law Center (Austin)

SUMMARY: The defendants appealed the eviction judgment entered on Jan. 8, 2024. A unanimous jury found that the plaintiff was entitled to possession of the home as of Nov. 30, 2023. Reasonable and necessary legal fees awarded as follows: Representation in justice of the peace court and county court at law – $65,000; court of appeals – $15,000; petition for review with the Supreme Court of Texas – $0; merits briefing stage with the Supreme Court of Texas – $2,500; representation through oral argument and the completion of proceedings with Supreme Court of Texas – $5,000.

CAUSE NO.: D-1-GN-23-001795; MICHAEL CODA v. PAUL LIST and TEMPERATURE PRO AUSTIN

JUDGE: CATHERINE MAUZY

DATES: April 22 – 24, 2025

ATTORNEYS:     

Plaintiff: Joseph Barrientos, Thomas J. Henry Injury Attorneys (San Antonio)

Defendants: Andrew Neal/Tabor Dorsey, Skelton & Woody, PLLC (Austin)

SUMMARY: The plaintiff claims injury because of a vehicular accident in Oct. 2021.  A jury of 10 found Michael Coda and Paul List each 50 percent negligent. Jury awarded: Past medical care expenses – $17,765; past physical pain and mental anguish – $7,500; future physical pain and mental anguish – $2,500; future physical pain and mental anguish – $2,500.

CAUSE NO: D-1-FM-23-008164; IN THE MATTER OF THE MARRIAGE OF ERIKA MARIE SOTO VS. JORGE ADRIAN SOTO AND IN THE INTEREST OF O.S., A CHILD

JUDGE: DANIELLA DESETA LYTTLE

DATES: April 22-28, 2025    

ATTORNEYS: 

Petitioner: Slave Talavera/Valeria Lozano-Muncy, Slav Law PC (Austin)

Respondent: Marshall Sales/John Hennan, Hennan/Culp PLLC (Austin)

SUMMARY: Petitioner filed for divorce, requesting a disproportionate share of the parties’ estate due to various reasons, including fault in the breakup of the marriage. Respondent filed a counter-petition. A jury of 10 named Erika Soto as the joint managing conservator with exclusive right to designate the primary residence of the child with a geographic restriction of Travis County.

CRIMINAL

CAUSE NO: D-1-DC-23-302250; 302260; STATE OF TEXAS v. JAVONTE DAVIS

JUDGE: KAREN SAGE

DATES: April 7-9, 2025         

ATTORNEYS: 

State of Texas: Katherine West, Assistant District Attorney

Defendant: Raymond M. Espersen (Austin)

SUMMARY: Defendant was indicted for an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon that occurred in July 2023. The jury found the defendant guilty and confined to 14 years in TDCJ prison.

CAUSE NO: D-1-DC-24-202066; STATE OF TEXAS v. ADAM RAY BROWN

JUDGE: SELENA ALVARENGA

DATES: April 7-17, 2025

ATTORNEYS: 

State of Texas: Jacob Salinas, Asst. District Attorney

Defendant: Charles Baird (Austin)

SUMMARY: Defendant was indicted for a murder that occurred on or about March 23, 2024. The defendant was found guilty and sentenced to eight years in TDCJ by the jury.

CAUSE NO: D-1-DC-24-904076; STATE OF TEXAS v. OMAR CORTES-CASTILLO

JUDGE: BRAD URRUTIA

DATES: April 14-16, 2025      

ATTORNEYS:

State of Texas: Kathyrn Moynahan Hall, Assistant District Attorney

Defendant: Gilbert Martinez (Austin)

SUMMARY: Defendant was indicted on two counts of sexual assault and attempt to commit sexual assault in October 2022. The defendant was found guilty on all counts. His confinement of 10 years was suspended, and the jury ordered him to serve eight years of probation.

CAUSE NO: D-1-DC-25-904008; STATE OF TEXAS v. JUVENTINO LOPEZ-DOLORES

JUDGE: MIKE DENTON

DATES: April 21-25, 2025      

ATTORNEYS: 

State of Texas: Tamara Marshall, Asst. District Attorney

Defendant: Brian Burns, (Conroe) and Christopher Warren, Cowboy Law Group, PLLC (Woodlands)

SUMMARY: Defendant was indicted for continuous sexual abuse of a child, aggravated sexual assault of a child, and indecency with a child. A mistrial was declared after an Allen charge. Case reset for jury trial on May 28, 2025.

CAUSE NO: D-1-DC-20-900078; STATE OF TEXAS v. JERRIS HARRIS

JUDGE: P. DAVID WAHLBERG

DATES: April 21-24, 2025      

ATTORNEYS: 

State of Texas: TJ Harris, Asst. District Attorney

Defendant: Jessica Shaye Freud/Michael Watson (Austin)

SUMMARY: Defendant was indicted for aggravated sexual assault on or about Aug. 18, 2018. The jury found the defendant guilty of aggravated sexual assault but did not find that the defendant used or exhibited a deadly weapon. The court sentenced the defendant to 25 years in TDCJ.

The Austin Bar is excited to invite you to join our new Insurance Section!

The Insurance Section will have a kick-off mixer and CLE at Hilgers House on May 29. Everyone is invited!

Date: Thursday, May 29, 2025

Time: 4 - 6:30 p.m.

Location: Hilgers House, 712 W. 16th St. (may relocate depending on attendance)

Cost: FREE for members

Register here.

This is the Austin Bar's 28th section and is for policyholder/carrier-side/first-party/ liability counsel; defense counsel; plaintiff's counsel; and mediators.

The section's regular meeting time is currently being decided.

Annual dues are $35.

CLE topics and events will be decided at a meeting in the fall.

Chair: Melissa Carr, DuBois Bryant & Campbell

Chair-Elect: Andrew Van Osselaer, Haynes Boone


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