FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 28, 2018
Contact: Amy Starnes
Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas
(800) 204-2222, ext. 1706, or (512) 427-1706
astarnes@texasbar.com
State Bar board approves candidates for president-elect
AUSTIN — The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors voted September 28 to approve Jeanne Cezanne “Cezy” Collins of El Paso and Larry P. McDougal Sr. of Richmond as candidates for 2019-2020 president-elect.
Collins and McDougal will appear on the ballot in April 2019 along
with any certified petition candidates. There are currently no
additional president-elect candidates, although members have until
March 1 to run as a petition candidate by submitting a petition signed
by at least 5 percent of the State Bar membership.
Collins is general counsel for El Paso Independent School District
and previously worked as a legal aid lawyer, an assistant county
attorney, and a law firm partner.
She served on the State Bar Board of Directors from 2008 to 2011 and as chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees in 2015-2016, chair of the Supreme Court Task Force to Expand Legal Services Delivery from 2009 to 2011, and president of the National Conference of Women’s Bar Associations in 2011-2012. Collins is a Founding Life Fellow of the El Paso Bar Foundation for which she served as president from 2008 to 2011, and was a commissioner for the Texas Access to Justice Commission. She is currently a member of the Board of Disciplinary Appeals.
Collins was honored with the 2017 President’s Award from the George A. McAlmon Inn of Court, El Paso and the 2013 Shattering Barriers Award from the Mexican American Bar Association of El Paso, among other accolades.
She earned her J.D. from University of Arizona College of Law-Tucson
in 1991.
McDougal is board certified in criminal law and the founder of a
namesake law office where he practices with his son. McDougal has
previously served as a police officer, firefighter, and an assistant
district attorney.
He served on the State Bar Board of Directors from 2012 to 2015 and continues to serve on the State Bar Continuing Legal Education Committee. He is the District 5 Grievance Committee chair for the State Bar and District 5 nominating chair for the Texas Bar Foundation. McDougal also serves on the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Ethics Committee, Ethics Hotline, and Strike Force. He teaches legal ethics to lawyers around the state and is a member of several professional associations.
McDougal won the President’s Award from the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association in 2009, TexasBarCLE Standing Ovation Award in 2014, and the Outstanding Third-Year Director Award from the State Bar of Texas in 2015, among other accolades.
He earned his J.D. from South Texas College of Law Houston in 1990.
Collins and McDougal were recommended to the board by the Nominations and Elections Subcommittee, which interviewed six potential nominees from non-metropolitan counties.
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The State Bar of Texas is an administrative agency of the Supreme Court of Texas that provides educational programs for the legal profession and the public, administers the minimum continuing legal education program for attorneys, and manages the attorney discipline system. For more information, follow us on Twitter and Instagram @statebaroftexas, like us on Facebook at facebook.com/statebaroftexas, or visit texasbar.com.
