FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 20, 2021
Contact: Amy Starnes
Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas
800-204-2222, ext. 1706, or 512-427-1706
astarnes@texasbar.com
Media advisory:
State Bar of Texas to honor nine lawyers, justices, and judges for service to the legal profession
When: 9 a.m. CST Friday, January 22
Where: The meeting will be streamed live on the State Bar’s YouTube channel at youtube.com/statebaroftexas. The video will be preserved there if you are unable to view it live.
What: The State Bar of Texas Board of Directors and President Larry McDougal will present resolutions to retired Supreme Court Justice Paul W. Green; retired Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Michael Keasler; former Judge Brenda Mullinix of the 387th Judicial District Court in Fort Bend County; Kenda Culpepper, the Rockwall County criminal district attorney; and Tyler attorneys Nathan Cash, Shannon Dacus, Buck Files, Bobby Mims, and Kristina Ross.
Background: At its quarterly meetings, the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors often adopts resolutions honoring individuals for exceptional service to the legal profession and community.
Justice Paul W. Green served 15 years on the Texas Supreme Court, authoring 99 majority opinions as well as several concurrences and dissents, before his retirement in August 2020. A third-generation lawyer, Green served as president of the San Antonio Bar Association, a director of the State Bar of Texas board, and a member of the House of Delegates of the American Bar Association.
Judge Michael Keasler served as judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals from January 1, 1999, until his retirement on December 31, 2020. A fifth-generation Texan, Keasler served 40 years as a member of the judiciary and was one of the two longest-serving state judges in Texas. He twice served as a liaison to the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors.
Judge Brenda Mullinix presided over the 387th Judicial District Court of Fort Bend County from 2013 to 2020. A 40-plus year Fort Bend County resident, Judge Mullinix was a small-business owner and school teacher before becoming a licensed attorney and eventually being elected to the bench.
Kenda Culpepper has been Rockwall County’s criminal district attorney since 2008. She is the president of the Texas District & County Attorneys Association, a director on the Texas Bar College Board of Directors, a trustee on the Texas District & County Attorneys Foundation Board of Trustees, and has a long history of service with the State Bar of Texas.
Nathan Cash practices business litigation and oil and energy resource law at Mewbourne Oil Company in Tyler. Cash devotes much of his time to giving back to charitable causes and his community.
Shannon Dacus is the 2020-2021 chair of the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees and a sustaining life fellow of the foundation. She is also 2019 president of the Smith County Bar Foundation and a member of its board of trustees.
Buck Files was 2012-2013 president of the State Bar of Texas and
served a three-year term as a director of the State Bar board from 2004
to 2007. Files began his career prosecuting or defending individuals in
the general and special courts-martial of the U.S. Marine Corps and
U.S. Navy. He served in the U.S. Marine Corps from 1962 to 1967 in
Virginia, Hawaii, Okinawa, and Vietnam.
Bobby Mims has practiced criminal defense law for more than 30 years
in East Texas. Mims is a past president of the Texas Criminal Defense
Lawyers Association and is a super fellow of the Texas Criminal Defense
Lawyers Educational Institute, as well as a member of the Smith County
Bar Association, Cherokee County Bar Association, the Smith County
Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and the National Association of
Criminal Defense Lawyers. Before becoming a licensed attorney, Mims
served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War.
Kristina Ross is a certified contract advisor with the National
Football League Players Association, making her one of the few NFL
agents in East Texas. Ross built the sports and entertainment agency
practice area within her current firm, Beard & Harris in Tyler. She
is a member of the Junior League of Tyler and a board member of People
Attempting to Help, a social service agency designed to help the East
Texas community.
Media note: High-resolution photos of the honorees
are available upon request.
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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.
