FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 30, 2021
Contact: Amy Starnes
Public Information Director, State Bar of Texas
(800) 204-2222, ext. 1706, or (512) 427-1706
astarnes@texasbar.com
Laura Gibson of Houston elected State Bar of Texas president-elect
AUSTIN—Texas attorneys elected Laura Gibson of Houston to be president-elect of the State Bar of Texas.
Gibson received 50.51%—10,200—of the 20,194 votes cast during the voting period that ended April 30. Her opponent, Sara E. Dysart of San Antonio, received 49.49%, or 9,994 votes.
Gibson will be sworn in as president-elect during a State Bar of Texas Board of Directors meeting on June 17 and will serve as president of the State Bar of Texas from June 2022 to June 2023.
Gibson is a Houston-based partner
in Dentons US and head of the Texas Employment &
Labor Group. She earned her J.D. from the University of Houston
Law Center in December 1984 and joined Locke Lord in 1985.?She made
partner in the firm in 1992. In 1993, she co-founded a four-lawyer firm
last known as Ogden, Gibson, Broocks, Longoria & Hall where she
practiced until 2016.
Gibson was 2018-2019 chair of the State Bar Board of Directors. She
was a director for District 4, 2016-2020, and served on
numerous committees including the Executive Committee and Nominations
and Elections Subcommittee. She is a past co-chair of the Texas
Minority Counsel Program Steering Committee.
Gibson served as 2011-2012 president of the Association of Women
Attorneys and founded the Premier Women in Law luncheon during her
term. She served as 2015-2016 president of the Houston Bar Association.
In 2013, she received the Trailblazer Outside Counsel Award from the
Texas Minority Counsel Program for her commitment to diversity. In
early June 2020, Gibson founded the Liberty & Justice For All Task
Force.
In other results, the following individuals were elected to the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors:
G. David Smith, Rockwall, District 1; Bill Kroger, Houston; District 4, Place 3; Nitin Sud, Houston, District 4, Place 5; Lori M. Kern, Katy, District 5; Robert L. Tobey, Dallas, District 6, Place 2; Kimberly M. Naylor, Fort Worth, District 7, Place 1; Kennon L. Wooten, Austin, District 9, Place 3; Tom Crosley, San Antonio, District 10, Place 1; Audie Sciumbato, Hereford, District 13; Dwight McDonald, Lubbock, District 16.
Texas Young Lawyers Association election
In the Texas Young Lawyers Association election, Michael J. Ritter of San Antonio was elected president-elect and will serve as TYLA president from June 2022 to June 2023. Ritter received 51.66% of the 3,558 votes cast, while his opponent, Reginald D. Wilson Jr., of Houston, received 48.34%.
Ritter, a staff attorney at the 4th
Court of Appeals in San Antonio, is the first openly gay candidate for
TYLA president-elect. He is certified in civil appeals and criminal
appeals by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and has been
recognized among San Antonio’s top appellate attorneys by San
Antonio Magazine. Ritter also works a part-time job in the education
industry.
He currently serves as TYLA’s vice president and has served as
its secretary and on several committees. Ritter has received personal
and project awards from TYLA, the American Bar Association, the State
Bar of Texas, and Texas Bar College. He is a Texas Bar Foundation
sustaining life fellow.
Ritter has also served as president of the Texas Association of Appellate Court Attorneys and the San Antonio LGBT Bar Association and as a member of the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association Board of Directors.
He lives in San Antonio with his husband, Dilshan, and their two rescue puppies, Lolo and Poncherello. In his spare time, he volunteers to benefit at-risk youth, especially those identifying as LGTBQ+.
Overcoming a speech disorder known as “cluttering,” Ritter became interested in the law through high school debate. In 2010, he became the first in his family to complete a post-college education and become a lawyer. He earned is J.D. from the University of Texas School of law in 2010.
The following individuals were elected to the TYLA Board of
Directors:
David R. “Dave” Hagan,
Longview, District 1; Garrett Couts, Lubbock,
District 3; Cali Franks, Dallas, District 5, Place 1;
Miranda N. Caballero, Houston, District 6, Place 3;
Reginald Wilson, Houston, District 6, Place 5;
Jefferson Fisher, Beaumont, District 7; Mark
Altman, China Spring, District 9; Andrea M.
Palmer, Fort Worth, District 10, Place 1; William
Johnson, Lewisville, District 11; Eric D.
Flores, Mission, District 13; Tiffany
Sheppard, San Angelo, District 15; Naomi
Cobb, Midland, District 17; Alyson Martinez,
Laredo, District 19; Michael Hanson, Sugar Land,
District 21.
Detailed election results are available at texasbar.com/elections.
Media note: High resolution photos of Gibson and Ritter 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.
The Texas Young Lawyers Association, organized in 1930, is commonly referred to as the “public service arm” of the State Bar of Texas. TYLA’s primary purposes are to facilitate the administration of justice, foster respect for the law, and advance the role of the legal profession in serving the public. All licensed Texas lawyers 36 years old or younger or in their first five years of practice, regardless of age, are automatically members of TYLA. For more information, visit tyla.org.
