Attorneys and administrative personnel can be viewed alphabetically, by section or by attorney specialty. An attorney's biography can be viewed by clicking on the attorney's name.
Attorneys / Administrative | Sort by Section | Attorneys by Specialty | Attorney Biographies
Dan Sharphorn assists the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel in providing legal advice
to the Chancellor, Presidents, Executive Officers, and UT
institutions and in overall management of the Office of General Counsel.
Before joining UT System, he served in the Vice President and General
Counsel's office of the University of Michigan for 25 years, most
recently as Associate Vice President and Deputy General Counsel. In
that capacity, Mr. Sharphorn had primary responsibility for legal advice and
litigation management at every level of the University in all matters
related to faculty and student affairs, research, and governance. As
Deputy General Counsel, he assisted in the management of an office with
twenty attorneys, five paralegals, and related support staff that
provided legal advice to the Board of Regents, the main University
campus in Ann Arbor, two regional campuses, and the University of
Michigan Medical Center. Mr. Sharphorn directly supervised attorneys responsible
for legal advice on intellectual property, technology transfer, export
controls, purchasing, contracts, immigration, conflicts of interest and
ethics, and student affairs. He also taught law and social
organization and law and social psychology in the University of Michigan
Department of Sociology.
Mr. Sharphorn began his career in higher education as an
instructor and Judge Advocate General at the United States Military
Academy at West Point. Dan has earned J.D., M.S.W., and M.A.
(Sociology) from the University of Michigan and a B.S. from the
U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Mark
Bentley graduated from Texas Tech University with a B.A. in Psychology, and has
a J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law. He is Board Certified in Commercial
Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Mr.
Bentley has practiced law in private practice as well as in-house with major corporations.
In addition to the Texas State Bar, he is admitted to the bars of the United States
District Courts for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Texas, and to the bar
of the United States Supreme Court.
He
is a member of the Travis County Bar Association, and of its real estate and oil
and gas law sections.
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Helen is the General Law Section
Manager of the U. T. System Office of General Counsel. She has been employed
with the Office of General Counsel since December 1988 and specializes
in employment, tort, and civil rights law. Helen worked as an Assistant
Attorney General in the General Litigation Division and the Tort Litigation
Division prior to working for the Office of General Counsel. She received
her undergraduate degree and her law degree from Baylor University.
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Kevin C. Brown joined the Claims
and Bankruptcy Section of the Office of General Counsel as an attorney
in November of 2001, where he specializes in the collection of estate
accounts. He graduated from Westminster College with a Bachelor of Arts
in Political Science. In May of 2001, he graduated from the University
of Oklahoma with a J.D./M.B.A.
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Caren Burbach is an attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel where she specializes in intellectual property matters and business law.
Caren was formerly Vice President of Business Affairs, General Counsel and Secretary of two technology companies where she was responsible for all legal affairs and for business matters relating to transactions. Her practice included technology transfers, strategic planning for managing and leveraging intellectual property assets, technology development and marketing agreements, acquisitions, financing, international transactions, litigation, employment, facilities, and corporate governance. Previously, Caren was with a private firm. She graduated with a B.B.A. from Texas A&M University and with a J.D. from Baylor University.
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Neera Chatterjee is an attorney in the General Law Section of The University of Texas System Office of General Counsel. She serves as the Public Information Coordinator and provides open records training to officers and employees of the UT System and its institutions.
Before joining the staff of the Office of General Counsel, Ms. Chatterjee was an associate in the business litigation section of Haynes & Boone LLP in Austin, Texas for two years. Prior to joining Haynes & Boone LLP, she served as a law clerk to The Honorable Robert Pitman, United States District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division and to The Honorable Leslie C. Smith, United States District Court for the District of New Mexico.
Ms. Chatterjee graduated from Northwestern University with a B.A. in Political Science, and received her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School.
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Steve Collins is Special Counsel to the Office of General Counsel and also serves as Associate Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations for The University of Texas System. In addition to bridging the two offices on legal matters related to legislation and interactions with other governmental entities, he performs special projects on assignment from the General Counsel. He previously served the System as Interim General Counsel and has also served as Interim Vice Chancellor for Governmental Relations.
He is a graduate of The University of Texas at Austin (B.A. in Government with Honors, 1973) and The University of Texas School of Law (J.D. 1976). His legal specialties include Texas constitutional law, administrative law, and parliamentary law.
Prior to coming to the System, he was Chief Legislative Counsel and Executive Director of the Texas Legislative Council, a 400+ employee legislative service agency providing nonpartisan legal, research, and information technology services for both houses of the Texas legislature. Simultaneous with his council service, he also served as parliamentarian for the Texas House of Representatives and as General Counsel to the Texas House of Representatives.
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Traci L. Cotton is the Section Manager of the Claims & Bankruptcy Section of the Office of General
Counsel. She pursues a variety of claims on behalf of the System and its
institutions, practicing mainly in the areas of creditors' rights, commercial
law and bankruptcy.
In 1986, Ms. Cotton graduated
with high honors from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A.
in accounting/business honors program. She received her J.D. with honors
from The University of Texas School of Law in 1989. Following graduation
and prior to joining System in 1993, she practiced in Austin with the
law firm of Deitch & Hamilton, P.C.
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Ha Kim Dao is an attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel where she specializes in real estate law.
Ms. Dao received her B.A. from The University of Texas in 1996, with a double major in Plan II and Philosophy. She received her J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law in 1999.
Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Ms. Dao practiced real estate and finance law with law firms in Houston, Texas.
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Mark Gentle is an attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel where he specializes in contracting and procurement. Mr. Gentle graduated from the University of Tennessee with a B.A in Political Science and from Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis with a J.D. degree. He has served as:
- Manager of Contracting and Project Management Information Systems, Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, Infrastructure Division
- Legal Counsel, Texas Building and Procurement Commission
- Administrative Law Judge, Public Utility Commission of Texas
- Special Counsel, Texas State Board of Insurance
- Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Texas Attorney General’s Office
Mr. Gentle was in the private practice of law from 1994 to 2000 in Austin as a consulting attorney in the areas of contract law, health care and insurance regulation. Mr. Gentle began his career with the law firm of Knight, Custer & Duncan in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mr. Gentle was admitted to the State Bar of New Mexico in 1981 (inactive) and admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1982.
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Esther Hajdar is an attorney
in the General Law Section of the Office of the General Counsel for The
University of Texas System, where she specializes in constitutional and
civil rights issues, employment and student matters, policy, affirmative
action and ethics. She also serves as a liaison to the Attorney General's
Office in litigation affecting The University of Texas System or its components.
Ms. Hajdar graduated with Honors
from the University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Economics and from
The University of Texas School of Law with a J.D. degree.
During her career, Ms. Hajdar
has worked at the Office of the Attorney General in the General Litigation
Division as an Assistant Attorney General and as a Civil Rights Section
Leader. She also served as the Deputy Appellate Coordinator for the Appellate
Division. Ms. Hajdar also worked at the Texas Department of Agriculture
as the Deputy General Counsel for Enforcement and the Texas Workforce
Commission as the Deputy Director of Legal Services.
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Dana L. Hollingsworth is an
attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel,
where she specializes in contracting and procurement matters.
Ms. Hollingsworth received
a Bachelor of Business Administration degree, summa cum laude, from Baylor
University in 1986, with a double major in accounting and computer information
systems. In 1990, she received a Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from
The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Ms. Hollingsworth was admitted
to the State Bar of Texas and licensed as a Certified Public Accountant,
in 1990. She was admitted to the United States District Court, Western
District of Texas in 1992.
Prior to joining the Office
of General Counsel, Ms. Hollingsworth was in private practice with a law
firm in Austin, Texas, and specialized in business law.
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Barbara Holthaus has been an attorney with the General Law Section since 2002. She serves as legal advisor to the UT System’s employee group insurance program and provides counsel on privacy and security law issues as they apply to higher education. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky Honors Program with a B.A. in Political Science and in 1985 received her J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law. She is credentialed as a Certified Information Privacy Professional with an additional credential in Governmental Privacy issues (CIPP/G) from the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Ms. Holthaus began her law practice as a criminal defense trial and appellate attorney working the Office of the Jefferson County Public Defender in Louisville, Kentucky and the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1993 and served as General Counsel for the Texas Board of Examiners of Psychologists from 1994 until 1998. From 1998 until June 2002, she worked for the Texas Department of Insurance, where she served first as a staff attorney in the Regulated Lines Counsel Division and then as Director of Project Development for the Life, Health & Licensing Program.
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Hannah D. Huckaby is an attorney
in the Claims & Bankruptcy Section of the Office of General Counsel
where she specializes in the collection and litigation of student loans
and other debts on behalf of the System's institutions as well as advising institutions on student financial aid and debt collection issues.
Ms. Huckaby earned a B.A. in
history with highest honors from the University of Oklahoma and a J.D.
with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. She is a member
of Phi Beta Kappa. Following graduation from law school in 1993 and prior
to joining the Office of General Counsel in 1994, she worked as a Congressional
intern and White House volunteer.
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Donald O. Jansen serves as Senior Tax Counsel in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel.
He is a retired senior partner of Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. Mr. Jansen is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel and a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel. He is a past Chairman of the Committee of Significant Current Literature and a past Vice-Chair of the Insurance Committee, Probate and Trust Division, Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section of the American Bar Association. He is a past Probate Editor of the Newsletter of the Real Estate, Probate and Trust Law Section of the State Bar of Texas. Mr. Jansen is a member of the Advisory Committee, Heckerling Institute on Estate Planning, University of Miami School of Law.
Don Jansen has a JD, Loyola University New Orleans (cum laude) and a LL.M., Georgetown University, He is a specialist in estate planning and probate law certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has been designated by his peers as Texas Super Lawyer in estate planning 2003-2005.
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Kent M. Kostka is an attorney in the Claims and Bankruptcy Section of the Office of General Counsel, where he pursues a variety of claims on behalf of the System and its institutions, practicing mainly in the areas of medical accounts and hospital liens, and advising institutions on related issues.
He has a B.A. in History from The University of Texas at Austin, a Master's degree in Public Administration from Southwest Texas State University, and a J.D. from the University of Denver College of Law, where he was Senior Articles Editor of the Law Review and Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper. Kent is also licensed to practice in the Western District of Texas.
Publications include "Negotiating the Hospital Lien Minefield" in the Texas Bar Journal (2005), "Unanimously Weaving a Tangled Web: Walters, Robinson, Title VII, and the Need for Holistic Statutory Interpretation" in the Harvard Journal on Legislation (1999) and "Higher Education, Hopwood, and Homogeneity: Preserving Affirmative Action and Diversity in a Scrutinizing Society" in the Denver University Law Review (1996).
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Melodie
Krane is the Section Manager of the Health Law Section of the Office of
General Counsel where she specializes in medical malpractice litigation.
Melodie
received her B.S. degree from Northwestern State University (Louisiana) and her
M.S. degree in social work research and administration from The University of
Texas at Austin. She graduated from the University of Houston Law Center. Prior
to joining the Office of General Counsel, she served as an assistant attorney
general of Texas.
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Priscilla A. Lozano joined
the staff of The University of Texas System Office of General Counsel
in 1989. As a member of the General Law Section, she is responsible for
providing legal advice to The University of Texas System Administration
and to UT institution administrators regarding faculty and staff employment
issues, student discipline, state and federal higher education statutes
and regulations, university policy, university catalogs and public information
requests.
Ms. Lozano's previous higher
education related employment includes her service as General Counsel at
Pan American University and as Assistant Attorney General for the Texas
Attorney General's Office.
Ms. Lozano graduated from Yale University with a B.A. in Psychology in
May 1982 and from the University of Texas School of Law with a J.D. in
May 1985.
Associations: National Association of College
and University Attorneys,
Texas Association of State and University Attorneys,
Hispanic Bar Association of Austin,
Leadership Texas - 1995,
Women's Roundtable - 2000-2001.
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Karen Lundquist is an attorney in the General Law Section of The University of Texas System Office of General Counsel. She serves as Deputy Ethics Advisor to the System and provides ethics training to officers and employees of the UT System and its institutions. She also analyzes and tracks legislation affecting higher education issues.
Before joining the staff of the Office of General Counsel, Ms. Lundquist served as the executive director of the Texas Ethics Commission, where she served as general counsel for seven years before assuming the executive director position. Ms. Lundquist also served for 15 years as an attorney with the Texas Legislative Council, where she drafted legislation and provided legal advice to members of the Texas Legislature.
Ms. Lundquist graduated with honors from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Speech, and from The University of Texas School of Law with a J.D. degree. She serves on various committees of the Council on Governmental Ethics Laws.
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Alan Marks is an attorney in the General Law Section of The University of Texas System Office of General Counsel. Before joining the staff of the Office of General Counsel, Mr. Marks had a health and employment law practice with Thompson & Knight and before that with Clark, Thomas & Winters, both in Austin.
Mr. Marks graduated from Louisiana State University with a B.S. in Psychology, and from Tulane Law School with a J.D. degree.
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BethLynn Maxwell is an attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel, where she specializes in patent law.
Dr. Maxwell graduated with honors from Tulane University with a B.S. in biology, received her Master's and Doctoral degrees from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, and her J.D. degree from South Texas College of Law. She is licensed to practice patent law before the United States Patent and Trademark Office. Before going to law school, she was a molecular biologist at Baylor College of Medicine. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, she practiced patent law specializing in biotechnology patent prosecution at Fish & Richardson, an intellectual property law firm.
She has been an active member of the Texas Technology Transfer Association (T3A) since its inception. She is currently on the Board of Directors of T3A and recently served as its President. She frequently makes presentations on patent law and managing intellectual property portfolios.
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Walter Mosher is an attorney in the Health Law Section of the Office of General Counsel. Mr. Mosher provides legal advice to The University of Texas System institutions on health regulatory and operational matters along with managing medical malpractice claims and cases before the Texas Medical Board.
Mr. Mosher received his LL.M. in Health Law from the University of Houston and M.S. in Healthcare Administration from Trinity University. He also received a J.D. from Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. and a B.S. from the University of Houston.
Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Mr. Mosher prosecuted disciplinary cases at the Texas Medical Board involving malpractice, substance abuse, and business related offenses, such as healthcare fraud. Mr. Mosher’s experience also includes working as a military legal advisor (JAG) with assignments as Assistant General Counsel for the Uniformed Service University of Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland; as a hospital counsel at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas; as a health law instructor at the U.S. Army Medical Center & School, Fort Sam Houston, Texas; and as a prosecutor for military commanders.
From 2005-2008 Mr. Mosher was deployed to Bagdad where he served on General Petreaus’ legal staff and deployed to Colombia as the military legal advisor at the U.S. Embassy.
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Marty Novak is a real estate attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel for the University of Texas System. He is Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is co-author of the Texas Foreclosure Manual and a contributing author to the Texas Collections Manual, both published by the State Bar of Texas. He is a frequent speaker at CLE programs offered by the State Bar of Texas, the University of Houston Law Center, and the University of Texas School of Law. In addition to his legal writings, Mr. Novak is also a published author on the topic of the early Christian church during the period of the Roman Empire.
Before joining the General Counsel's Office, Mr. Novak was in the private practice of law for twenty five years, as a partner at the firms of Kleberg and Head, P.C., Hilgers and Watkins, P.C. and Brown McCarroll, LLP.
Mr. Novak has received a B.A.with honors in History and Anthropology from Rice University, an M.A. in Roman history from the University of Chicago, and a J.D. with honors from the University of Houston.
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Jack O'Donnell is an attorney in the General Law Section of the Office of General Counsel, where he specializes in employment, tort and civil rights law.
Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Mr. O'Donnell was an Assistant Attorney General in the General Litigation Division of the Texas Attorney General’s Office. Mr. O’Donnell’s experience also includes private practice with law firms in Austin, Texas, specializing in business litigation, and 16 years as a federal prosecutor.
Mr. O'Donnell graduated from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.B.A. in Accounting and earned his J.D. from The University of Texas School of Law.
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Scott Patterson is an
Attorney in the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel,
where he specializes in contracting and procurement matters.
Mr. Patterson received a Bachelor
of Science degree in Computer Science from the University of Houston -
Clear Lake in 1988. In 1994, Mr. Patterson received a Master of Business
Administration degree from the University of Houston - Clear Lake. In
1997, Mr. Patterson received a Juris Doctor degree from the University
of Houston Law Center.
Mr. Patterson was admitted
into the State Bar of Texas in 1997. In 2000, Mr. Patterson was admitted
to the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas.
Prior to joining the Office
of the General Counsel, Mr. Patterson was employed as a Systems Analyst
and Information Resource Manager for NASA/Johnson Space Center and as
an attorney for the City of Houston Legal Department specializing in business
and contract law.
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Jim Phillips is the Section Manager of the Business Law Section of the Office of General Counsel, where he specializes in environmental law and related health and safety issues and manages the contracts & procurement, intellectual property, and real estate practice groups as well as a number of specialty practices.
Mr. Phillips graduated cum laude with a B.A. in History from Williams College and a J.D. with honors from The University of Texas School of Law. He has served as:
- Deputy Comptroller, Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- General Counsel at the Texas General Land Office
- Division Chief at the Texas Attorney General’s Office
- Chief Hearing Examiner and head of the Office of Legal Services, Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission.
He is Board Certified in Administrative Law. Mr. Phillips has served as Chair of the Western States Land Commissioners Legal Committee, has served on the Planning Committees for the State Bar Advanced Administrative Law Conference and Advanced Environmental Law Conference and is a former municipal judge of Rollingwood, Texas.
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Steve Rosen’s primary practice area in the Office of General Counsel covers intellectual property matters, including copyright and technology licensing.
Prior to joining the office, Mr. Rosen served as University Counsel at the
University
of
California
, where his work focused on intellectual property (including licensing), academic personnel matters (both administrative proceedings and litigation), conflicts of interest, the First Amendment, privacy and records issues, and student judicial affairs.
Following law school, Mr. Rosen served as a law clerk to the Honorable Gary L. Taylor of the United States District Court, Central District of California. Mr. Rosen then joined McCutchen, Doyle, Brown & Enersen (now Bingham McCutchen) in San Francisco
for five years as a member of the firm's litigation and environmental law groups. Between 2000 and 2002, Mr. Rosen worked at the Gunderson, Dettmer firm on technology licensing and intellectual property matters. Mr. Rosen is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley (B.A. 1989) and Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley (J.D. 1992), where he was Senior Note and Comment Editor of the California Law Review.
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Edwin Smith specializes in construction law and related contracting and litigation matters. He has a Bachelor of Sciences degree in Architectural Studies from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor Degree from the University of Baylor School of Law where he was associate editor of the Baylor Law Review. He is a registered architect in the State of Texas and is licensed to practice law in Texas and California (inactive).
Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Mr. Smith was a partner in the Austin law firm of Roller & Allensworth, L.L.P. He has also served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Texas Attorney General's Office and was managing partner of an Austin architectural firm.
Mr. Smith currently manages construction law issues for UT System and all of its institutions. He prepares and maintains form agreements for use on all construction projects and issues Construction Contracting Guidelines that must be followed by all UT contracting personnel. Additional information can be found at the UT System Construction Law Website.
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Omar Syed joined the Office of General Counsel in October, 2007, and specializes in employment, tort and civil rights law. Omar received his A.B. with honors in Public Policy Studies from The University of Chicago, and received his J.D. from the University of Minnesota Law School. After law school, Omar practiced administrative law and civil litigation as an Assistant Attorney General for the State of Minnesota. He then served as an Assistant United States Attorney in Minneapolis, practicing federal criminal prosecution. Immediately before joining the Office of General Counsel, Omar practiced oil and gas law with a private law firm in Austin, Texas. He is admitted to practice in Texas and Minnesota, before the U.S. District Court for the District of Minnesota and Western District of Texas, and before the Fifth and Eighth Circuit Courts of Appeals.
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Lannis Temple is an attorney in the Health Law Section of the Office of General Counsel. Mr. Temple provides legal advice and manages medical malpractice claims and litigation for the Medical Liability Benefit Plan, a self-insured medical malpractice insurance plan.
Mr. Temple received his J.D., with honors, from The University of Texas. He is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law and has an AV Martindale-Hubbell Rating.
Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel, Mr. Temple was in private practice with Fulbright & Jaworski, among other firms, and was a Lecturer in Trial Tactics at The University of Texas Law School.
Mr. Temple also traveled to 36 countries and edited a book with Random House entitled Dear World: How Children Around the World Feel About Our Environment.
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Terence L. Thompson is an attorney in the General Law Section of the Office of General Counsel. Prior to coming to UT System in May of 2008, Mr. Thompson served for 14 years as a trial and appellate lawyer at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. His practice has focused on civil rights, employment, and constitutional law. He began his legal career as a commercial litigator at the San Antonio firm of Cox & Smith Incorporated.
Mr. Thompson holds a B.B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin (1979) and a J.D. from Baylor University School of Law (1985). He is licensed to practice in Texas and California.
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Mr. ZumBerge graduated with a B.S.B.A. from The
University of Texas at Dallas in 1995 and with a J.D. from the
University of Houston’s Bates School of Law in 2000.
After graduating from law school, but prior to joining UT System, Mr. ZumBerge worked in the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts’ Office of General Counsel, as an Assistant General Counsel in Administrative Hearings. Subsequently, he represented the Texas Prepaid Higher Education Tuition Board by serving as Counsel of the Texas Tomorrow Funds.
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