SPEAKER
BIOGRAPHIES
Session 1 - Welcome
Daniel H. Sharphorn
Vice Chancellor and General Counsel
UT System
Dan Sharphorn is the Vice Chancellor and General Counsel aiding 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.
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 earned JD, MSW, and MA (Sociology) from the University of Michigan and a BS from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point.
Session 2 - Beyond Constitutional Autonomy: Four Prodigal Lawyers Return with Lessons from Life After 78701 (and 78249)
Omar Syed
Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Rice University
(Former Associate Vice Chancellor & Deputy General Counsel, UT System)
Omar Syed is the Vice President and General Counsel at Rice University. Omar earned his Bachelor of Arts degree with special honors in public policy studies from the University of Chicago in 1996 and his law degree from the University of Minnesota in 1999. After law school, he served as an assistant attorney general for the State of Minnesota and an assistant U.S. attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice.
Before joining Rice in 2022, Omar served for 15 years in the University of Texas System Office of General Counsel, most recently as its Associate Vice Chancellor and Deputy General Counsel. Omar is a first-generation American, the son of an Ecuadorian mother and Pakistani father, who carries his parents’ families fervent belief in the transformative power of an education.
Tamra English
General Counsel & Secretary to the Board of Trustees, University of Northern Colorado
(Former Assistant Vice Chancellor & Managing Counsel, OGC General Law, UT System)
Tamra English is General Counsel and Secretary to the Board of Trustees at the University of Northern Colorado. Prior to joining the University of Northern Colorado, Ms. English served as Assistant Vice Chancellor and Managing Counsel at The University of Texas System Office of General Counsel. Earlier in her career, she practiced in both public and private sectors, including roles as a senior associate at Ewbank & Byrom, PC, and as an assistant district attorney in Brazoria County, Texas.
Ms. English holds a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Baylor University. Ms. English is committed to fostering a culture of integrity, transparency, and collaboration across the university community while ensuring that institutional decisions are informed by sound legal guidance.
Jason King
Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs & General Counsel, Hofstra University
(Former Chief Legal Officer, UTSA; Chief Systemwide Compliance Officer, UT System)
Jason King is Senior Vice President for Legal Affairs and General Counsel for Hofstra University. Prior to assuming the role at Hofstra in June of last year, King was the associate vice president of strategic risk management and chief legal officer at The University of Texas at San Antonio, where he advised university leadership and manages institutional risk. From 2012 to 2023, he held several roles at The University of Texas System Administration, including chief compliance and ethics officer and led the creation of a research compliance strategy that protected a $3.5 billion research portfolio from foreign influence and misconduct. Earlier in his legal career, King was assistant general counsel at the Texas Ethics Commission and practiced law with the Austin firm Akers & Boulware-Wells, LLP.
King holds a Juris Doctor from Baylor Law School and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln. He is known for his strategic, forward-looking legal approach and collaborative commitment to transparency, compliance, and institutional excellence in higher education.
John Danner
Vice President of Legal Affairs and General Counsel, Central Michigan University
(Former Interim UTSA Chief Legal Officer)
John Danner is the General Counsel for Central Michigan University. Before joining CMU in 2020, John served as Senior Associate Counsel at the University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) from 2008 to 2020 and as an Assistant City Attorney III for the City of San Antonio from 1998 to 2008. Prior to that John worked in private practice as a litigator.
John attended the University of Texas at Austin where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and went on to earn his Juris Doctor from St. Mary's University College of Law where he founded the Longhorn Bar Association. John also attended the Institute of World Legal Problems at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. John has been commended for his versatility and experience, as well as his approachable and personal manner.
Session 3 - Linking the Chains: In-House Counsel and Enterprise Risk Management
Kathy Carlson, J.D., LL.M., CCEP
Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer, UT System
Kathy Carlson serves as the Chief Compliance and Ethics Officer for the University of Texas System. She is responsible for leading the Office of Systemwide Compliance, providing strategic direction and oversight for comprehensive compliance and ethics programs across the UT System. Kathy also serves as a key resource and advisor to the UT System institutions, supporting their efforts to uphold the highest standards of integrity and accountability.
Kathy began her legal career in 2012 as a compliance and employment attorney at The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB), where she advanced into a leadership role within the Office of Legal & Regulatory Affairs. Her work there included strengthening compliance programs, launching an investigation function, and redesigning policies and training initiatives. In 2020, Kathy transitioned to Waste Management (WM), a Fortune 200 company with 60,000 employees worldwide, and she established a new department in the legal department responsible for investigations, mitigating risks, and enhancing ethics and compliance.
Kathy earned a Bachelor of Science in Sports Management (Cum Laude) from New York University (2005), a Juris Doctor from South Texas College of Law (2012), and a Master of Laws in Compliance and Enterprise Risk Management from Loyola University Chicago School of Law (2023). She also holds the designation of Certified Compliance and Ethics Professional (CCEP).
Session 4 - Cybersecurity In the Age of AI
George Finney, J.D.
Chief Information Security Officer, UT System
George Finney serves as the chief information security officer for The University of Texas System, where he works with each U.T. System institution to continually improve their security posture and capabilities. His office is responsible for the development and administration of Systemwide policies as well as the assessment and monitoring of systems operated directly by U.T. System Administration, including services shared among institutions.
George was the recipient of the Malcolm Baldridge Award for Cybersecurity Leadership in 2024, was recognized in 2023 as one of the top 100 CISOs in the world, and in 2022 as University Technology Leader of the Year. George is the bestselling author of several cybersecurity books, including Project Zero Trust and the Book of the Year Award-winning, Well Aware: Master the Nine Cybersecurity Habits to Protect Your Future.
George has worked in cybersecurity for over 20 years helping startups, global telecommunications firms, and nonprofits improve their security posture. George Finney believes that people are the key to solving cybersecurity challenges George is a licensed attorney and received his Juris Doctorate from SMU…where he was the CISO. In his spare time, he creates spray paint pop art robots.
Session 5 - Two Courts: One Conversation
The Honorable Priscilla Richman
Fifth Circuit Judge
Judge Priscilla Richman serves on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. She was nominated by President George W. Bush and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 25, 2005. Born in Matagorda County, Texas, she attended primary and secondary schools in Waco, Texas. Judge Richman remained local for college and obtained her B.A. degree cum laude in 1976 from Baylor University and her J.D. cum laude in 1977 from Baylor Law, where she was a member of the Baylor Law Review. Judge Richman was with the firm of Andrews Kurth for seventeen years where she was a partner practicing primarily in the commercial litigation area, with some appellate work, administrative law matters, and a smattering of corporate finance, before becoming a Justice on the Supreme Court of Texas in 1995. She served as Chief Judge for the Fifth Circuit from 2019 to 2024.
The Honorable Nathan Hecht
Former Chief Justice of the Texas Supreme Court
Justice Nathan Hecht was the 27th Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Texas. Born in New Mexico, Hecht earned his B.A. with honors from Yale University and his J.D. cum laude from SMU School of Law. Before his judicial service, Hecht was a partner in a Dallas law firm, clerked for Judge Roger Robb of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, and served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy Reserve Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He was first appointed as a district court judge by Governor Bill Clements in 1981, was elected to the Fifth Court of Appeals in Dallas in 1986, and was first elected to the Supreme Court in 1988. He was appointed Chief Justice by Governor Rick Perry in 2013. He retired from the court after 36 years of service on December 21, 2024, as the longest-serving member of the Court in Texas history. He is now a partner with Jackson Walker in their litigation practice group.
Kristi Godden
Associate General Counsel
OGC General Law, UT System
Kristi Godden is an Associate General Counsel in the Office of General Counsel at UT System. Her practice focuses on employment law, litigation, student affairs, and state and federal compliance. Kristi’s roles prior to joining OGC include Senior Associate Counsel at the University of Texas at San Antonio, a partner at the law firm of O’Hanlon, Demerath & Castillo, and an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas. Kristi received her B.S. from UT Austin and her J.D. from Texas Law.
Session 6 - Wanna Bet? What Texans Should Know About Betting
Bob Latham
Partner, Jackson Walker, LLP, Dallas, TX
Bob Latham is a partner in the Dallas office of Jackson Walker where he has developed nationally recognized expertise in the areas of media law, commercial litigation, and intellectual property litigation. In fact, he has been included in "The Best Lawyers in America" across six different disciplines: Commercial Litigation; First Amendment Law; Litigation – First Amendment; Litigation – Intellectual Property; Litigation – Patent; and Sports Law. Bob received his A.B. from Stanford University and his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law. In addition to being a versatile trial lawyer, Bob is a published author and columnist, and a much sought-after speaker nationally and internationally. He has spoken on matters related to the rights of free speech, technology and intellectual property litigation, advocacy and litigation strategy, dispute resolution and sports – from London to Cape Town, Rio de Janeiro to Glasgow, Yangzhou to Melbourne, and Seattle to Miami. His publications sometimes take a humorous look at the legal profession. Bob has been interviewed many times by media outlets including CNN, ESPN, USA Today, The New York Times, and 60 Minutes Sports.
Bob is a leading global advocate for freedom of expression and is the Chair of the International Board of ARTICLE 19, a prominent NGO based in London. He has also served as an Adjunct Professor of Media Law and Regulation at the University of North Texas. Bob also played rugby competitively until he was 36. He has been inducted into both the Texas and United States Rugby Halls of Fame, twice elected Chairman of USA Rugby, served a term on the United States Olympic Committee Board of Directors, and became the first American to be elected to the World Rugby Executive Board.
Session 7A - Because Title IX Has Opinions About Your Athletic Budget
Damon Derrick
Chief Legal Officer, Stephen F. Austin State University - UT System
Damon Derrick is Vice President and General Counsel/Chief of Staff at Stephen F. Austin State University. Damon earned his bachelor's degree from Lamar University and his J.D. from the University of Mississippi School of Law. As a 1L, Damon met with a university general counsel and quickly realized that it was the field for him, and after graduating from law school joined SFA’s Office of General Counsel in 2008 as a staff attorney before moving up to General Counsel, Vice President and General Counsel, and in 2025 was also appointed Chief of Staff.
Damon has a deep passion for anything Star Wars – movies, books, tv shows; in his own words, he “just can’t get enough of it.”
Marlayna M. Ellis
Assistant Attorney General, General Litigation Division, Austin, TX
Marlayna M. Ellis is an Assistant Attorney General in the Office of the Attorney General of Texas, where her responsibilities include managing all stages of litigation in state and federal courts, including appellate proceedings, and defending state employees in various constitutional and employment matters. She obtained her bachelor’s degree from the University of Arkansas and obtained her JD from the University of Arkansas School of Law. Marlayna was an attorney at Thomas J. Henry Law in Austin before joining the Attorney General’s Office in 2022.
Session 7B - Hospital Regulatory Update: Provider-Based Compliance, 340B, and Other Hot Topics
Gregory N. Etzel
Partner, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Houston, TX
Gregory Etzel is a Partner in the Houston office of the law firm of Morgan Lawis, where he focuses his practice on the representation of hospitals and other healthcare providers in complex legal transactions and regulatory litigation. Before joining Morgan Lewis, Greg was the vice president of legal affairs at UTMB representing the institution across a wide range of issues ranging from strategic initiatives, operations, litigation management, public information, and international affairs. His role at UTMB also included serving as general counsel for Medical Branch Innovations Inc., a nonprofit governed by UTMB to pursue public-private partnerships for innovative healthcare solutions. Greg obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Texas—Austin and earned his JD from the University of Houston Law Center.
Session 8 - Jeoparty! Battle of the Systems! (UT v. Texas A&M v. Texas State)
Lee Roy Calderon
Assistant General Counsel
OGC General Law, UT System
Lee Roy Calderon is an Associate General Counsel in the UT System Office of General Counsel. He also serves as plan counsel for the UT System Office of Employee Benefits. Lee Roy graduated with honors from The University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and Asian American Studies and received his J.D. from Baylor Law School. After law school, Lee Roy started at a small firm in Waco, focusing primarily on family law and criminal defense before serving as in-house legal counsel for Southwest Key Program, a national non-profit corporation headquartered in Austin. Lee Roy then joined OGC in 2015. Lee Roy is a bona fide foodie and enjoys trying new restaurants and writing reviews on Yelp.
Marc Vockell
Assistant Vice Chancellor & Managing Counsel, OGC Business Law, UT System
Marc Vockell is the Assistant Vice Chancellor and Managing Counsel of the Business Law Section in the Office of General Counsel. Marc Vockell leads the OGC Business Law team. Prior to leading Business Law, Marc advised on intellectual property at OGC for almost 6 years, working on trademarks, copyrights, patents, sponsored research, clinical trials, technology commercialization, software licensing, confidentiality, and trade secrets. Marc came to the UT System after 14 years at Dell Technologies, where he served as Vice President for Intellectual Property Litigation. Before working at Dell, Marc clerked for US District Judge Sam Sparks and then was a business litigation attorney at Vinson & Elkins. Marc obtained his bachelor's from Purdue University and his JD from the University of Texas School of Law where he was Notes Editor of the Texas Law Review.
Elinore T. Tecson
Assistant General Counsel, Texas A&M University System
Elinore Tecson is an Assistant General Counsel in the Texas A&M University System Office of General Counsel. Her practice focuses on litigation filed in federal and state courts throughout the state against the A&M System. In addition, Elinore advises the A&M System and its member institutions on general employment matters and serves as the liaison for Tarleton State University. Prior to joining OGC, she worked in private practice and as an Assistant City Attorney for the City of Houston. She continued her career in Austin and most recently served as an attorney in the General Law Division of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, where her practice focused on employment law and ethics. Elinore then joined the Office of General Counsel in November 2013. Elinore earned her bachelor's from the University of Houston and her JD from the South Texas College of Law.
Emily Ardolino
Associate General Counsel, Texas State University System
Emily Ardolino is an Associate General Counsel for the Texas State University System based here in Austin, where she provides legal counsel to the Board of Regents, chancellor, universities, colleges, and institute that comprise the System, striving to offer timely and responsible advice on a broad array of legal issues facing public, complex institutions of higher education. Prior to joining Texas State, she served as the Deputy Division Chief for General Litigation in the Texas Attorney General’s office and prior to that she was an associate with a labor and employment law firm in Austin. Emily earned her bachelor's from Brown University and her JD from the University of Texas School of Law.
Session 9 - GLD and UT System: Working Together to Get the Win
Kimberly Gdula
Chief, General Litigation Division, Office of the Attorney General
Kimberly Gdula earned her undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin before attending law school at Baylor University. After graduating in 2008, Kimberly returned to Austin, where she joined the litigation section at Jackson Walker, practicing business litigation and healthcare law and was promoted to partner. In November 2019, Kimberly departed Jackson Walker for the Office of the Attorney General, where she is now chief of the General Litigation Division. Her practice includes employment litigation, constitutional reform, and pre-litigation advising.
Paige Barnett
Assistant Vice Chancellor & Managing Counsel, General Law, OGC, UT System
Paige Barnett is an Assistant Vice Chancellor and Managing Counsel of the General Law Section in the Office of General Counsel at UT System. Paige leads the General Law Team in advising UT System and UT institutions on a broad range of issues, including faculty and staff employment and benefits matters, student affairs, constitutional questions, torts, risk management, law enforcement and campus safety, Title IX compliance, privacy, public information disclosure requirements, and other federal and state higher education and public agency compliance matters. Prior to joining UT System in October 2015, Paige practiced employment law for more than 10 years at the Chicago-based firm Vedder Price P.C. where she represented a wide range of public- and private-sector employers in a variety of traditional labor and employment law matters. Paige earned her law degree from Northwestern University School of Law and earned her bachelor's with honors from Vanderbilt University.
Laura Barbour
Chief Legal Officer, UTRGV
Laura Barbour is the Chief Legal Officer for UTRGV. She joined UTRGV after serving as an Associate General Counsel for UT System. Laura provides counsel on a broad range of higher education issues, including employment, civil rights, and risk management matters. Ms. Barbour joined the UT System after nearly a decade of litigation and trial work at the Office of the Attorney General of Texas and at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. She has advised and represented individuals and public and private entities before state and federal courts throughout Texas and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Ms. Barbour received her law degree from The University of Texas School of Law in 2009 and her undergraduate degree from The University of Texas at Austin in 2000.
Shelby Boseman
Chief Legal Officer, UT Arlington
Shelby Boseman is the Chief Legal Officer for UT Arlington. Shelby was hired in 2014 as UT Arlington’s first in-house counsel and Chief Legal Officer. He has oversight of the Office of Legal Affairs, Title IX, Equal Opportunity Services, Public Records, Records Information Management, and policies. Prior to UT Arlington, he was the Deputy General Counsel at the Lone Star College System and In-House Counsel at the Houston Housing Authority. Shelby received his Bachelor's degree from Weber State University and his JD from the University of Houston, and also holds a PhD in Educational Leadership and Administration from UT Arlington.
Session 10 - Bystanders and Enablers: The Need for Accountability
Amos Guiora
Professor, University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law, Director of the Bystander Initiative
Amos Guiora is a Professor at the S.J Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah. Professor Guiora’s scholarship focuses on the question of bystanders and enablers, resulting in a number of books including The Crime of Complicity: The Bystander in the Holocaust; Armies of Enablers: Survivor Stories of Complicity and Betrayal in Sexual Assaults; The Complicity of Silence: Confronting Ecosystems of Child Sexual Abuse in Schools; Enablers: Normalizing the Unimaginable (forthcoming 2026, American Bar Association Series: Guiora on Enablers, Bystanders, and Institutional Complicity) and Co-Pay: The True Cost of Being a Michigan Man (co-written with Jon Vaughn, forthcoming 2027, American Bar Association). Guiora directs the Bystander Initiative which is dedicated to the work of criminalizing bystanders and enablers of abuse.
In 2026, Guiora was named a University of Utah Presidential Societal Impact Scholar. In 2023, Guiora received the University of Utah’s Bennion Center Distinguished Faculty Service Award for his work on enablers and bystanders and, in 2024, was voted Outstanding Professor by the S.J. Quinney College of Law 2024 graduating class. Guiora has an A.B. from Kenyon College, a J.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Law and a Ph.D. from Leiden University.
Session 11 - The Puzzle of Justice-Seeking in the Constitution
Lawrence Sager
Professor, Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair in Law, UT School of Law
Lawrence Sager is a Professor and the Alice Jane Drysdale Sheffield Regents Chair in Law at the University of Texas School of Law. One of the nation's preeminent constitutional theorists and scholars, Professor Sager came to Texas from New York University School of Law, where he was the Robert B. McKay Professor and Co-Founder of the Program in Law, Philosophy & Social Theory. He has also taught at Harvard, Princeton, Boston University, UCLA, and the University of Michigan. Professor Sager is the author or co-author of dozens of articles, many now classics in the canon of legal scholarship. Sager is the author of two books: Justice in Plainclothes: a Theory of American Constitutional Practice (Yale Univ. Press), and Religious Freedom and the Constitution (co-authored with Christopher Eisgruber) (Harvard Univ. Press). Professor Sager received his BA from Pomona College and his LLB from Columbia University.
Session 12 - In Conversation with Coach Mack Brown
Coach Mack Brown
Former UT Austin Head Football Coach
Mack Brown is the former head coach and national title winner with the Texas Longhorns. Mack Brown was inducted into the National Football Foundation College Football Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2018. He is the 22nd Longhorn all-time to be selected, joining Dana X. Bible and Darrell Royal as Texas head coaches to have been inducted.
Born in Cookeville, Tennessee, Brown was a three-sport star at Putnam County High School, where he lettered three times in football. He went on to attend Vanderbilt (1969-70) before graduating from Florida State, where he lettered twice as a running back for the Seminoles (1972-73). Brown completed his bachelor's degree in education from Florida State in 1974 and earned a master's degree in administration from Southern Miss in 1976.
Brown was the head coach of the Texas Longhorns for 16 seasons. With a mark at Texas of 158-48 (.767), the 2008 Bobby Dodd National Coach of the Year and the 2009 Big 12 Coach of the Year elevated the Longhorns program to new heights. The 2005 Paul W. "Bear" Bryant National Coach of the Year award winner and coach of the 2005 BCS National Champions, he is one of a handful of coaches in the history of college football to lead two separate programs to a Top Five national finish.
A member of the Longhorn Hall of Honor, Brown's 244 career victories rank 10th on the NCAA all-time list, and he was one of just four active coaches to reach the 200-victory plateau at the end of the 2013 season. He was also one of only two coaches nationally to direct his teams to 21 bowls in his last 22 seasons and the only one to have 23 winning seasons in his last 24 years, while his 158 wins at Texas were the fourth-most in the nation from 1998-2013, and his 225 wins overall from 1990 to 2013 were the most nationally. Brown's on-the-field success had an impact on the student-athletes' future opportunities as well. As of the 2013 NFL Draft, multiple Longhorns were selected in the first round in six of his last 13 drafts. In fact, his teams produced a Heisman winner, 54 All-Americans, and 71 NFL Draft picks, while excelling academically with 159 Academic All-Big 12 selections and two Campbell Trophy winners.
With all of the success on the field, the primary emphasis remained the same with Brown's squads -- maintaining a high level of achievement in the classroom and in the community. Eighty percent of his players at North Carolina received their degrees and he increased the pace at Texas, while more than a third of his players at Texas regularly earned 3.0 grade point averages and achieved spots on the Big 12 Commissioner's and Athletics Director's honor rolls.
In addition to the Longhorn Hall of Honor and College Football Hall of Fame, Brown is also a member of the Texas Sports Hall of Fame, Tennessee Sports Hall of Fame, Rose Bowl Hall of Fame and the Holiday Bowl Hall of Fame. The University of Texas has also honored Mack Brown with The Mack Brown Distinguished Chair for Leadership in Global Affairs, a part of the Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, a university-wide global affairs research center named for renowned lawyer and public servant Ambassador Robert S. Strauss.
He and his wife, Sally, have four children and six grandchildren.
Sean Flammer
Associate General Counsel, OGC General Law, UT System
Sean Flammer is an Associate General Counsel in the General Law Section of the Office of General Counsel for UT System.
Sean specializes in Title IX, student affairs disputes, employment issues, constitutional litigation, and general litigation. Sean graduated with High Honors and with the Order of the Coif distinction from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 2007. After clerking for a federal appellate judge, Sean joined a large litigation firm in Austin. He practiced trial and appellate litigation for over 4 years before he joined the Office of Attorney General. At the Attorney General’s office, Sean spent over 5 years representing universities and other state agencies in complex litigation. He had a heavy docket of litigating and advising clients on Title IX/due-process matters. He has tried cases in federal and state court and argued at courts of appeals in both state and federal court. He is a former adjunct professor at UT Law and has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in high-profile litigation.
Sean is active in the Austin legal community. He is a member of the Lochridge Inns of Court and is the former Chair of the Austin Bar Association’s Civil Litigation Section. Before law school, Sean was a Teach for America teacher in the Mississippi Delta and attended Grinnell College.
