AUSTIN—Texas attorneys elected Laura Gibson of Houston to be president-elect of the State Bar of Texas, a press release states.
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.