TEXAS ALLIANCE OF PARALEGAL ASSOCIATIONS 2022
Friday, April 8th & Saturday, April 9th
Friday CLE | 12:00 Noon - 5:00 PM
Friday Night Social | 6:00 PM
Saturday Presentations | 9:00 AM
Sponsored by Magna Legal Services
FREE for all attendees. Registration closes on April 6th.
Friday CLE (12:00 Noon - 5:00 PM)
CLE Credit
This event qualifies for 3.0 hours of General paralegal CLE credit and 1.0 hour of Ethics CLE credit issued through DAPA for a total of 4.0 CLE credit hours. CLE credit with NFPA, NALA, and SBOT PD pending.
CLE Speakers
12:15 PM - 1:15 PM | “Dilemmas in Ethics: When and Where to Report UPL”
Charles William "Bill" Gameros, Jr.
Hoge & Gameros, L.L. P. | Chairman, District 6, Unauthorized Practice of Law Subcommittee of the Supreme Court of Texas
Bill Gameros is a founding partner of Hoge & Gameros. He specializes in complex commercial matters in the state and federal courts.
Mr. Gameros is an experienced litigator whose docket includes oil and gas matters, real estate matters, insurance issues, corporate governance, business torts and commercial disputes. He has successfully represented both plaintiffs and defendants in jury and non-jury trials, hearings on injunctive relief, mediations and arbitrations.
Mr. Gameros is a graduate of the United States Military Academy, achieved the rank of Captain and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Combat actions in the Republic of Iraq during Operation Desert Storm. During that operation, his battalion received the Valorous Unit Award for exceptional performance.
1:30 PM - 2:30 PM | “Using Strengths in Leadership”
Judge Tonya Parker
116th Civil District Court of Texas
Judge Tonya Parker was elected in 2010 and has been re-elected twice as Judge of the 116th Civil District Court in Dallas County, Texas. While in private practice, she earned partnership at two Dallas firms, where she was a civil litigator and trial attorney for plaintiffs and defendants in complex commercial and tort litigation matters. She received her Juris Doctorate from Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in 1998. Upon graduation, her peers selected her to receive the John E. Kennedy Memorial Scholarship for her service and dedication to the law school community.
A respected jurist among her colleagues, Judge Parker served as the Presiding Judge of the thirteen Dallas County Civil District Courts for two years and is a past president of the Texas Association of District Judges. Since taking office in 2011, Judge Parker has been rated in four Judicial Evaluation Polls administrated by the Dallas Bar Association; in each polls she has earned the highest overall approval rating of any civil district court judge evaluated (achieving overall approval ratings of 93% or above in each of the four polls).
The State Bar of Texas African American Law Section has twice honored Judge Parker with its Distinguished Jurist Award in 2019 and 2015. The Dallas Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) named Judge Parker its Trial Judge of the Year in 2015. She has also been awarded the Honorable L.A. Bedford Outstanding Jurist Award and the Honorable Sam A. Lindsay Award for Professionalism and Ethics-both awards from the J.L. Turner Legal Association. Judge Parker is a frequent panelist on CLE programs related to implicit bias in civil jury trials, courtroom advocacy, and judicial independence.
Prior to joining the judiciary, Judge Parker was a respected member of the bar. She was recognized by her attorney peers as one of the top lawyers in Texas by being voted a Super Lawyers’ Rising Star three years in a row from 2006 to 2008, and again for a fourth time in 2010 just before she was elected to office. Also in 2010, she received Outstanding Mentor awards from both the J.L. Turner Legal Association and the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers. The Dallas Association of Young Lawyers also named Judge Parker Outstanding Young Lawyer of Dallas in 2006. Prior to that, the Dallas Bar Association recognized her with its Outstanding Minority Attorney Award and an Award of Excellence. Judge Parker is also a former American Marshall Fellow, in which capacity she traveled throughout Europe for a period in 2005 to promote transatlantic relations and learn about the social, political and economic systems of various European countries.
A devoted public servant outside the legal arena, Judge Parker keynotes scores of community events, including luncheons, dinners, convocations, and graduation ceremonies. She is also a regular volunteer with Ignite, a non-partisan organization aimed at building political ambition in and training young women (ages 14-22) to run for public office. Throughout her legal career, she has served on numerous legal and civic boards and commissions, including as chairperson of the Dallas Arts District Alliance’s Board of Directors, commissioner on the City of Dallas Community Development Commission, at-large director for the Dallas Bar Association Board, a two-term board member for the J.L. Turner Legal Association, and a two-term advisory board member for the Dallas Women Lawyers Association.
2:45 PM - 3:45 PM | “Learning & Leveraging Your Strengths”
Kimberly Rutigliano, MBA, Ed.D.
Managing Director, SMU Global and Online Education
Kimberly Rutigliano is the Managing Director of Global and Online Education at Southern Methodist University, located in Dallas, Texas. She has more than 20 years of professional experience in education, spanning from early childhood development through adult lifelong learning. In addition to being the senior Master of Science in Data Science program administrator, she is an adjunct professor, speaker and corporate trainer. Dr. Rutigliano holds a BA from Southern Methodist University in psychology and Spanish, and a dual international MBA from Texas Tech University and La Universidad Anahuac (Mexico City, Norte). She graduated with her doctorate in higher education (EdD) in 2018. Her academic research focuses on how interpersonal relationships and communications impact learning and organizational outcomes.
4:00 PM - 5:00 PM | “Where Kindness Should Begin”
Justice Patricia O'Connell Alvarez
Fourth Court of Appeals, Place 3
Justice Patricia O’Connell Alvarez was elected to Place 3 on the Fourth Court of Appeals in 2021. Justice Alvarez was born in Mexico City and moved to the United States as an adult. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Texas as San Antonio in 1982, and a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law in 1987.
Before joining the court, Justice Alvarez was in private practice for 25 years. She primarily practiced in state and federal courts in South Texas and handled complex civil trial matters. She began her career in San Antonio with (then) Thornton, Summers, Biechlin, Dunham & Brown and then moved to Butler & Binion. Returning to her South Texas Border roots, she established The Alvarez Law Firm, P.C. in Laredo, Texas before beginning her service on the Fourth Court of Appeals. Justice Alvarez is Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
At the time of her election, Justice Alvarez had earned a Martindale-Hubbell “AV Preeminent” peer review rating. In addition to being a member of the Texas bar, she is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and the District of Columbia Circuit, in all federal District Courts in Texas, and all state courts in Florida.
Justice Alvarez is an active member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA); she currently serves as the past president of the San Antonio Chapter of ABOTA. As a member of the State Bar of Texas, she served as a Director of District 12, Panel Chair of District 12 Grievance Committee, Chair of the Professional Development Program, a member of the Pattern Jury Charge Committees (Volumes 1 and 2), a trustee of the Texas Bar Foundation and a Board Member of the State Bar College. She is past president of the Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas and chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the Texas State Bar. Presently, she serves as member of the Pattern Jury Charge Committee in Oil & Gas. She is a frequent lecturer at international, national, and statewide forums on various areas of civil law.
Friday Social (6:00 PM - 9:00 PM)
Saturday Presentations (9:00 AM - 2:00 PM)
ZOOM MEETING INFO
The Zoom meeting details and link will be provided in your registration confirmation email and your event reminder email. Please make sure and add the event and Zoom link to your calendar.
.png){kind=spacer}