Speakers

Catherine Greene Burnett is Associate Dean for Clinical Studies and a Professor at South Texas College of Law.  She received a B.A. and J.D. from the University of Texas.  After clerking for the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, she practiced in Texas both as a prosecutor and defense attorney and is board certified in criminal law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Catherine teaches national and state criminal procedure, international criminal law and procedure, and seminars in the death penalty and contemporary criminal law issues.  In her role as Associate Dean, Catherine oversees the law school=s clinical programs, as well as the student pro bono volunteer program.  As a clinician she launched the law school's first direct representation clinic and has subsequently taught in the Texas Capital Punishment Clinic, Disability Clinic, Mediation Clinic, and the HIV and the Law Clinic.  Catherine remains an active instructor in the law school's numerous academic internships: judicial, public interest, government, criminal and international.  She serves on the board of the Innocence Project of Texas and on the State Bar's Legal Services to the Poor in Criminal Matters Committee.

Anne Chandler is the Director of Tahirih Justice Center's Houston office.  The Tahirih Justice Center provides protection to immigrant women and girls fleeing gender-based violence throughout the country and through public policy and advocacy. Prior to joining Tahirih in August of 2009, Anne was the Interim Director of Immigration Law Clinic at the University of Houston Law Center. Prior to joining the Immigration Clinic in 2003, she served as the Immigration Attorney for the YMCA International of Houston and as a bilingual teacher in the Alief School District. She serves as a Trustee for the American Immigration Law Foundation and Mentor Attorney in the area of asylum law for the American Immigration Law Association. Anne is a cum laude graduate of the University of Houston Law Center where she served on the Houston Law Review, received a Distinguished Service Award, won the Joan Glantz Garfinkel Scholarship for civil liberties research, and served as President of the Public Interest Law Organization, focusing on provision of services to immigrants detained in Harlingen, Texas.

Ana Rodriguez DeFrates is a third year law student at South Texas College of Law where she was the Co-President of the Public Interest Law Society from Spring 2007 to Fall 2009 and the recipient of the Vinson & Elkins Commitment to Public Interest Award.  While at South Texas, Ana has maximized her clinical coursework opportunities as a legal intern with Children at Risk.  She writes regular columns for the law school’s Annotations paper to promote public interest and pro bono work throughout campus.  Ana is completing her last year of law school in Austin as a visiting student at the University of Texas School of Law.  She received her both her Masters of Social Work in 2002 and her Bachelors of Social Work in 2000 from the University of Texas in Austin.

Elizabeth Dennis, Symposium Co-Chair, is Assistant Dean and Associate Professor of Clinical Studies at South Texas College of Law.  She has been faculty advisor to the South Texas Law Review since 1989 and Director of the Academic Internship Program since 1997.  As Director of Academic Internships, she originated the Family Law Internship Program (FLIP) which teams attorneys accepting HVLP referrals with upper-level law students, and has worked with local, national and international direct service providers to provide legal assistance to indigent, displaced, and refugee populations.  Dean Dennis holds a B.A. from Hollins College and a J.D. from South Texas College of Law.

Scott Fletcher is a member of the Vinson & Elkins' Securities Litigation and Enforcement Group and focuses his practice on securities and commercial litigation. He has extensive experience in securities class actions, director and officer liability cases, SEC enforcement matters, securities arbitrations, complex business and commercial disputes, and intellectual property litigation. Scott serves as the Chairman of Vinson &Elkin's Pro Bono Committee and is deeply involved in many of the firm's pro bono and civic activities. He served as the director of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program Board from 2005-2006.

Stewart Gagnon is committed to helping clients address difficult family issues like custody disputes and division of property. Head of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.'s Family Law Practice Group, Stewart provides experienced counsel to clients experiencing challenging emotional and financial circumstances. An advocate of the "amicable divorce," Stewart joined Fulbright full-time in 1974 and became a partner in 1989. He has been certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Family Law since 1980, and is recognized as a leader in the area of Family Law in Texas. He is the chair of the pro bono committee at Fulbright, where he oversees the firm's commitment to giving tens of thousands of pro bono hours annually. 

Reena Glazer has been the Assistant Director of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project at the Pro Bono Institute ("PBI") since October 2006. Reena came to PBI from the Washington, D.C. office of Goodwin Procter L.L.P., where she was a partner in the firm's Litigation Department. She was a partner at Shea & Gardner prior to its merger with Goodwin Procter in 2004. Before joining Shea & Gardner in 1995, she clerked for the Hon. Gerald Bard Tjoflat of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit. Reena is a graduate of Barnard College, Columbia University; the Jewish Theological Seminary of America; and Duke University School of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Duke Law Journal and a member of the Moot Court Board. She has had the good fortune of being associated with law firms that emphasize pro bono and has been able to work on a variety of pro bono cases over the years with many different public interest and community organizations. She was even named "Litigator of the Month" by the National Law Journal for one such high-profile case.

Donald J. Guter is the 10^th president and dean of South Texas College of Law.  Dean Guter served in the U.S. Navy for 32 years, retiring in 2002 as a Rear Admiral, JAGC.    He currently serves as the president of the Judge  Advocates Association Foundation, is the academic liaison for the Texas Young Lawyers Association, and chairs the American Bar Association's standing committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel. 

Ellyn Haikin Josef, Symposium Co-Chair, has dedicated her practice of law since 2002 to representing and helping people who could not afford to pay for the legal assistance they needed. While a Staff Attorney at the South Texas College of Law Legal Clinic, Ellyn served as a teacher and mentor to numerous South Texas law students while supervising their work on the various cases undertaken by the Clinic. After leaving South Texas, Ellyn became the Pro Bono Coordinator at Vinson & Elkins. Her work experience has encapsulated her desired area of practice: helping people who most needed her help. While at Vinson & Elkins, Ellyn has supervised associates in connection with their representation in numerous pro bono cases involving all aspects of family law.  Perhaps Ellyn’s most important pro bono responsibility so far is her leadership, in Houston, in a national legal project to assist Holocaust survivors with applications in a new war reparations program, The German Ghetto Work Program (GGWP), sponsored by the German government. This program was set up to recognize the work done by victims of persecution in the many Ghettos that existed in Europe during the 1930’s and 1940’s.

David Mandell currently serves as Executive Director of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program (HVLP), whose mission it is to help address the unmet legal needs of the indigent and poor of Harris County. Under his leadership, HVLP has been named the top Pro Bono Project in the state twice in the last three years. Since graduating from Texas A&M with a B.A. in Urban Administration and prior to his affiliation with Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program, David has utilized his in-depth knowledge of strategic non-profit management, strong leadership style and his uncanny ability coalition building skills to better the Houston Harris County area. In 2004, David was named as one of Five Outstanding Young Houstonians and one of Five Outstanding Young Texans and has been nominated for recognition as one of Ten Outstanding Young Americans. David is very active in the community assisting several non-profits with various projects and issues including the advisory board of the Beresford School, a learning environment dedicated to providing exemplary education to the leaders of tomorrow. David also serves on the Board of Directors of Goodwill Houston, chairs the board of Chancellors Family Center, and in the recent past has served on several national board of directors including HOMEAID America and National Coalition for Homeless Veterans.

Sylvia Mayer, a partner in the Business Finance & Restructuring department at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, L.L.P., specializes in bankruptcy and restructuring representations with a focus on crisis management, reorganization, business strategy, and bankruptcy litigation. Ms. Mayer excels at creative problem solving, advocacy, and complex case management. She has represented debtors, creditors, committees, trustees, and acquirers in chapter 11 cases and out of court restructurings. In addition to serving as a leader in numerous restructuring matters, Ms. Mayer regularly speaks and writes about current bankruptcy issues, actively participates in public service and civic organizations in her community, and is heavily involved in the firm’s pro bono and diversity programs.  She serves as a member of the firm-wide Pro Bono Committee and Diversity Committee, as well as heading the Houston office Pro Bono Committee and Diversity Committee.

Peggy Montgomery of the chair of ExxonMobil’s Pro Bono Committee and the Houston Bar Association’s Consumer Task Force. She also serves as a director of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and handles several cases a year.   She has worked at ExxonMobil since graduation and done pro bono since 1984.  She is the recipient of the 2009 South Texas Alumni Association Public Service Award, and was recently honored by the Supreme Court of Texas’ Access to Justice Commission with the Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Award.

Judy Ritts has been in the family law practice for 18 years.  She attended the University of Houston, where she received her M.Ed. in Guidance and Counseling in 1978 and her J.D. in 1988.  In 2005, Judy received the American Bar Association Section of Family Law Pro Bono Award.  The Houston Bar Association recognized her in both 1991 and 2004 for Outstanding Contribution to the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program.  Other awards include the Longevity of Exemplary Service to the Houston Bar Association Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program in 2002.  Judy is a mentor for students in the Family Law Internship Program (FLIP) and has helped a variety of students in their endeavors. 

Jennifer Solak received her J.D. from Tulane Law School in 2005 and her B.A. from Louisiana State University in 2000.  She is currently a Senior Staff Attorney with CHILDREN AT RISK. Since 2008, Jennifer has participated in various trainings and outreach activities on issues affecting children.  During Texas’ 81st Legislative Session, she advocated at the Texas Capitol to strengthen existing human trafficking and juvenile justice legislation and pass new legislation.  Prior to joining CHILDREN AT RISK, she clerked for the Honorable Mary Milloy on the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas and worked as an associate with the Kullman Firm in New Orleans, Louisiana.