Hon. Barbara M. G. Lynn (ret.) brings more than two decades of distinguished federal judicial service to the firm. She served as a Senior United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas. She was appointed to the federal bench by President Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate in 1999. In 2016, she made history as the first woman to serve as Chief Judge of the Northern District of Texas, a role she held until 2022. She assumed senior status in 2023 and retired from the bench in 2025 to join the firm as a partner.

A summa cum laude graduate of the University of Virginia, Judge Lynn earned her law degree from Southern Methodist University School of Law, where she graduated first in her class. Before her judicial appointment, she practiced at Carrington Coleman in Dallas, where she was the firm’s first female associate and later its first female partner.

Judge Lynn has long been a leader in the legal community, serving as Chair of both the ABA Section of Litigation and the ABA Judicial Division, and as President of the American Inns of Court Foundation. She is widely recognized for her integrity, her unwavering commitment to the rule of law, and her dedication to advancing women in the legal profession.

W. Royal Furgeson, Jr. retired as a United States District Judge in 2013 after 19 years on the bench. A graduate of Texas Tech University in 1964 and the University of Texas School of Law in 1967, he was named the founding Dean of the UNT Dallas College of Law in 2012 and assumed the position in June 2013. He retired from UNT in June 2018, after achieving ABA provisional accreditation for the law school. He now practices law with his wife Marcellene Malouf in the firm of FurgesonMalouf Law PLLC, and limits his work to mediations, arbitrations, and special master appointments.  

After law school, Judge Furgeson served with the U.S. Army for two years, attaining the rank of Captain. Following a tour in Vietnam, he returned to Lubbock as law clerk to the Honorable Halbert O. Woodward.  

Before taking the bench, Judge Furgeson practiced law for twenty-four years with the Kemp Smith law firm in El Paso, Texas. During that time, he became a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an elected member of the American Law Institute, president of the El Paso Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates, president of the El Paso Bar Association and chair of the United Way of El Paso.  

During his time on the bench, he was a panel judge on the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, president of the Federal Judges Association, and chair of the Judicial Resources Committee of the Judicial Conference of the United States.  

His honors include the Distinguished Alumnus Award by the Texas Tech Alumni Association, the West Texas Legal Legend Award by the Texas Tech University School of Law, the Leon Green Award by the Texas Law Review, the Faculty Award by the University of Texas School of Law, Honorary Serjeant of the William “Mac” Taylor, Jr. American Inn of Court, the Morris Harrell Professionalism Award by the Dallas Bar Association and the Texas Center for Legal Ethics and Professionalism, and Jurist of the Year, Texas Chapter of ABOTA. In 2016, he was named one of the fifty Lions of the Texas Bar by the Texas Lawbook.  

Judge Furgeson’s wife Marcellene Malouf is a graduate of St. Mary’s University School of Law and is Managing Trustee of the DII Asbestos Trust. Together, they have nine children and 14 grandchildren.

Retired United States District Judge Nancy F. Atlas served from 1995 to 2022 in the Southern District of Texas, Houston Division, handling thousands of criminal and civil cases through disposition. She consistently received outstanding judicial service ratings, with recognitions such as the 2024 American Inns of Court Award for Professionalism in the Fifth Circuit and the 2001 Trial Judge of the Year award from the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists. 

Judge Atlas now primarily mediates complex and technical cases, serves as an arbitrator and consultant on trial and settlement strategies, and presides over mock trials and moot court arguments. 

During her judicial service, Judge Atlas served as a member and chair of the U.S. Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Security from 2005 to 2015. She also was the longterm chair of the Southern District of Texas’ Judicial Security Committee, the Court’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Panel, the Court’s Automation Committee and, from time to time, led other Court committees and conferences.  

From mid-2017 through January 2022, she was one of four federal judges appointed by the Chief Justice of the United States to mediate the Puerto Rico insolvency cases; the team helped the parties resolve several of these matters. 

Judge Atlas co-founded the Houston Intellectual Property Inn of Court in 2012, which now bears her name. She was active for many years in the American Bar Association and its Section of Litigation, serving on the Section’s governing council, and developing and presenting at numerous continuing legal education programs. Judge Atlas was a partner and member of the Executive Committee of the Houston law firm of Sheinfeld, Maley & Kay, PC, where she litigated complex commercial cases and developed a substantial mediation practice. Before moving to Houston, Judge Atlas was a law clerk to a federal district judge and an assistant United States Attorney in New York City.  

Prior to her judicial appointment, Judge Atlas Chaired the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board from 1990 to 1995, a gubernatorial appointment. She was a member of the Council of the State Bar of Texas Alternative Dispute Resolution Section and co-chaired its committee that created the Texas Ethical Guidelines for Mediators. 

Judge Atlas graduated from Tufts University magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She earned her law degree from NYU School of Law in 1974 and received the school’s Vanderbilt Award for outstanding service.

Lee Yeakel joined the firm of King & Spalding in May 2023, retiring after almost 20 years of service as a United States District Judge. Before taking the federal bench, he served five and a half years on the Third Court of Appeals of Texas (a Texas intermediate appellate court), first as Chief Justice, then as a Justice. Before his judicial tenure, he handled both trial and appellate matters. He was named Outstanding Jurist by the Texas Bar Foundation as well as The Review of Litigation at the University of Texas School of Law. The Texas Bar Foundation also named him an Outstanding 50-Year Lawyer, and the Austin Bar Foundation named him a Distinguished Lawyer. He is a recipient of the Austin Chapter of the American Board of Trial Advocates Judicial Courage Award. He is a former president of the Robert W. Calvert American Inn of Court and the Honorable Lee Yeakel Intellectual Property American Inn of Court, which is named in his honor. He is a life member of the Uniform Law Commission. He was a member of the United States Delegation to the Hague Convention on Private International Law, Treaty on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments in Civil and Commercial Matters, and was a signatory of that treaty on behalf of the United States. He has been active in civic matters. A United States Marine, he and his wife have two children and two grandchildren.

Reggie Bush serves as Founder and Chairman of the United Athletes Tour, where he is leading the creation of a first-of-its-kind professional sports and entertainment platform that brings together elite athletes from across professional sports. His vision for UAT is to redefine how athletes connect with fans, brands, and one another while creating a new commercial model that extends opportunities beyond their primary sport. 

Widely regarded as one of the most dynamic athletes of his generation, Reggie enjoyed an accomplished professional football career spanning more than a decade in the National Football League. A first-round draft selection and Super Bowl Champion, he played for the New Orleans Saints, Miami Dolphins, Detroit Lions, Buffalo Bills, and San Francisco 49ers, earning recognition as one of the league’s most versatile offensive playmakers. Prior to his professional career, Reggie starred at the University of Southern California, where he became one of the most electrifying players in college football history. During his collegiate career, he helped lead USC to two National Championships and captured college football’s highest individual honor, the Heisman Trophy. His legacy was further cemented with his induction into the College Football Hall of Fame and the restoration of his Heisman Trophy in 2024. 

Beyond the playing field, Reggie has built a successful business and media career spanning entrepreneurship, sports media, brand partnerships, entertainment, and philanthropy. He has served as a college football analyst for major national television networks while advising businesses, investing in emerging ventures, and working with many of the world’s leading consumer brands. 

Reggie’s longstanding commitment to community impact is reflected through the 619 Charitable Fund, which he founded to create educational opportunities, improve health and wellness, and support underserved youth and families. Throughout his career, he has leveraged his platform to champion causes that create meaningful and lasting social impact. 

As Founder and Chairman of UAT, Reggie is focused on building a global sports property that combines elite competition, premium hospitality, innovative media, strategic partnerships, and purpose-driven initiatives into a platform unlike any in professional sports. 

Reggie resides in Southern California with his wife, Lilit, and their three children.

Len serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the new United Athletes Tour. Prior to joining UAT, Len spent 20 years at the PGA TOUR in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. Serving in several capacities, his last role was as Chief of Global Business Ventures where Len oversaw the TOUR’s Event business, Golf Course Properties/TPC Network, PGA TOUR Superstores, Merchandising, Licensing, and Golf Investments (such as TGL}, bringing his extensive experience, strategic vision and innovation to these areas. Previous to that role, Len served as Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President – Licensing & Merchandising and was responsible for all legal matters impacting the TOUR, including Television, Tournament Affairs, Domestic and International Law, Copyright Law, Computer Law, Internet law, Licensing & Merchandising, Corporation Law, and Litigation  

Before coming to the TOUR, Len was counsel to the Atlanta Braves and their four minor league affiliates. Areas of practice included salary arbitration prep, stadium and player operations, sponsorship and marketing deals, vendor and supplier agreements, and related team and television operations matters. In addition, Len was counsel to all of Turner Sports’ properties including PGA Interactive, NASCAR Interactive, and the NBA on TNT.  

Prior to joining the Braves/Turner, Len worked at the law firm of Williams and Connolly in Washington, D.C. where he assisted in the representation of athletes such as Grant Hill, Tim Duncan, Shane Battier, Raghib “Rocket” Ismail and Dominique Dawes.  

Len is a member of the Sports Lawyers Association and a director on the Board of Feeding Northeast Florida. Len and his wife, April, have five children – Avery (32), Corey (30), Haviland (26), Joshua (17) and Zoe (15).  

Len attended Penn State University, where he walked on to the varsity football team, graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Marketing in May 1988 and received his MBA (summa cum laude} in May 1994. Len received his J.D. in May 1999 from the University of Pennsylvania Carey School of Law. He is an active member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. and Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity (the Boule).

David Mulugheta is the President of Team Sports at Athletes First and one of the most influential figures in professional sports. Born and raised in Dallas, Texas, to Eritrean immigrant parents, he graduated from the University of Texas at Austin before earning his law degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law. He began his career at Athletes First in 2011 and has since become the NFL’s premier contract negotiator.

Mulugheta represents many of the league’s biggest stars and has negotiated numerous record-setting contracts throughout his career; he is the only agent in league history to negotiate more than one billion dollars in contracts in a single calendar year.

He is currently recognized by Forbes as the NFL’s most powerful sports agent and is the only agent—across any sport—named to the Times100 Most Influential People in Sports list, recognizing his transformative impact on the game, the business of sports, and athlete advocacy.

Beyond football, David and his wife, Chondra, are the founders of the Fair Catch Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting organizations that create opportunities and strengthen communities through education, mentorship, and philanthropy.

David and Chondra live in Austin, Texas, where they are raising their three sons, DJ, Dallas, and Davin.

James Carlos McFall is a seasoned trial lawyer and counselor to corporate, high-profile, and high net-worth clients in the financial, technology, media, sports, and entertainment industries.

James has significant first-chair trial experience representing financial institutions, corporate officers, corporate directors, and shareholders in high-stakes, complex commercial litigation cases, investigations, and proceedings involving government agencies. James is particularly adept at identifying risk and working preemptively with executives, legal departments, and regulators to avoid litigation.

James has distinguished himself in high-profile First Amendment, media, and entertainment litigation matters. He has successfully represented television networks, newspapers, journalists, internet publishers, film directors, and producers in cases of libel, defamation, and misappropriation of likeness in California and Texas.  For example, James obtained the dismissal of a lawsuit on First Amendment grounds that was filed against the writer, director, and producer of Carter High, a film that chronicles the experiences of members of the storied 1988 David W. Carter High School Football Team.  He also advises networks, production companies, and high-profile individuals in transactions involving media rights.

James, alongside Foley partner Trey McDonald, work with professional sports teams, team owners, college and university athletic departments, NIL collectives, sports technology companies, sports facility operators, high-profile athletes, and sports personalities in an array of litigation and transactional matters, including Heisman Trophy Winner and former NFL star Reggie Bush, Houston Texans Quarterback CJ Stroud, Savannah James, Orlando Magic Point Guard Anthony Black (No. 6 overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft), and a number of All-Pro and All-American players.

James represented as lead counsel Orlando Magic point guard Anthony Black in a high-profile lawsuit against the Texas University Interscholastic League, securing an injunction that required state officials to recognize the star basketball player’s eligibility and allowed him to participate in varsity athletics during his senior year.

Alongside Foley partner Trey McDonald, James helped lead the launch of sports tech company Lockerverse, one of six companies selected to participate in the prestigious Disney Accelerator.  Prior to joining Foley, James practiced at a national law firm in its Dallas office.

Chris Adams is Senior Vice President at Consilio, where he leads the Legal Transformation Services team, helping corporate legal departments and law firms leverage technology, data, and artificial intelligence to drive business value, operational excellence, and innovation. A lawyer by training with more than 25 years of experience spanning legal practice, consulting, legal technology, and innovation leadership, Chris has built a career at the intersection of law, business, and emerging technology.

Prior to joining Consilio, Chris was a Principal at EY Law, where he co-led Generative AI thought leadership initiatives and legal-focused AI product development. He advised corporate legal departments and law firms on AI strategy, legal technology adoption, contract intelligence, and innovation programs designed to improve outcomes while managing risk. 

Previously, Chris served as Chief Innovation Counsel at McDermott Will & Schulte, where he led multidisciplinary teams focused on knowledge management, transaction services, discovery, and AI-enabled legal solutions. He founded the firm’s Innovation Hub, co-chaired its Innovation Committee, and helped develop programs that embedded innovation into the firm’s culture and service delivery. He also advised policymakers, including the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs of the European Parliament, on the impact of artificial intelligence on the legal profession.

Throughout his career, Chris has advised leading law firms, Fortune 500 companies, and global legal organizations on legal transformation, technology strategy, and operational modernization. Today, he works with organizations to identify high-value AI use cases, establish practical governance frameworks, and translate emerging technologies into measurable business outcomes.

Richard Albert holds the Hines H. Baker and Thelma Kelley Baker Chair in Law at the University of Texas at Austin, where he is also Professor of Government and Director of Constitutional Studies. He is currently the Constitutional Advisor to the Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands and an appointed member of the Constitutional Reform Committee of Jamaica.

An award-winning scholar and teacher, he has published over 30 books on constitution-building and constitutional reform, including Constitutional Amendments: Making, Breaking, and Changing Constitutions (Oxford University Press), Amending America’s Unwritten Constitution (Cambridge University Press), and The Limits and Legitimacy of Referendums (Oxford University Press). His publications have been translated into Arabic, Chinese, French, Hungarian, Indonesian, Persian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

He is the Founding Director of the International Forum on the Future of Constitutionalism, the immediate-past Co-President of the International Society of Public Law, and a former law clerk to the Chief Justice of Canada. He began his career in law as a corporate litigator at the international law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP. 

He has been an invited speaker at constitutional and supreme courts around the world, and at universities in every continent except Antarctica. He has been honored with the Canadian Bicentennial Visiting Professorship at Yale University and the inaugural Allan Rock Visiting Professorship at the University of Ottawa. He has twice been appointed Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law at the University of Toronto. He has also been a Visiting Professor of Law at FGV Direito SP in Brazil, Externado University in Colombia, Universidad de Especialidades Espiritu Santo in Ecuador, Université Paris Panthéon-Assas in France, Maharashtra National Law University Mumbai in India, Airlangga University in Indonesia, and Reichman University in Israel.

Richard Albert earned law and political science degrees from Yale, Oxford, and Harvard.

Ty Bradshaw is a speaker, coach, and fitness entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience helping people grow stronger physically, mentally, and personally. His work encompasses  personal leadership, discipline, and reflection, shaped by decades of coaching real people through real life. Ty’s core message is simple,  how you lead yourself determines everything else.

Ty’s professional journey began in fitness, where he spent more than two decades coaching thousands of clients through one-on-one training and large-scale bootcamp style workouts. Through his leadership roles, he didn’t just train clients he helped build and lead a thriving fitness community, mentoring and developing dozens of trainers while fostering cultures rooted in consistency, ownership, and service. Those years gave him a front-row seat to human behavior: why people start strong, why they drift, and what actually helps them sustain change.

Along the way, Ty chose to test his own limits. He challenged his mindset and resilience through demanding physical pursuits, including obstacle course races, short triathlons, Hyrox competitions, and GoRuck endurance events which he describes as the hardest physical and mental challenge he has ever faced. These experiences reinforced a truth that now anchors his coaching and speaking: growth is rarely about capacity alone; it’s about decision-making under pressure, self-leadership when motivation fades, and learning to stay present in discomfort rather than escaping it.

While fitness was the entry point, personal development became the deeper calling. Ty is a certified life coach who helps individuals slow down, reflect honestly, and take responsibility for the habits and choices shaping their lives. His approach is not hype-driven or performative. Instead, it is relational, reflective, and practical, grounded in asking better questions, building daily discipline, and choosing long-term integrity over short-term relief. This work is shaped by a values based framework centered on stewardship, humility, and personal responsibility, delivered without imposing a single right way. 

His Christian faith  informs this work, shaping a values-based framework centered on stewardship, humility, and personal responsibility without being prescriptive or preachy.

Ty has been married for over 20 years and is the father of two daughters roles that continue to ground his leadership philosophy in legacy, consistency, and character. Family has reinforced for him that leadership isn’t situational; it’s practiced daily, especially when no one is watching.

Sterling Miller is COO, General Counsel, and Senior Counsel at Hilgers PLLC, a nationwide law firm (and the largest female-owned law firm in the US).  He is a four-time General Counsel, currently serving in that role at the firm and having served in that role at Marketo, Inc., Sabre Corporation, Travelocity.com.

Sterling earned his J.D. degree from Washington University in St. Louis (Order of the Coif/Law Review) and his bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he was Student Body President among other honors. He is certified in data privacy/security by the International Association of Privacy Professionals (CIPP/US).

Sterling served on the Board of Directors of Terrasoul Superfoods and serves on the advisory boards of Travefy.com and Kyte.com. He publishes a widely-read and award-winning legal blog entitled “Ten Things You Need to Know as In-House Counsel.” He also writes regularly on in-house matters for Thomson Reuters.  The ABA has published four of his seven books, including “The Productive In-House Lawyer” and “Showing the Value of the Legal Department.” He has also written two cookbooks and book on the evolution of the NFL. in 2021.  Book number eight (for the ABA) is scheduled for a 2027 release.

You can follow him on Twitter @10ThingsLegal and LinkedIn where he regularly shares his commentary and insights on legal issues affecting in-house lawyers.

Brandan heavily invests in understanding his clients’ businesses, industry dynamics, and enterprise goals to understand what winning means for their specific situation, whether that’s protecting company reputation, minimizing business disruption, achieving cost predictability, obtaining favorable verdicts at trial, or securing strategic resolutions that align with broader business objectives.

Brandan is an experienced litigator with a strong record in complex commercial disputes, including significant multidistrict litigation (MDL) and class action defense. He coordinates defense strategy across multiple state and federal jurisdictions, effectively managing a network of local counsel to maintain consistent litigation positions, cost efficiency, and centralized communication. As national counsel to a wholesale distributor in opioid litigation, Brandan navigates some of the most challenging, high-profile cases in both state and federal courts, while also navigating parallel governmental investigations and regulatory demands.

Brandan’s family office clients value his discretion, judgment, and ability to handle their most sensitive issues regardless of nature or scope. He gains a holistic view of clients’ family office holdings, operations, and priorities, drawing on firmwide experience and external subject-matter resources when needed — always aligning strategies client objectives without losing sight of the bigger picture.  This has led clients to trust Brandan to directly handle their most complex litigation and arbitration matters, and also to curate multidisciplinary teams to handle their other needs to ensure consideration of their business goals and risks. 

Brandan also understands the importance of staying involved in professional and non-profit organizations.  In addition to being a long-time advocate of the Texas General Counsel Forum, he was also elected President of the Board of Trustees of PATH Intl. (www.pathintl.org).

Denton Muse serves as General Counsel, North America for City Electric Supply (CES), one of the largest privately held electrical wholesale distributors in North America. As a founding member of CES’s legal department, he has played a central role in building and scaling the company’s legal function to support significant growth across the United States and Canada. He currently leads a multidisciplinary legal team responsible for commercial transactions, regulatory compliance, intellectual property, employment matters, litigation management, government contracting, finance, and state and federal compliance initiatives.

During his tenure, Denton has provided strategic legal counsel on thousands of commercial agreements, complex real estate transactions, and enterprise-wide compliance initiatives. His practice focuses on legal oversight of North American commercial contracting, corporate compliance, and real estate matters, where he partners closely with executive leadership to structure transactions, manage risk, and support business expansion. He has also led the development and implementation of internal compliance and governance programs designed to strengthen regulatory oversight, operational consistency, and ethical business practices across the organization.

Beyond his legal responsibilities, Denton serves as a trusted business advisor, collaborating with leadership on strategic initiatives, corporate governance matters, and organizational growth. Under his leadership, CES’s legal department has expanded from a single-function operation into a sophisticated in-house team covering a broad range of specialized practice areas. His approach emphasizes practical, business-focused legal solutions that enable growth while maintaining appropriate risk management and compliance standards.

Denton has been recognized by both legal and business organizations for his contributions to the in-house legal profession, including honors from leading Texas legal industry associations and corporate leadership organizations.

Denton earned his Juris Doctor from Oklahoma City University School of Law and holds a bachelor’s degree in Energy Commerce from Texas Tech University. He is licensed to practice law in Texas and is an active member of the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors (NAW) Political Action Committee, where he supports advocacy efforts affecting the wholesale distribution industry.

Known for his practical perspective and collaborative leadership style, Denton periodically speaks on topics including in-house legal operations, commercial contracting, compliance program development, risk management, and the evolving role of legal departments as strategic business partners.

Shalini Sharma is General Counsel of Fleet Data Centers. She has deep expertise and experience in digital transformation, cyber security, and data center development and management. She is an expert in global transactional strategies, corporate governance and compliance and is also an accomplished strategic leader with more than 25 years of experience advising both public and private companies through high growth and expansion. Prior to joining Fleet Data Centers as its first General Counsel, Shalini played a critical role as Chief Legal Officer of Ping Identity (formerly NYSE: PING), a leading digital identity solutions platform, in a take private transaction and guiding the company through dynamic growth and transformation. She joined Ping from Vantage Data Centers, a world-class provider of data center campuses for hyperscalers, cloud providers and large enterprise. As the company’s first General Counsel, Shalini developed and oversaw legal, corporate governance, risk and compliance functions in support of the company’s strategic opportunities during a period of expansive international growth. Before joining Vantage, Shalini spent more than fifteen years at Broadridge Financial Solutions, Inc. (NYSE: BR), a global Fintech leader and part of the S&P 500 Index, where she was the Chief Privacy Officer of the company. During her time at Broadridge, she played a key role in establishing the legal department for Broadridge as a stand-alone public company after its spin-off from Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NYSE: ADP) and led significant strategic M&A transactions. Shalini was previously in private practice as a corporate transactional attorney in the New York office of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP where she worked on cross-border and domestic M&A, financings and securities transactions. Shalini is a founding member of the General Counsel Mentorship Program in Colorado, a member and former board member of the Association of Corporate Counsel Colorado, a member of the Senior Women’s Corporate Counsel group of Colorado and takes a special interest in mentorship and sponsorship. She is also a women’s health advocate and advisor. Shalini received a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas School of Law (Hook ‘em!), earned a Master of Arts in social sciences and a Bachelor of Arts in Latin American studies, both from the University of Chicago and is also the recipient of a Fulbright award.

Luis Torres is a senior business economist in the San Antonio Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas.

Torres, who joined the Dallas Fed in 2022, performs research and analysis on issues impacting Texas, Mexico and the U.S.–Mexico border.

Torres received his bachelor’s degree in economics from the Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico. He received a master’s in economics from the University of Texas at El Paso, where his dissertation received honors. He later earned a scholarship to participate in the American Economic Association’s PhD Summer Minority Program. His PhD is from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he specialized in international economics and econometrics. During his doctoral studies, he worked at the El Paso Branch of the Dallas Fed. From 1995 to 2012, he was with Banco de México in the research and institutional liaison departments. Prior to joining the Dallas Fed, he served as a research economist at the Texas Real Estate Research Center at Texas A&M University, studying regional economies, developing economic indicators and researching real estate markets.

Torres has taught classes and seminars at U.S. and Mexican universities as well as in national and international forums. He has published articles in academic and nonacademic publications about regional economies, international economics, real estate, trade and applied econometrics.

Melissa Andrews is a judge on the Texas Business Court, where she serves in the Third Division in Austin, Texas. Find out more about the Texas Business Court at www.txcourts.gov/businesscourt.

Judge Andrews is Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Before coming to the bench, she focused her legal practice on appellate briefing and oral argument, strategic dispositive motions, expert challenges, preservation of error, and jury charges. She has represented clients in the United States Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of Texas, several United States Courts of Appeals, and trial and appellate courts across the county.

She is a past Chair of the Austin Bar Association’s Civil Appellate Section and serves on the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s Advisory Commissions for Civil Appellate Law. She also serves on the Texas Board of Legal Specialization’s new Advisory Commission for Judicial Administration. She is a frequent CLE presenter and has authored articles for law reviews and other publications.

She received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law, where she was a member of the Texas Law Review, served as a Teaching Quizmaster, and graduated with honors. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from Texas A&M University, where she graduated magna cum laude.

Judge Jerry Bullard serves on the Texas Business Court’s Eighth Division, which is based in Fort Worth, Texas but covers 18 counties in North Texas.

Prior to his appointment, Judge Bullard was a shareholder and attorney with Adams, Lynch & Loftin, P.C.  He has over 30 years of experience in state and federal court trial and appellate litigation.  During that time, in addition to handling complex commercial litigation matters, Judge Bullard routinely represented and consulted with individuals and business organizations with respect to organizational governance, policy drafting, commercial transactions, and other operational matters.

Judge Bullard is board certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, is a member and treasurer of the Board of Directors of the American College of Business Court Judges and serves on the Texas Supreme Court Advisory Committee.

Judge Bullard is an active member of the State Bar of Texas and its Appellate, Business Law, Judicial and Litigation Sections, the Texas Bar College, and the Tarrant County Bar Association.  He has also served as a gubernatorial appointee on the Texas Juvenile Justice Board, a Section Representative on the State Bar of Texas Board of Directors, a member of the Texas Supreme Court’s Conduct Commission Procedural Rules Task Force, and a member of the State Bar of Texas Court Administration Task Force. 

Judge Bullard received a Bachelor of Arts from Baylor University and his law degree from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law.

Bill Whitehill is an inaugural Judge of the Texas Business Court First Division, Dallas.  He came to the Court from Condon Tobin Sladek Thornton Nerenberg PLLC, where he was a member and led the firm’s Appellate Section.

Before joining the Business Court, Bill served as a Justice on the Texas Fifth District Court of Appeals, where he authored over 600 substantive opinions.

Bill was an associate and partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell, LLP, now known as Foley & Lardner, LLP for thirty-three years.  At Gardere, he handled commercial, antitrust, securities, intellectual property, and fiduciary trials and appeals.

He is a sustaining life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, and fellow of the Dallas Bar Foundation. He is a homeless kitchen volunteer for Cornerstone Baptist Church and is a former co-teacher and mentor at Cornerstone Crossroads Academy. 

Bill received a Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor with honors from the SMU Dedman School of Law and an Order of the Coif member.

Alan Dabdoub, Partner at LPHS, represents plaintiffs and defendants in high stakes commercial disputes. Clients credit his outstanding results to his meticulous preparation, creativity, and courtroom presence. 

Alan is a first-chair trial lawyer with experience trying cases to juries, judges, and arbitrators, including winning a $12 million dollar judgment for his client in a large commercial dispute after a week-long trial in one of the few cases tried during the COVID pandemic. He possesses expertise in business torts, contract disputes, trade secrets litigation, fiduciary duty litigation, partnership disputes, and bankruptcy litigation. 

Alan has handled complex disputes in the energy, healthcare, financial, banking, real estate, retail, technology, telecommunications, manufacturing, logistics, and construction industries. 

Alan earned his B.A with honors, cum laude, as a scholarship recipient from Louisiana State University, where he achieved Dean’s List recognition for seven consecutive semesters. He then earned his J.D. from Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center, excelling academically and twice receiving the Corpus Juris Secundum Award for achieving the highest grades in Torts I and Torts II. 

Alan has repeatedly been recognized by his peers in D Magazine as one of the “Best Lawyers in Dallas” (2016, 2020-2022, 2024-2025). Alan was also selected as a Rising Star (business litigation) by “Texas Super Lawyer” (2011) and has repeatedly been selected as a Super Lawyer (business litigation) (2023-2024). Alan has also been recognized by Best Lawyers in America since 2024 for his exceptional representation of clients in business litigation. 

Alan is admitted to the State Bars of Texas, Louisiana, and Tennessee, and is a prolific speaker on cutting-edge topics in business litigation. He served as a Planning Committee Member for the Texas State Bar inaugural CLE in December 2024: “Handling Your First (or Next) Business Court Case”. 

Alan lives in Dallas with his wife Michelle Ackal Dabdoub and their three children, Grant, Ava, and Sloane.