TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS EDUCATION CENTER FACULTY ROSTER

Transcription

1 TEXAS MUNICIPAL COURTS EDUCATION CENTER FACULTY ROSTER Regional Judges Seminar Addison February 2 4, 2015 Michael Acuna Dallas 2014 Main St, Rm 331 Dallas, TX michael.acuna@dallascityhall.com Robby Chapman Program Director Austin, TX chapman@tmcec.com Vikram Deivanayagam Woodway 920 Estates Drive Woodway, TX vikmsu@aol.com Mark Goodner Deputy Counsel & Program Attorney Austin, TX goodner@tmcec.com Dana Jacobson City of Fair Oaks Ranch 7286 Dietz Elkhorn Road Fair Oaks Ranch, TX dana.jacobson@jacobsonlawsa.com Casy Kennedy Director, Information Services Office of Court Administration 205 W. 14th Street, Suite 600 Austin, TX casey.kennedy@txcourts.gov Ned Minevitz Program Attorney & TxDOT Grant Administrator Austin, TX ned@tmcec.com Stewart Milner Arlington Division PO Box 90403, MS Arlington, TX Stewart.Milner@arlingtontx.gov Marian Moseley Coppell 130 Town Center Blvd Coppell, TX mmoseley@coppelltx.gov Erik Nielsen Staff Counsel State Commission on Judicial Conduct PO Box Austin, TX Kimberly Piechowiak Domestic Violence Resource Attorney Office of Court Administration P.O. Box Austin, TX kim.piechowiak@txcourts.gov Charles Spain Associate Judge Houston 504 Branard St. Houston, TX cspain@ricealumni.net Edward Spillane College Station PO Box 9960 College Station, TX espillane@cstx.gov Stephen Thorne, Ph.D. Psychologist Austin 1301 S. Capital of Texas Hwy., C- 130 Austin, TX drstephenthorne@yahoo.com Ryan Kellus Turner General Counsel and Director of Education Austin, TX rturner@tmcec.com Stephen Vigorito Associate Judge Austin PO Box 2135 Austin, TX stephenvigorito@yahoo.com

2 , Austin, Texas fax FACULTY BIOGRAPHIES MICHAEL ACUNA Michael Acuña received his J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center and was admitted to the Bar in He started his legal career at the City of Houston in 1993 as a municipal court prosecutor. In April 1997, Judge Acuña moved to the Land Use Division where he litigated nuisance abatement and sexually oriented business cases in state and federal courts. In November 1999, he was hired by the City of Dallas where it created the position of Assistant Chief Prosecutor for him. He served in that capacity until August 2004 when he was first appointed a full-time municipal judge. Since then, Judge Acuña has presided over various dockets including traffic, penal code, animal control, bond forfeitures, environmental pollution, urban rehabilitation and 8-liner dockets. Judge Acuña represents the City of Dallas on the Dallas County Bail Bond Board. Judge Acuña has been the region III representative on /TMCA board of directors since June the Fall He also serves as cochair for the board s Education and Budget and Finance Committees. He has been a regular speaker for and other entities on many subjects since 1994 including municipal court complaints, bail bond forfeitures, pretrial hearings, court interpreters, cross-examination, Chapter 54 and 125 cases, attorney general opinions, sexting, bullying and online impersonation. ROBBY CHAPMAN Robby Chapman is the Program Director for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. He has taught for the Center since Prior to joining the Center, Mr. Chapman served as an Assistant District Attorney for Nueces County and Assistant City Attorney - City Prosecutor for the City of Cedar Park. While a prosecutor, Mr. Chapman received the Merit Certification in Municipal Court Prosecution from the Texas City Attorneys Association. Mr. Chapman received his undergraduate degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from St. Mary s University School of Law. VIKRAM DEIVANAYAGAM Vikram (Vik) Deivanayagam is a Municipal Judge for the City of Woodway. He is Board Certified by the State of Texas in Criminal Law, and has practiced criminal defense law at the Law Offices of Rod Goble since He received his undergraduate degree from the University of Memphis, and he received his Juris Doctorate from Baylor School of Law, where he also teaches Juvenile Justice as an Adjunct Professor and coaches the Client Counseling team, both of which since In 2002 he was named McLennan County Young Lawyer of the Year. Mr. Deivanayagam is also a husband and a father of three children. MARK GOODNER Mark Goodner serves as the for the City of Woodcreek and is the Program Attorney and Deputy Counsel for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Prior to joining the Center, he worked in civil litigation in Austin. Mr. Goodner graduated from the University of Texas School of Law with a juris doctorate and certification in the Graduate Portfolio Program in Dispute Resolution in May of While in law school, he worked in the mediation clinic, was a finalist in the Thad T. Hutcheson Moot Court Competition, and served on the executive board of Assault & Flattery.

3 DANA JACOBSON Dana Jacobson is the managing partner of The Jacobson Law Firm, P.C. He is a self-described "Air Force brat", graduating from Colegio Internacional de Caracas in Caracas, Venezuela, then the University of Texas at Austin. Following four years in Texas radio, he attended St. Mary's University School of Law in San Antonio, graduating in Mr. Jacobson served on active duty for six years in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Department (now Corps), during which he served as Chief, Military Justice; Chief, Civil Law; Area Defense Counsel; Circuit Defense Counsel; and Medical Law Consultant. Mr. Jacobson entered private practice as a medical malpractice defense attorney before joining his father in what is now The Jacobson Law Firm, P.C. Mr. Jacobson is a Fellow of the State Bar College, of the Fair Oaks Ranch Municipal Court, City Prosecutor in the City of Boerne, a Colonel in the USAF JAG Corps Reserve currently serving as the Senior Individual Mobilization Augmentee to the Staff Judge Advocate, Air Force Space Command, and was the recipient of the 2004 Jim Bowmer Professionalism Award by the State Bar College. CASY KENNEDY Casey Kennedy joined OCA as the Director of Information Services in His team provides direct IT support for the Texas Supreme Court, Court of Criminal Appeals, the 14 intermediate appellate courts and several judicial branch state agencies. Casey is also the lead OCA staff for the Judicial Committee on Information Technology or JCIT. The committee is appointed by the Supreme Court and makes recommendations and sets standards for court technology in Texas. Casey is currently on the executive board of the Court Information Technology Officer Consortium, a national organization of Court IT professionals and last year placed 1 st in the court technology geek-off competition. He holds a BA in Computer Science from The University of Texas at Austin. STEWART MILNER Stewart Milner is a graduate of the University of Texas at Arlington and the Oklahoma City University School of Law. He began his employment with the City of Arlington in 1992 as an Assistant City Attorney and became Chief Prosecutor for the City of Arlington in From 1997 to the present, he has served as the Chief Judge for the City of Arlington Municipal Court. Judge Milner has taught classes for the North Texas Council of Governments, City of Arlington Police Academy, Texas Court Clerks Association, the Building Professional Institute, The National Judicial College, and the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. He is a current board member and past president of the Texas Municipal Courts Association.

4 NED MINEVITZ Ned Minevitz, a Massachusetts native, has served as TxDOT Grant Administrator and Program Attorney at the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center since November, Mr. Minevitz also serves as General Counsel for EverThin, LLC, a startup company based in Massachusetts. He received his B.A. from Connecticut College in New London, CT where he majored in East Asian Studies. Spending extensive time in China after college, Mr. Minevitz is proficient in Mandarin Chinese. In 2013, Mr. Minevitz earned his J.D. from the Sandra Day O Connor College of Law in Tempe, AZ. In his free time, he enjoys tennis, golf, squash, and foreign film. MARIAN MOSELEY Judge Moseley is the presiding judge for Coppell since Judge Moseley was a chief felony prosecutor with the Dallas County District Attorney. She practiced civil and criminal law attorney in Midland and family law in Dallas. Judge Moseley received her degree, with Honors, in 1974 and her J.D. in 1976, from the University of Texas. Judge Moseley grew up near Wichita Falls, Texas. She is married for 31 years to Jim Moseley. Her husband and daughter both are attorneys practicing in Dallas. Her son, Jim P. has a financial planning practice in Dallas. ERIK NIELSEN Erik A. Nielsen is an attorney for the State Commission on Judicial Conduct. Erik earned his juris doctorate with honors from the University of Texas School of Law. He is a graduate of the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he earned his bachelors degree with distinction in journalism, with minors in political science, psychology, and English. Prior to joining the Commission, Erik served as Training Director for TDCAA, an Assistant District Attorney in Travis County and a Briefing Attorney for Judge Tom Price at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. KIMBERLY PIECHOWIAK Kimberly Piechowiak is the Protective Order Resource Attorney for the Texas Office of Court Administration. She received her B.A. in Criminal Justice in 1989 from UTSA and her J.D. from St. Mary s University School of Law in Before coming to the OCA, Ms. Piechowiak prosecuted domestic violence cases for 20 years, first with the Bexar County District Attorney and then the San Antonio City Attorney s Office. While with the City, Ms. Piechowiak implemented and supervised the family violence prosecution program at San Antonio Municipal Court. She is a TCLEOSE Certified Police Instructor who has been training law enforcement officers, attorneys, and judges for 17 years on the issue of domestic violence for many local, state, and national agencies, including the San Antonio Police Training Academy, the National District Attorneys Association, the State Bar of Texas Judicial Section, Texas Municipal Courts Education Center, and the Texas Council on Family Violence. CHARLES SPAIN Charles A. Spain serves as an associate judge for the City of Houston. He worked as staff attorney for the Texas appellate courts for 23 years before retiring in He is a graduate of Baylor Law School and Rice University, a founder of the State Bar of Texas LGBT Law Section, a Baden-Powell Fellow of the World Scout Foundation, an Eagle Scout, and the father of a Tenderfoot Scout (which means an involuntary return to camping). His hobby is flags, and he is a recipient of the Texas Historical Commission s Award for Historic Preservation for his work on the history of the flags and seals of Texas. Since 1997 he has served as the elected Secretary-General of the International Federation of

5 Vexillological Associations ( vexillology being the fancy word for studying flags). He is board certified in civil appellate law. EDWARD SPILLANE Edward Spillane is the Presiding Municipal Judge for College Station since May Prior to taking that position, he served as an Assistant District Attorney for Brazos County for eight years and as an associate for the law firm Fulbright and Jaworski for two years. Judge Spillane received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his law degree from the University of Chicago. He served as President of the Texas Municipal Courts Association. Judge Spillane currently is the Region VII director on the /TMCA board and represents Texas Municipal Courts on the Judicial Conduct Commission. STEPHEN THORNE Stephen A. Thorne, PhD is a licensed psychologist in Austin, where he performs psychological, child custody and forensic evaluations in a private practice setting. He has testified in state and federal courts on topics relating to civil commitment of sex offenders, risk assessment, competency to stand trial, sentencing, transfer to adult court, and child custody. Dr. Thorne has co-authored journal articles and book chapters addressing various forensic topics, and also supervises doctoral psychology students at The University of Texas at Austin. RYAN KELLUS TURNER Ryan Kellus Turner is General Counsel and Director of Education for the Texas Municipal Courts Education Center. Prior to joining the Center in 1999, he served as Briefing Attorney for Judge Sharon Keller at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. Mr. Turner obtained his juris doctorate from Southern Methodist University School of Law. He received his Bachelor's Degree in Psychology with highest honors from St. Edward's University, Austin, Texas, where he now teaches as an adjunct faculty member in the School of Behavioral and Social Sciences. In 2004 and 2013 he was the recipient of the School s Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award and a finalist for the University Adjunct Teaching Excellence Award in Mr. Turner is currently Deputy City Attorney for the City of Dripping Springs and has served as a Special Assistant County Attorney for Kendall County. In 2011, he was an advisory member on the Texas Judicial Council s Juvenile Justice Committee. In 2012, Mr. Turner was named Co-Chair of the Texas Judicial Council Legislative Subcommittee on Juvenile Justice. A native Texan, Mr. Turner was raised in the north Texas town of Vernon. He is the co-author of the books Lone Star Justice: A Comprehensive Overview of the Texas Criminal Justice System and The Municipal Judges Book. STEPHEN VIGORITO Judge Stephen Vigorito currently serves as an Associate Municipal Judge for the City of Austin. Judge Vigorito received his B.A. in political science from Louisiana State University in 1990 and his Jurisprudence Doctorate from the University of Texas School of Law in He practiced as a criminal defense attorney from in Travis County and surrounding counties. In addition, during that time, Judge Vigorito served as the legislative liaison and interim Director of Enforcement for the Texas

6 Cosmetology Commission from and as the Legislative Director for former State Representative Dora Olivo (Missouri City, Sugarland, Richmond) during the 2009 Texas Legislative Session. From , Judge Vigorito served as a part-time municipal judge for the City of Austin and the City of Tomball, Texas. He was appointed as a full-time judge for the City of Austin in December, 2013.