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Condemnation Attorney
Mr. McFarland has extensive experience representing landowners whose private property is taken by the government for public use. His primary focus is highway and road widening projects impacting retail, commercial, industrial, and special-use properties. He is a frequent speaker, panelist, and author on topics relating to eminent domain and condemnation law and is the Texas member of Owners’ Counsel of America, an invitation-only national network of leading eminent domain and property rights attorneys.

Ms. Smith’s practice focuses on a wide variety of agricultural issues, especially those involving cattle. She additionally spends a significant portion of her time on oil and gas title examination, farm and ranch transactions, and real estate litigation. Ms. Smith also assists clients with estate planning, probates, and business planning needs. She is a graduate of El Campo High School. Ms. Smith received her bachelor of science degree in Agricultural Science from Texas A&M University in 2009, and received her doctor of jurisprudence degree from South Texas College of Law in 2014. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2014 and is also admitted to the Southern District of Texas. Ms. Smith is a member of the Wharton County Bar Association, formerly serving as president, and she is a member of the Texas Bar College. 

Mr. Stuckey practices primarily in corporate, real estate, and environmental law, including transactional work and litigation. He has a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M University and J.D. and L.L.M. degrees from the University of Houston Law Center. Mr. Stuckey is admitted to the practice of law in all Texas courts, the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. Claims Court. He is also licensed in Texas as a professional engineer and a registered public land surveyor.

Attorney & Partner at Jackson Walker, Dallas, TX
Mr. Vinson focuses his practice on all areas of land use, including representation of a wide variety of developers, property owners, and corporate, non-profit and individual clients in zoning, planning, municipal law, and economic development incentives matters. His practice includes representation before city councils and planning and zoning commissions on zoning changes, special use permits, and planned development districts, including “form-based” zoning and mixed-use projects, and before boards of adjustment on variances and special exceptions. He also counsels clients with regard to land use entitlements and permitting issues, land use due diligence, and a very wide variety of other land use and municipal law issues. Mr. Vinson enjoys working on a wide variety of land use and municipal law issues. He especially enjoys the challenges and complexities of development and redevelopment projects in denser settings, especially mixed use and higher density multifamily projects.

Associate with Baker Moran.
Mr. Wilson represents electric utility companies, pipeline companies, cities, and landowners in all facets of the right of way acquisition, from the initial negotiations through litigation. Mr. Wilson also represents parties to real estate transactions and property disputes involving fraud, breach of warranty, property damage, negligence, nuisance, trespass, and other property-related matters.

Attorney at Fears Nachawati
Mr. Ayers is the managing attorney of the personal injury pre-litigation division at Fears Nachawati. He is a native of Athens, Texas and attended top ranked high school Bishop Thomas K. Gorman in Tyler, Texas. Upon graduation in 2007, Mr. Ayers went to Texas Tech University in Lubbock and graduated in 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy and a minor in Legal Studies. He attended Florida Coastal School of Law in Jacksonville, Florida, graduating with a juris doctorate degree in 2015. Since law school, Mr. Ayers has focused exclusively on the field of personal injury by vigorously negotiating and settling motor vehicle accidents, dog bites, and premise liability cases. He manages cases not only in Texas, but in Florida, Idaho, and Colorado as well. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas as well as a member of the Dallas Association of Young Lawyers.

Mr. Burris is an attorney in the personal injury litigation department at Fears Nachawati. He is a graduate of Texas A&M University School of Law. He received his bachelor’s degree in Political Science from Texas A&M University and is a lifelong sports fan of the Aggies. Before law school, Mr. Burris worked for the Texas State Senate in Austin where he gained a greater appreciation of and interest in the law. He takes pride in representing victims of negligence and holding those individuals and companies accountable for their wrongful acts. Mr. Burris is a firm believer in an individual’s 7th Amendment right to a civil jury trial and advocates for safety being a top priority among corporations. Recently, He was part of a Fears Nachawati trial team that obtained the highest intentional tort jury verdict in Texas for 2018. Mr. Burris, along with the rest of the trial team, was recognized by the Texas Lawyer and inducted into the Verdicts Hall of Fame for their $166 million dollar verdict. This case involved multiple million-dollar life insurance policies and a family’s plot to murder a loved one.

Attorney at The Law Firm of Preston Dugas    
Ms. Evans has experience on both sides of the civil bar, including 3 years as In-House Counsel for Travelers Insurance. Since moving to North Texas in 2008 she has focused on personal injury law, estate planning, family law, and adoption law. Ms. Evans is fluent in Spanish and is a member of the Texas State Bar Pro Bono College. She enjoys gardening, running, and cooking. Ms. Evans is a Texas native. She graduated from Regent University School of Law in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 2001. Upon graduation she returned to Texas and began practicing in the Rio Grande Valley.
 

Mr. Ragsdale’s law practice provides legal representation for individuals and families in serious personal injury and wrongful death cases. In law school, he studied to become the kind of lawyer who made an important difference in the lives of clients. He aspired to stand up to large corporate interests and others that were unwilling to take responsibility for injuries and damages they caused. Mr. Ragsdale now has more than 28 years of experience fighting for individuals and families in state and federal courts in Texas. He has handled thousands of cases and obtained millions of dollars in damages for injured clients. He was recently recognized by the National Trial Lawyers as a Top 100 Trial Lawyer in North Texas. Mr. Ragsdale completed mediator’s training at the SMU Center for dispute resolution and conflict management, and he has have served as a mediator and successfully mediated the settlement of over 50 lawsuits.

Attorney at Rad Law Firm
Mr. Toofanian is a personal injury attorney at the Rad Law Firm in Dallas, Texas. He represents clients with personal injury issues and insurance coverage issues. Mr. Toofanian has won cases in seven different counties in Texas. He prides himself on having made six and seven digit recoveries for clients that had been dropped by other attorneys. Mr. Toofanian was selected to Rising Stars from 2012 – 2018. He is a board certified personal injury litigator. Mr. Toofanian attended Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law and graduated in 2004. He was admitted to legal practice and received his J.D. degree in 2004.

Mr. Bowles began working in the field of land surveying in 1978 and is certified as a registered professional land surveyor in the State of Texas. He has given seminars to lawyers, real estate professionals and other land surveyors on land surveying principles, practice and codified standards. Mr. Bowles has been an expert witness in a number of legal actions centering around boundary disputes and land surveyor negligence claims. He has given expert testimony regarding boundary resolution, minimum standards and minimum content regarding land surveys. Mr. Bowles is a member of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and a former member of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.

Mauricio Escobar is an attorney with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP. Mr. Escobar practices in the firm’s complex commercial litigation practice group as well as the construction and infrastructure projects practice group. His practice involves representing domestic and international companies. Mr. Escobar is a member of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Builders and Contractors of Greater Houston. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston, where he teaches Construction Law and Ethics.

Principal Investigator/Project Manager at Moore Archeological Consulting, Inc.
Ashley E. Jones serves as a Principal Investigator and Project Manager for cultural resource projects. Her duties include preparing scopes of work and research designs, the execution of archeological permits, the management of field investigations, and reporting for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Antiquities Code of Texas permitted projects. Through her education and career, Ms. Jones has acquired extensive clearance experience on a wide-range of cultural resource projects, including artifact analyses, exploratory testing excavations, and large-scale data recovery excavations. She has completed Phase I, II and III field investigations in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, New Mexico and Arizona. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Virginia, Charlottesville and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Ms. Jones currently serves as a Board of Directors member for the Houston Archeological Society (HAS), which was founded in 1959 to understand the prehistory of the Upper Texas Gulf Coast. With HAS, she runs a public outreach and education program in northwest Harris County. She is the Diversity Chair for the Houston Chapter of WTS, an international organization that promotes the careers of women in the transportation industry.

Shareholder/Mediator at Crain, Caton & James in Houston
Mr. Morse has more than 40 years of experience in commercial litigation and environmental law. He started his environmental law practice in 1974, during the infancy of the major environmental regulatory programs. He assists clients on regulatory and transactional matters, representing them in the courtroom and in administrative proceedings, from inception through trial and appeal. He is a founding member of the Houston Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section. From Superfund and Brownfield property redevelopment to toxic tort cases, Mr. Morse deals with the full gamut of environmental law issues. He has successfully represented clients before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (and its predecessor agencies), the Texas Department of Health, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Texas Railroad Commission.

Caitlin Booker is an attorney with Roberts Markel Weinberg Butler Hailey. Ms. Booker practices in the firm’s litigation group. After completing her undergraduate studies in the Honors Program at Southern Methodist University, Ms. Booker attended the University of Houston Law Center where she received her Juris Doctor degree. During her tenure at UHLC, Ms. Booker worked for the Honorable Jennifer Walker Elrod at the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Honorable Caroline Baker at the 295th Civil District Court of Harris County, Texas. Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Booker served as second chair attorney at trial, resulting in a substantial jury verdict for her client and a finding that her client was not liable for breach of a confidentiality agreement or theft of trade secrets.

Mr. Bowles began working in the field of land surveying in 1978 and is certified as a registered professional land surveyor in the State of Texas. He has given seminars to lawyers, real estate professionals and other land surveyors on land surveying principles, practice and codified standards. Mr. Bowles has been an expert witness in a number of legal actions centering around boundary disputes and land surveyor negligence claims. He has given expert testimony regarding boundary resolution, minimum standards and minimum content regarding land surveys. Mr. Bowles is a member of the Texas Society of Professional Surveyors and a former member of the American Congress on Surveying and Mapping.

Mauricio Escobar is an attorney with Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton, LLP. Mr. Escobar practices in the firm’s complex commercial litigation practice group as well as the construction and infrastructure projects practice group. His practice involves representing domestic and international companies. Mr. Escobar is a member of the Houston Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Associated Builders and Contractors of Greater Houston. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Houston, where he teaches Construction Law and Ethics.

Principal Investigator/Project Manager at Moore Archeological Consulting, Inc.
Ashley E. Jones serves as a Principal Investigator and Project Manager for cultural resource projects. Her duties include preparing scopes of work and research designs, the execution of archeological permits, the management of field investigations, and reporting for Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act and Antiquities Code of Texas permitted projects. Through her education and career, Ms. Jones has acquired extensive clearance experience on a wide-range of cultural resource projects, including artifact analyses, exploratory testing excavations, and large-scale data recovery excavations. She has completed Phase I, II and III field investigations in Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio, New Mexico and Arizona. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from The University of Virginia, Charlottesville and a Master of Arts degree from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Ms. Jones currently serves as a Board of Directors member for the Houston Archeological Society (HAS), which was founded in 1959 to understand the prehistory of the Upper Texas Gulf Coast. With HAS, she runs a public outreach and education program in northwest Harris County. She is the Diversity Chair for the Houston Chapter of WTS, an international organization that promotes the careers of women in the transportation industry.

Robert E. “Robin” Morse, III is a Shareholder and Mediator with Crain Caton & James. Mr. Morse has over forty years of experience in commercial litigation and environmental law. He assists clients on regulatory and transactional matters, representing them in the courtroom, and in administrative proceedings, from inception through trial and appeal. He is a founding member of the Houston Bar Association’s Environmental Law Section. Mr. Morse has successfully represented clients before the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (and its predecessor agencies), the Texas Department of Health, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Texas Railroad Commission. He has represented both private and governmental clients, handling State and Federal Superfund and RCRA hazardous waste matters, air quality permitting and compliance issues, wastewater permitting and enforcement, asbestos and radioactive materials cases and wetlands-related problems. Mr. Morse has defended corporate clients in enforcement actions brought by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Texas Attorney General’s Office, as well as, administrative penalty cases. Mr. Morse has served as a mediator and arbitrator in environmental disputes, applying his unique environmental and litigation experience.

Mr. Deatherage is a founding partner in the Dallas law firm of S. Deatherage Law, PLLC. For more than 30 years, he has focused on environmental issues, energy, and climate change. For most of his career, he worked with large law firms in Dallas, but four years ago he formed his own firm and also began pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities. He earned his B.A. in Letters from The University of Oklahoma in 1984 with highest honors, with minors in Botany and French, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1987 cum laude, where he served as the Articles Editor for the Harvard Environmental Law Review. Mr. Deatherage was one of the founders of the American Bar Association’s Environmental Disclosure Committee. He has published a book entitled Carbon Trading Law and Practice, originally published by Oxford University Press. He has taught Climate Change Law at the University of Texas Law School. He currently is general counsel of a company developing electric vehicle charging stations and planning to supply them with utility-scale solar plus storage facilities.

Partner, Wetsel, Carmichael, Allen, & Lederle, L.L.P.
Jacob R. “Jake” Lederle is a partner at the firm of Wetsel, Carmichael, Allen, & Lederle, LLP. He maintains a broad practice in the energy sector and specializes in renewable energy (wind and solar), eminent domain and condemnation, and oil and gas law. In addition to his energy-related practice, he also routinely advises clients in other areas of real estate and estate planning as well as in civil litigation. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law where he was a research assistant to preeminent oil and gas scholar Ernest E. Smith. He frequently writes and speaks on a variety of topics in the energy business, including the accommodation doctrine, executive rights, competing surface uses, severance of wind rights, environmental concerns in siting renewable energy, condemnation proceedings, and negotiating leases and easements. In fact, his paper “Everything Under the Sun: A Guide to Siting Solar in the Lone Star State” was one of the first published articles on solar energy in Texas.

Mr. Deatherage is a founding partner in the Dallas law firm of S. Deatherage Law, PLLC. For more than 30 years, he has focused on environmental issues, energy, and climate change. For most of his career, he worked with large law firms in Dallas, but four years ago he formed his own firm and also began pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities. He earned his B.A. in Letters from The University of Oklahoma in 1984 with highest honors, with minors in Botany and French, and a J.D. from Harvard Law School in 1987 cum laude, where he served as the Articles Editor for the Harvard Environmental Law Review. Mr. Deatherage was one of the founders of the American Bar Association’s Environmental Disclosure Committee. He has published a book entitled Carbon Trading Law and Practice, originally published by Oxford University Press. He has taught Climate Change Law at the University of Texas Law School. He currently is general counsel of a company developing electric vehicle charging stations and planning to supply them with utility-scale solar plus storage facilities.

Partner, Wetsel, Carmichael, Allen, & Lederle, L.L.P.
Jacob R. “Jake” Lederle is a partner at the firm of Wetsel, Carmichael, Allen, & Lederle, LLP. He maintains a broad practice in the energy sector and specializes in renewable energy (wind and solar), eminent domain and condemnation, and oil and gas law. In addition to his energy-related practice, he also routinely advises clients in other areas of real estate and estate planning as well as in civil litigation. He is a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law where he was a research assistant to preeminent oil and gas scholar Ernest E. Smith. He frequently writes and speaks on a variety of topics in the energy business, including the accommodation doctrine, executive rights, competing surface uses, severance of wind rights, environmental concerns in siting renewable energy, condemnation proceedings, and negotiating leases and easements. In fact, his paper “Everything Under the Sun: A Guide to Siting Solar in the Lone Star State” was one of the first published articles on solar energy in Texas.

President of Frank Aguirre & Associates, Inc. San Antonio
Mr. Aguirre, owner of Septic Systems Express, Septic System Designs Of Texas and Texas Septic Systems Council, has been designing and inspecting septic systems since 1975. During that time, he has served on the board of directors for the National On-site Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA), and he has served as president of the Texas On-site Wastewater Association. Mr. Aguirre founded the Alamo On-site Wastewater Association and the Alamo Water & Wastewater Analysts Association. He has designed over 30,000 septic systems and is the only person in the country that has organized and sponsored a national conference specifically on how to design a septic system for a restaurant (high strength wastewater). He has been a licensed sanitarian since 1968. Mr. Aguirre received his bachelor’s degree in Biology and his master’s degree in Educational Psychology. Septic Systems Express designs and inspects septic systems throughout south-central Texas. He is a professional speaker and lives, part-time, in Manhattan.

President of Frank Aguirre & Associates, Inc. San Antonio
Mr. Aguirre, owner of Septic Systems Express, Septic System Designs Of Texas and Texas Septic Systems Council, has been designing and inspecting septic systems since 1975. During that time, he has served on the board of directors for the National On-site Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA), and he has served as president of the Texas On-site Wastewater Association. Mr. Aguirre founded the Alamo On-site Wastewater Association and the Alamo Water & Wastewater Analysts Association. He has designed over 30,000 septic systems and is the only person in the country that has organized and sponsored a national conference specifically on how to design a septic system for a restaurant (high strength wastewater). He has been a licensed sanitarian since 1968. Mr. Aguirre received his bachelor’s degree in Biology and his master’s degree in Educational Psychology. Septic Systems Express designs and inspects septic systems throughout south-central Texas. He is a professional speaker and lives, part-time, in Manhattan.

President of Frank Aguirre & Associates, Inc. San Antonio
Mr. Aguirre, owner of Septic Systems Express, Septic System Designs Of Texas and Texas Septic Systems Council, has been designing and inspecting septic systems since 1975. During that time, he has served on the board of directors for the National On-site Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA), and he has served as president of the Texas On-site Wastewater Association. Mr. Aguirre founded the Alamo On-site Wastewater Association and the Alamo Water & Wastewater Analysts Association. He has designed over 30,000 septic systems and is the only person in the country that has organized and sponsored a national conference specifically on how to design a septic system for a restaurant (high strength wastewater). He has been a licensed sanitarian since 1968. Mr. Aguirre received his bachelor’s degree in Biology and his master’s degree in Educational Psychology. Septic Systems Express designs and inspects septic systems throughout south-central Texas. He is a professional speaker and lives, part-time, in Manhattan.

President of Frank Aguirre & Associates, Inc. San Antonio
Mr. Aguirre, owner of Septic Systems Express, Septic System Designs Of Texas and Texas Septic Systems Council, has been designing and inspecting septic systems since 1975. During that time, he has served on the board of directors for the National On-site Wastewater Recycling Association (NOWRA), and he has served as president of the Texas On-site Wastewater Association. Mr. Aguirre founded the Alamo On-site Wastewater Association and the Alamo Water & Wastewater Analysts Association. He has designed over 30,000 septic systems and is the only person in the country that has organized and sponsored a national conference specifically on how to design a septic system for a restaurant (high strength wastewater). He has been a licensed sanitarian since 1968. Mr. Aguirre received his bachelor’s degree in Biology and his master’s degree in Educational Psychology. Septic Systems Express designs and inspects septic systems throughout south-central Texas. He is a professional speaker and lives, part-time, in Manhattan.

Ms. Collier-Brown is senior counsel in the Austin office of Locke Lord LLP where she is a regulatory and administrative litigation attorney in the areas of public utilities, energy, water, and general administrative law. Ms. Collier-Brown serves clients before the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC), Railroad Commission of Texas, and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). In her PUC practice, she represents electric utilities, water utilities, renewable energy generators, retail electric providers, and other clients in a broad range of manners, including rate applications, administrative litigation, regulatory compliance, enforcement, Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) proceedings, and rulemakings. On the federal energy level, Ms. Collier-Brown has advised electric utilities and generation companies on compliance with NERC reliability standards, competition-related issues in RTO and ISO markets, and Open Access Transmission Tariffs compliance manners at FERC. In the area of gas utility regulation, she represents midstream pipeline companies and natural gas utilities in permitting, compliance, rate-selling and litigation manners before the Railroad Commission of Texas (the state’s principal oil and gas regulatory authority). Ms. Collier- Brown has also advised utility clients on smart grid policy, wireless licenses and pole attachment issues at the Federal Communications Commission. She has had extensive experience with the implementation of Senate Bill 7, the 1999 legislation introducing retail competition in the Texas electric market.
 

Jackson Walker, LLP
Mr. Dougal represents a diverse group of clients in complex permitting and water matters, including data centers and other technology companies, power generation companies, real estate developers and special districts. He is also active in water quality and wetlands issues where he represents energy companies, developers and agricultural operators in Clean Water Act permit and compliance matters. As a recognized authority on emerging water law issues, Mr. Dougal is frequently sought after to speak at bar and continuing legal education seminars. He is the author of two chapters in the treatise on Texas water law, The Essentials of Texas Water Resources. Mr. Dougal has a special interest in solving water supply issues for clients, including permitting of groundwater, contracting with others for new water supplies, conveying or reserving water rights, or reusing treated wastewater. Mr. Dougal is board certified in Administrative Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is also a Texas licensed Professional Engineer (inactive).

Fancher Legal, PLLC, in Frisco
Ms. Fancher has extensive experience in representing clients on water and other legal matters across the State of Texas. She represents a diverse array of clients – from water districts to landowners and private companies – and therefore has a broad perspective that benefits her clients. After practicing in Austin for a number of years, Ms. Fancher simultaneously founded Fancher Legal, PLLC, and relocated with her family to the North Texas area where she was raised. She is a sixth generation Texan and is fortunate to have the opportunity to represent clients with interests and values similar to those that she was raised with.

Ms. Sahs, an honors graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, operates a solo practice under the name Mary K. Sahs, P.C. For more than 30 years, she has focused her practice on the areas of water and environmental law. She served as a hearings examiner and then as the public interest counsel at the Texas Water Commission. Later, she was an associate with Gardere & Wynne, L.L.P. From there, she started her own rm in 1995. Ms. Sahs has written and spoken extensively on water and environmental issues. She is the managing editor of Essentials of Texas Water Resources, currently in its sixth edition. She was selected by her peers for inclusion in Woodward/White, Inc.’s 2009 through 2020 editions of The Best Lawyers in America®, for her work in the practice area of Water Law and has been a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas since 2001 and a fellow since 2011.
 

Mr. Sledge is the managing partner at the rm, Sledge Law Group, PLLC, and is both a registered lobbyist in Texas and a practicing attorney. Mr. Sledge’s legislative and regulatory practice as a lobbyist involves a broad and diverse array of public policy manners before the Texas Legislature, various state agencies, and local governments. His law practice focuses primarily on water, environmental, utilities, and administrative law, and local government manners involving special districts, cities, counties, and other political subdivisions. Mr. Sledge has been recognized by Capitol Insider’s Texas Lobby Power Rankings as one of the top lobbyists in Texas. He is a prolific author and frequent speaker on issues involving the Texas Legislature, and on legal manners regarding water, solid waste, mining, utilities and municipal issues. Because of his extensive work experience as a lobbyist, water lawyer, attorney for the Texas Legislature, and research director for the Texas Water Development Board, Mr. Sledge is perhaps most well-known for his work at the Texas Capitol on water policy issues, where his counsel is regularly sought as an architect of much of the state’s current water planning, regulatory, and water infrastructure nancing statutes. He is invited frequently to testify before committees of the Senate and House of Representatives. Mr. Sledge was director of research at the Texas Water Development Board where he performed legislative and other intergovernmental relations work for the agency and managed its research division. Before that, he served in numerous positions as an attorney for the Texas Legislature.
 

Mr. Strickland is a water project and finance attorney in Holland & Knight’s Austin and Los Angeles offices. His clients include U.S.-based and multinational water companies and  financial institutions that develop and manage water resources and infrastructure. He has been involved in many of the largest and most significant water development projects in the United States for the past 20 years, across multiple states and regions, with a strong focus on California, Texas and the West. Mr. Strickland frequently advises international companies pursuing business opportunities within the U.S. His clients have included companies based in North America, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Asia and Australia. He has participated in select projects located outside the U.S. Mr. Strickland is a regular writer and speaker on water resources and the private sector. He has been quoted by numerous media, including Bloomberg, Reuters, Al Jazeera, Debtwire, Circle of Blue and Global Water Intelligence, for which he also serves as the U.S. legal columnist. Earlier in his career, Mr. Strickland served as a captain and judge advocate in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he handled water right manners for the western U.S. and the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) utilities privatization initiative.
 

Lloyd Gosselink Rochelle & Townsend, P.C., in Austin
Ms. Albright is a member of the Water and Districts Practice Groups. Her client work focuses primarily on general counsel services to water utilities, including the governance, organization and operation of regional utilities, water districts, and other local government entities. She also assists clients with various permitting, compliance, and enforcement issues related to water quality matters. Originally from Lake Jackson, Texas, Ms. Albright received her undergraduate degree from Southwestern University and earned her doctor of jurisprudence degree from the University of Houston Law Center. Previously, Ms. Albright served as a lead staff member in the Texas House of Representatives.

Of counsel, Freeman Mills PC in Dallas
Mr. Beecham began his career working for a major oil and gas company. He is experienced in dealing with acquisitions, exploration and production of non-producing and producing oil and gas properties including fee lands, Indian lands, and state and federal lands. Mr. Beecham has been involved with all aspects of mineral titles, leases, leasing, seismic agreements, exploration agreements, drilling contracts, joint operating and master service agreements, participation agreements, oil and gas acquisitions, energy lending transactions, natural gas transportation agreements, gas processing agreements, and pooling and unitization agreements. He has litigated many oil and gas issues and has represented water districts in administrative matters and other issues. Mr. Beecham caries an “AV Preeminent” rating from Martindale Hubbell peer review rating service. He has spoken at many seminars and written papers concerning oil and gas matters and water issues.

James D. Bradbury, PLLC, in Fort Worth
Mr. Bradbury’s practice focuses on land, environmental, water and regulatory matters, including the imminent water policy issues facing rural Texas. His firm has offices in Fort Worth and Austin. Mr. Bradbury advises clients on land use and permitting as well as enforcement matters before state authorities, EPA and the Department of Justice, and he handles civil litigation that arises out of environmental issues. Mr. Bradbury has a focus on the legal and policy issues facing Texas landowners and producers, working with statewide agriculture associations on legislative and regulatory matters. His firm also prepares and submits appellate amicus briefing to the Texas Supreme Court on issues of statewide importance. Mr. Bradbury also has significant experience in the environmental aspects of hydraulic fracturing production, including surface use rights, eminent domain and pipelines. He is an adjunct professor at Texas A&M Law School, teaching Ag Law, Natural Resources and a Special Projects course in Texas Eminent Domain Policy. Mr. Bradbury regularly speaks on landowner rights and water issues as they affect Texas public policy and serves on the Board of the Texas Land Trust Council and the Policy Committee of Texas Ag Land Trust working to conserve working farms and ranches.

Fancher Legal, PLLC, in Frisco
Ms. Fancher has extensive experience in representing clients on water and other legal matters across the State of Texas. She represents a diverse array of clients – from water districts to landowners and private companies – and therefore has a broad perspective that benefits her clients. After practicing in Austin for a number of years, Ms. Fancher simultaneously founded Fancher Legal, PLLC, and relocated with her family to the North Texas area where she was raised. She is a sixth generation Texan and is fortunate to have the opportunity to represent clients with interests and values similar to those that she was raised with.

Water Policy Program Manager, Hill Country Alliance
Mr. Flatten’s role at the Hill Country Alliance includes water planning, policy, and management outreach — and facilitating a cooperative dialog between the region’s diverse communities. He was born in New Braunfels, grew up in Beaumont, and came to Austin in 1984 to attend the University of Texas School of Architecture. After a long career serving the vibrant local bicycle community, Mr. Flatten completed a degree in Geography and then a master’s degree in Resource Management, with a specialty in Hydrology from Texas State University. “My success in the bicycle business was largely due to the natural assets of the Hill Country. So it’s been an easy transition from enjoying the Hill Country on a bicycle to advocating for responsible growth and the sustainability of its resources.”

Principal with Donoghue Project Consulting, LLCMr. Donoghue’s career has been devoted to the planning and construction of corporate, commercial, and institutional facilities for research and business operations. He has safely and successfully led fire disaster recovery, hazardous materials handling, and hazardous occupancy code compliance efforts. He is experienced with a variety of building types – corporate, academic, scientific and product development R&D facilities are a particular specialty; along with office, data center, maintenance, manufacturing, and employee service facilities. Through training, certification, and decades of experience, Mr. Donoghue has acquired significant technical skill and knowledge regarding building code and accessibility issues. Mr. Donoghue has worked as a building plans examiner, reviewing, approving and declining building permit applications. He has performed forensic investigations and guided building owners and architects through complex compliance issues, developing appropriate and successful code variance strategies.
Mr. Donoghue earned his undergraduate degree in Architecture from Kent State University, his Master of Business Administration degree from The Katz Graduate School at the University of Pittsburgh, and a Masters certificate in Project Management from the University of Pittsburgh, Katz Graduate School of Business. He holds several certifications in specialty areas including sustainability, and laboratory ventilation and past certifications as a plans examiner, building inspector, and accessibility inspector. He launched his own consulting firm, specializing in project management, code consulting, construction observation, and architectural forensics, in 2010.
Donoghue Project Consulting, LLC, provides building code analysis and consulting services to building owners, and others in and served by the construction industry.