Letter to TCDLA Membership from Lydia Clay-Jackson

Dear TCDLA Member,

I am honored to serve this year as Chair of the TCDLA Nominating Committee. I sincerely thank the members of this year’s nominating committee who agreed to serve the membership by representing their individual districts. The committee members traveled to and from the nominating committee meeting, held in Houston, on December 3, 2011, at their own expense.

      The following are your 2011 TCDLA Nominating Committee Members:

                                               Chair, President-Elect    Lydia Clay-Jackson
                                                                  District 1    Mary Stillinger
                                                                  District 2    Christine Schwartz
                                                                  District 3    Anna Ricker
                                                                  District 4    Heather Barbieri
                                                                  District 5    Pamela Fernandez
                                                                  District 6    Audrey Moorehead
                                                                  District 7    Melissa Hannah
                                                                  District 8    Susan Kelly Johnston
                                                                  District 9    Jana Ortega
                                                                District 10    Angela Moore
                                                                District 11    Rose Zamora
                                                                District 12    Sheldon Weisfeld
                                                                District 13    Kelly Case
                                                                District 14    Katherine Scardino
                                                                 President    J. Gary Trichter
                                                    1st Vice President    Bobby Mims
                                                   2nd Vice President    Emmett Harris
                                                                 Treasurer    Sam Bassett
                                                                 Secretary    John Convery
                                                 Ex-officio Members    TCDLA Past Presidents and Greg Westfall, Voice Editor

These committee members provided frank and honest input on the applicants who were considered for nomination. Their discussions regarding the individual applications were pointedly positive. The tenor of the discussions stressed why a particular applicant’s qualifications would lend the applicant to be an asset to our organization, rather than any other issue. To this end, I thank everyone who applied.

      Based to the TCDLA Bylaws, and the recommendation of the nominating committee, I submit to the membership the following slate of candidates for nomination to the TCDLA Board of Directors.

Officers

Lydia Clay-Jackson, President
Bobby Mims, President-Elect
Emmett Harris, 1st Vice President
Sam Bassett, 2nd Vice President
John Convery, Treasurer
David Moore, Secretary

Directors

John Ackerman – Sunrise Beach
Susan Anderson – Dallas
Rick Berry – Marshall
Emily Detoto – Houston
Deandra Grant – Richardson
Michael Gross – San Antonio
Melissa Hannah – Lufkin
Tip Hargrove – San Angelo
Jo Ann Jacinto – El Paso
Jeanette Kinard – Austin
Adam Kobs – San Antonio
Tony Odiorne – Amarillo
Dave O’Neil – Huntsville
Bruce Ponder – El Paso
Gary Udashen – Dallas

Associate Directors

Marjorie Bachman – Austin
Kelly Case – The Woodlands
Sharon Curtis – McKinney
Robert Fickman – Houston
Don Flanary – San Antonio
Steve Keathley – Corsicana
Laurie Key – Lubbock
Michael McCrum – San Antonio
Michael McDougal – Conroe
George Milner III – Dallas
Angela Moore – Boerne
Oscar Pena – Laredo
John Hunter Smith – Sherman
Ed Stapleton – Brownsville
John Stickels – Arlington
Oscar Vega – Pharr

In accordance with the TCDLA Bylaws, this slate of candidates will be voted on by the TCDLA membership present at the Annual TCDLA Membership Meeting to be held on Saturday, June 9, 2012, at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio. TCDLA is a stronger organization because of members like you. Let us together continue our fight for the fundamental principles that aid us in service to the Accused and the convicted.

I thank you for the opportunity to serve you.

Good verdicts to you.
Lydia Clay-Jackson
Chair, TCDLA Nominations Committee
President-Elect, TCDLA

TCDLA

Lydia Clay-Jackson

Lydia Clay-Jackson, the 2012-2013 TCDLA President, has been a member since being licensed in 1985. Her primary office is in Conroe, but you may often see her in most East Texas courts. She was board certified in Criminal Law in 1996 and has tried everything from traffic tickets to capital murder. Lydia is past president of the Montgomery County Criminal Defense Bar Association, as well as past chair of Lone Star Legal Aid, presently serving on its Executive Committee. She is a member of the SBOT Criminal Justice Section and a former member of the SBOT Committee for the Poor in Criminal Matters. She has presented at seminars for SBOT, various local bar associations, and TCDLA and CDLP. She is a SBOT FELLOW as well as a TCDLEI Fellow and Super Fellow and a Life Time Member of NACDL. She serves actively as one of the Deans of the Texas Criminal Trial College.