Brian M. Gillett has joined Squire Patton Boggs as of counsel in the firm's litigation practice. Gillett will begin working in the Houston office before transferring to the Dallas office later this summer.
Appointed
Luz Herrera of Fort Worth, associate dean for experimental education at Texas A&M University School of Law, and William "Bill" Marple of Dallas, director of pro bono and bar relations for Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, have been appointed to the Texas Access to Justice Commission by the Texas Supreme Court. The State Bar of Texas has appointed Nicole Voyles of Houston, a partner in Tindall England, to the commission and reappointed Jenny Lee Smith of Austin, an attorney with Cobb & Counsel.
Elected
Steven Wolens, a principal in McKool Smith in Dallas and former member of the Texas House of Representatives, has been elected chairman of the Texas Ethics Commission.
Awards
John Raley, a partner in Raley & Bowick in Houston, received the Clarence Darrow Award from the Harris County Democratic Lawyers Association during a June 19 event at the Hotel ZaZa. Raley and the Innocence Project represented Michael Morton, who was wrongfully convicted of his wife's murder and imprisoned for 25 years. Morton was exonerated in 2012.
Gerald S. Reamey, a professor at St. Mary's University School of Law, received the 2017 Outstanding Law Review Article Award from the Texas Bar Foundation. The foundation, which presented the award June 23 during a dinner in Dallas, recognized Reamey for his article, "The Truth Might Set You Free: How the Michael Morton Act Could Fundamentally Change Texas Criminal Discovery, or Not," published in the Texas Tech Law Review in 2016.
The Dallas Bar Association received awards for its programs and services during the State Bar of Texas annual meeting held in Dallas. The State Bar's Local Bar Services Committee selected DBA to receive the Award of Merit for outstanding services to its members and community, Outstanding Partnership Award for immediate past president Jerry Alexander's mural project at the George Allen Courthouse and a Star of Merit Award for its Day of Civility program. Headnotes, DBA's official newsletter, received Star of Achievement Awards for best substantive law by L. Bradley Johnson of Bailey & Galyen; Lindsey Vanden Eykel of KoonsFuller; and Adam Swartz of The Swartz Law Firm and White, Jacobs and Associates; and best series of general interest articles by Kenneth G. Raggio of Raggio & Raggio.