About The EDTX Bench Bar Conference

The Eastern District of Texas Bar Association is proud to host one the nation’s top annual bench bar conferences, drawing judges, lawyers, topic speakers, guests and other participants from across the country and globe. This conference has the well-earned reputation of being the ”go-to annual gathering” for judges and lawyers to discuss a broad range of cutting-edge legal topics. This year’s conference also features “An Evening at the Ball Park” – A private outing to Texas Ranger Globe Life Stadium that includes dinner, private tours, batting cages, & much more! Sign-up today to reserve your spot!

Underwriters

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Panelists

Panelists & Special Guests(Additional Panelists TBA)

Priscilla Owen

Chief Judge, 5th Cir., US Court of Appeals

Chief Judge Priscilla Owen joined the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in 2005 after serving on the Supreme Court of Texas for more than ten years. Born in Matagorda County, Texas, she attended primary and secondary schools in Waco, Texas.

Rodney Gilstrap

Chief District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Judge Rodney Gilstrap was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas and was confirmed in 2011. He assumed the position of Chief Judge in 2018.

Melissa R. Smith

Partner, Gillam & Smith

Melissa is a partner in the firm of Gillam & Smith. She tries lawsuits in the state and federal courts of the Eastern District of Texas for both plaintiffs and defendants.

Carl Stewart

Judge, 5th Cir., US Court of Appeals

The Honorable Carl E. Stewart received his B.A. degree (Magna Cum Laude) from Dillard University and his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law in New Orleans.

Donean Surratt

Secretary / Treasurer / Beaumont

Donean Surratt has an active trial practice in civil litigation, focusing primarily in the products liability, insurance defense and professional liability areas.

Gregg Costa

Judge, 5th Cir., US Court of Appeals

Gregg Costa is a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Bob Weber

Director / Texarkana

Amos Mazzant

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Amos Mazzant currently serves as a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division.

Doug Cawley

Outside District Director / Dallas

Marcia A. Crone

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Federal District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division

Christine A. Nowak

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Christine A. Nowak currently serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division. Judge Nowak was appointed to this position in 2015.

John D. Love

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

On January 3, 2006, Judge Love was sworn in as United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas. He was reappointed for a second term which he began serving on January 3, 2014.

Roy Payne

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Judge Roy S. Payne is a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas in Marshall, Texas, where he has served since 2011.

Michael J. Truncale

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Michael Truncale was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on May 14, 2019, and appointed by President Donald J. Trump on May 16, 2019. As a nominee, he received the unanimous well-qualified rating by the American Bar Association.

Robert “Trey” Schroeder

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Robert W. "Trey" Schroeder III is United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division.

Jeremy D. Kernodle

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Jeremy Kernodle is a United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas in Tyler. Before taking the bench, Judge Kernodle was a partner at Haynes and Boone, LLP in Dallas, where he practiced complex commercial litigation and appeals.

L. Frank Coan, Jr.

Criminal Chief for E.D. of Tex.

L. Frank Coan, Jr. currently serves as the Criminal Chief for the Eastern District of Texas.

Kimberly Priest Johnson

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Kimberly C. Priest Johnson currently serves as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division in Plano, Texas.

David O’Toole

Clerk of Court for E.D. Tex.

David joined the Eastern District of Texas in June of 2015 and was appointed Clerk of Court in September of 2015.

Thad Heartfield

Senior District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Judge Thad Heartfield was born and raised in Port Arthur, Texas. After graduating from St. Mary’s School of Law in 1965, he began his legal career as an Assistant District Attorney with the Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office.

W. Royal Furgeson, Jr.

Senior District Judge, USDC NDTX (ret.)

The Honorable W. Royal Furgeson, Jr., United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, was named as the founding Dean of the UNT Dallas College of Law in January 2012. He assumed his position as Dean in mid-year 2013, after retiring from the federal district bench.

Myra A. Kirkwood

Chief U.S. Probation Officer, E.D. Tex.

Myra A. Kirkwood is a native Texan and currently the Chief U.S. Probation Officer in the Eastern District of Texas since October 2018.

James Gillingham

Assistant United States Attorney, E.D. Tex.

James Gillingham is an Assistant United States Attorney at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas.

Caroline M. Craven

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex

Caroline M. Craven has served as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division, since May 1998. She served as law clerk for United States District Judge David Folsom.

Joseph D. Brown

Principal, Joe Brown Attorney PLLC & Former US Attorney, E.D. Tex.

Joseph Brown is the principal of Joe Brown, Attorney P.L.L.C. in Sherman, Texas, operating a private practice since July of 2020 after a 20-year career as a state and federal prosecutor.

J. Michael Price

Founder, J. Michael Price II, Attorney-at- Law

J. Michael Price II is Board-certified in Criminal Trial Advocacy by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and Board Certified in Criminal Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Nicholas Ganjei

Acting US Attorney, E.D. Tex.

Nicholas Ganjei is the Acting United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Texas. Mr. Ganjei is a career federal prosecutor who has dedicated his professional life to public service.

Keith Wallace

U.S Probation Officer E. D. Tex.

Keith Wallace was appointed a U.S. Probation Officer for the Eastern District of Texas in September 1994.

Raymond T. Chen

Judge, Fed. Cir., US Court of Appeals

Circuit Judge, Raymond T. Chen was appointed to the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit by President Barack H. Obama in 2013, confirmed by the Senate on August 1, 2013 and assumed his office on August 5, 2013.

Sean Jordan

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Judge Sean Jordan is a federal district judge for the Eastern District of Texas, Sherman Division. Judge Jordan was nominated by President Trump on January 17, 2019 and confirmed on July 30, 2019.

Christine Stetson

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex

Zack Hawthorn

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Zack Hawthorn has served as a United States Magistrate Judge in the Beaumont and Lufkin Divisions of the Eastern District of Texas since 2011.

Virginia Kendall

District Judge, USDC N.D. III.

Judge Kendall was appointed to the federal bench in January 2006.

Ron Clark

Senior District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Ron Clark was sworn in as United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Texas on 11/22/2002. He served as Chief Judge from 1/1/2015 to 2/28/2018 when he took Senior status.

Nicole Mitchell

Magistrate Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

Judge Mitchell was sworn in as a United States Magistrate Judge on August 16, 2013. In her time on the bench and while working with Chief Judge Davis, Judge Mitchell has overseen numerous patent and general civil litigation cases. She also mediates cases pending in the Eastern District of Texas and the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

William Bryson

Senior US Circuit Judge, CAFC

William C. Bryson was appointed by President William J. Clinton in 1994. Prior to his appointment, Judge Bryson was with the United States Department of Justice from 1978 to 1994.

Lee Yeakel

District Judge, USDC W.D. Tex.

The Honorable Lee Yeakel was appointed by President George W. Bush and confirmed as a United States District Judge for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division, in July 2003.

Joshua P. Searcy

Bankruptcy Judge, USDC EDTX

Joshua P. Searcy is a 2005 graduate from the Baylor University School of Law. In March, 2021, he was appointed as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Eastern District of Texas overseeing the Tyler, Marshall, Lufkin, and Beaumont divisions.

James Ho

Judge, 5th Cir., US Court of Appeals

James C. Ho is a Circuit Judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Before his appointment on January 4, 2018, he was co-chair of the national Appellate and Constitutional Law practice group of Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.

J. Campbell Barker

District Judge, USDC E.D. Tex.

The Honorable J. Campbell Barker was confirmed on May 1, 2019, to the seat vacated by the Honorable Leonard E. Davis, with a duty station in Tyler, Texas.

Michael C. Smith

Managing Partner, Scheef & Stone LLP

Michael C. Smith is the managing partner of Scheef & Stone LLP’s Marshall office, where he assists clients with complex commercial and patent litigation in state and federal courts.

Anna Rebecca “Becca” Skupin

Attorney, Scheef & Stone LLP

Anna Rebecca “Becca” Skupin is an Associate in Scheef & Stone’s Litigation section and represents clients before the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern, Northern, and Southern Districts of Texas, as well as Texas state courts in Grayson and Collin Counties and the surrounding areas.

James Whalen

Founder, Whalen Law Office

James P. Whalen is the owner of Whalen Law Office in Frisco, Texas.

Thomas L. Irving

Partner, Finnegan

Tom Irving has some 45 years of experience in intellectual property law. His U.S. pharma practice includes America Invents Act (AIA) post-grant proceedings, due diligence, counseling, patent prosecution, reissue, and reexamination.

Andrea L. Fair

Attorney, Ward, Smith & Hill

Andrea Fair joined Ward, Smith & Hill in 2016 after practicing complex commercial litigation in Houston for five years, where her practice focused on patent infringement, construction disputes, and insurance coverage and defense work.

Andy Tindel

Attorney, MT2 Law Group

Andy Tindel is a native East Texan. After graduating from Baylor University with a B.B.A. in Accounting, Andy completed his legal education at Baylor University School of Law in 1982.

Billie Ellis

Partner, Winston & Strawn

BBillie Ellis previously served as a Co-Founder and Managing Director of The Halifax Group, a $200 million private equity fund.

Brad Toben

Dean and M.C. & Mattie Caston Professor of Law

Brad Toben looks upon his position as dean of Baylor Law, indeed he looks upon the profession of law, as a way to help individuals, his community and our larger society.

Brett C. Govett

Partner, Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

Brett joined the Dallas office in 1991. He has broad litigation experience having tried commercial, intellectual property, and tort cases.

Brett Johnson

Partner, Winston & Strawn

Brett Johnson focuses his practice on complex commercial litigation and intellectual property matters across several industries, including high-tech, banking, and pharmaceutical.

Robert C. Bunt

Partner, Parker, Bunt, & Ainsworth, PC

Robert C. Bunt has tried cases in more than a dozen Texas counties, has served as lead trial counsel in over 24 jury trials, and has served as a trial attorney in more than 40 trials.

Christopher Bakewell

Managing Director & Global Head of IP Advisory Services, Kroll

Chris Bakewell, ASA, CLP, is a managing director in the Houston office and the leader of the Intellectual Property Services practice.

Danielle Williams

Partner, Winston & Strawn

Danielle Williams is a litigation partner in Winston's Charlotte office. She has extensive experience in handling high-risk, multi-patent, multi-product, and multi-defendant cases in a broad range of technologies, in federal courts across the country.

David Leonardi, M.D.

Physician & Founder, The Leonardi Institute

David Leonardi, M.D., is a world authority in Vitality and Longevity Medicine. A graduate of the University of Miami School of Medicine, he completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at an affiliate hospital of UC, San Francisco.

Deron Dacus

Trial Attorney, The Dacus Firm

Deron Dacus is a trial lawyer and a native East Texan. His legal practice is focused primarily on business, commercial, and patent litigation. He also has experience in catastrophic personal injury cases.

Dr. M. Ray Perryman

President and CEO, The Perryman Group

Dr. Ray Perryman is President and CEO of The Perryman Group, an economic research and analysis firm based in Waco, Texas.

Eric Findlay

Partner, Findlay Craft P.C

Mr. Findlay has been practicing law and helping people for more than 25 years. He began his practice as a trial lawyer, focusing much of his energy on personal injury cases, and was Board Certified in Personal Injury Trial Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

Harry “Gil” Gillam, Jr.

Partner, Gillam & Smith

A native of Bryan, Texas, Gil Gillam was first introduced to the courtrooms of East Texas when he went to Longview for his law school’s mock trial preparations.

Indranil “Indy” Mukerji

Partner, Willkie Farr & Gallagher

Indy has represented a “who’s-who” of the world’s leading companies from North America, Asia, and Europe against competitors, non-practicing entities (NPEs), and patent assertion entities (PAEs) alike.

J. Travis Underwood

Attorney, Gillam & Smith

Travis is an associate attorney at Gillam & Smith with experience beyond his years. Before joining the firm in 2021, Travis was an associate at Winston & Strawn LLP in Dallas, where he litigated complex commercial disputes, patent cases, trade secrets and unfair competition cases, False Claims Act cases, employment disputes, products liability cases, and class actions.

James A. “Tripp” Fussel III

Partner, Mayer Brown

James “Tripp” Fussell is a partner in Mayer Brown’s Washington DC office. He is a member of our Intellectual Property practice where he focuses on litigating complex patent cases in federal courts throughout the country involving a wide variety of technologies.

James Boone Baxter

Partner, Heim, Payne & Chorush

James Boone Baxter is an experienced litigator with a focus on intellectual property disputes in district courts and before the U.S. Patent Trial and Appeal Board (PTAB).

Jim Wren

Co-Director, Baylor Law Executive LL.M in Litigation Management | Leon Jaworski Chair of Practice and Procedure

Professionally, Jim Wren is a trial lawyer first and foremost. Before becoming a law professor, he was designated each year as a Texas Super Lawyer in business litigation, former national president of the National Board of Trial Advocacy, a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), and board certified nationally and in Texas in multiple trial specializations.

T. Johnny Ward

Partner, Ward, Smith & Hill, PLLC

Having served as a trial attorney in more than 40 jury trials involving a variety of challenging legal issues, Johnny Ward is one of the most distinguished trial lawyers in East Texas.

Joseph J. Mueller

Partner, WilmerHale

Joe Mueller is a first-chair trial lawyer who has worked on dozens of trials in courts across the country. Many of his cases involve intellectual property disputes, and he has led trial teams in high-stakes trials for some of the world’s top technology companies.

Kathi Vidal

Partner, Winston & Strawn

Kathi Vidal is one of the leading IP litigators and Federal Circuit strategists in the country. She represents both plaintiffs and defendants in U.S. district courts, the International Trade Commission, and at the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

E. Leon Carter

Principal, Carter Arnett

E. Leon Carter is a principal of Carter Arnett. In 2019, Leon was recognized as the Dallas Bar Association’s Trial Lawyer of the Year.

Lisa Blue

Attorney, Baron and Blue

Lisa Blue has been named one of the top 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America, one of the top 50 Women Litigators in the U.S. by National Law Journal, and received numerous other state and national recognitions for her legal expertise.

Morgan Chu

Partner, Irell & Manella

Chambers USA has described Morgan Chu as “beyond doubt the most gifted trial lawyer in the USA” who “delivers staggering results for clients.”

Richard A. Cederoth

Partner, Sidley Austin

Richard A. Cederoth is a partner in Chicago and focuses his practice on patent litigation, primarily involving software, computers and semiconductors.

Rose Alyssa Keagy

Principal, Rose Patent Law Firm PLLC

Rose has over 30 years of intellectual property law experience. More specifically, she has experience in patent preparation, patent prosecution, patent licensing, patent litigation, commercial litigation, general legal transactions and support, and patent-related counseling.

Ruffin Cordell

Principal, Fish & Richardson

For more than three decades, Ruffin Cordell has served the world’s most prominent brands as lead counsel in high-stakes, high-risk patent and trade secret litigation worldwide.

Ryan Raybould

Chief Counsel to Senator John Cornyn

In 2017, Ryan moved to the US Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor in Nashville, TN. Ryan returned to Washington DC to serve as Chief Counsel for Senator John Cornyn in 2020.

Samuel F. Baxter

Principal, McKool Smith

Sam Baxter is a principal in McKool Smith's Marshall and Dallas offices. He is a former Texas state district judge and district attorney for Harrison County, Texas.

Thomas M. Melsheimer

Partner, Winston & Strawn

Tom Melsheimer tries lawsuits in state and federal courts, emphasizing intellectual property, business torts, and False Claims Act (FCA) litigation. His trial experience is unusually broad and extensive.

Thomas S. Leatherbury

Partner, Vinson & Elkins LLP

Tom Leatherbury, practice group leader of the firm-wide Appellate practice, is an appellate lawyer with forty years of experience in state and federal appeals and trials.

Timothy S. Durst

Partner, O’Melveny

Chambers-ranked trial lawyer, Timothy S. Durst, as a partner in O’ Melveny’s new Dallas office.

Travis E. DeArman

Principal, McKool Smith

Travis E. DeArman is a trial lawyer and Principal in McKool Smith's Dallas office. His practice focuses on complex commercial litigation and arbitration and intellectual property litigation, with a particular emphasis on patent litigation.

Natalie Bennett

Partner, Morgan & Lewis

Natalie Bennett is a trial and appellate lawyer focusing on high-stakes patent infringement, breach of contract, and trade secret disputes. She has tried IP disputes in district courts before a jury, at the International Trade Commission, and before Arbitration panels.

Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld

Deputy Criminal Chief, USDC EDTX

Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld is the Deputy Criminal Chief for Complex Fraud & Public Corruption and an Assistant United States Attorney for the United States Attorney’s Office – Eastern District of Texas.

D. Ryan Locker

Assistant United States Attorney Eastern District of Texas

Ryan Locker is a federal prosecutor and the Deputy Criminal Chief for National Security and Cybercrime for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Texas. Mr. Locker first became an Assistant United States Attorney with the Eastern District of Texas in 2012.

Rafael De La Garza

Founder, De La Garza Law Firm, P.C.

Attorney, Rafael De La Garza is a Board-Certified Criminal Law Specialist by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He has handled over 500 federal cases, including more than 25 federal jury trials and over 250 state jury trials.

John D. McElroy

Federal Public Defender, EDTX

John D. McElroy is the Federal Public Defender for the Eastern District of Texas. Mr. McElroy was appointed to his current position by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in January 2021.

Jeffrey Bragalone

Founder, Bragalone Olejko Saad PC

Jeff Bragalone is a founder of Bragalone Olejko Saad in Dallas, Texas. Bragalone Olejko Saad PC has a nationwide complex commercial litigation practice, with an emphasis on patent and intellectual property litigation matters, technology related cases, and cases brought under the False Claims Act.

Jeannie Heffernan

Partner, Kirkland & Ellis

Jeannie Heffernan is an experienced trial lawyer who has tried and won more than a dozen cases in federal district courts across the country and at the International Trade Commission, with victories affirmed at the Federal Circuit.

Wesley Hill

Partner, Ward, Smith & Hill PLLC

Board certified in civil trial law, Wesley Hill balances a successful practice in intellectual property and business litigation. With more than 30 trials to his credit, including over 20 patent cases, Mr. Hill brings broad courtroom experience to every case he handles.

Rocky Schwartz

Attorney, Whitaker Chalk

Rocky Schwartz has more than 40 years of legal experience on both sides of the docket pertaining to patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret disputes. A Fort Worth native, he is an IP attorney who focuses mainly on federal work.

Mark Mann

Partner, MT2 Law Group

Board Certified, Personal Injury Trial Law, Texas Board of Legal Specialization; Certified Civil Trial Specialist, National Board of Trial Advocacy

Jerry Mitchell

Investigative Reporter

Jerry Mitchell is an investigative reporter whose courageous efforts have ensured that unpunished murders from the Civil Rights era are finally prosecuted.

Richard Murray

SSA, FBI Dallas Cyber Task Force

Supervisory Special Agent (SSA) Richard Murray manages the FBI Dallas Cyber Task Force (CTF), a multi-disciplinary team of Special Agents, Analysts, Computer Scientists, Task Force Officers, and Forensic Accountant.

David Folsom

Partner, Jackson Walker’s Litigation practice group

David Folsom is a partner in Jackson Walker’s Litigation practice group, and he leads the firm’s Texarkana office. As former Chief Judge of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, David brings his experience and insight to cases both in and out of the Eastern District.

Alan Ratliff

StoneTurn

Born in the Land of Oz (Kansas), and raised on the banks of the Mighty Mississippi like Huckleberry Finn, and in the shadows of the Gateway Arch (St. Louis, Missouri), Alan headed west to Texas more than 30 years ago.