It’s Your HYLA…

By DAVID A. CHAUMETTE

With the coming of June, the Houston Young Lawyers Association begins a new bar year. This year’s theme is, “It’s Your HYLA,” reflecting the opportunities for service and growth available through our vibrant organization. There is a wide range of committees to choose from, and my hope is that the young lawyers among you will find one that interests you and spend some time with us this year.
Traditionally, the first HYLA column in The Houston Lawyer identifies the officers of the organization. I am honored to be serving with each of these individuals.

President
DAVID A. CHAUMETTE, HYLA’s president, practices commercial litigation with Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. He also sits on the Board of Directors of Leadership Houston; Neighborhood Centers, Inc.; and the Board of Governors for the Plaza Club. He is active on the advisory boards of the Alley Theatre and the Chinquapin School. Chaumette has aerospace engineering degrees from Princeton University and Stanford University, and a law degree from the University of Chicago. Upon graduation, he clerked for Judge Lynn Hughes on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. His wife, Jacqueline Baly, is the principal of BalyProjects, Inc., a firm specializing in political consulting and fundraising. They have two sons, Raphael and Alexandre.

President-Elect
LAURA J. BECKMAN, HYLA’s president-elect, has served on the HYLA board for seven years and has been an officer for five. In addition to her HYLA activities, she chairs the Board of Directors of the Texas Young Lawyers Association and has served on the TYLA Board of Directors since 1998. She holds a cabinet-level position in the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and served as the ABA/YLD District Representative for South/Central Texas. Beckman has also volunteered to help the Aspiring Youth raise money at its annual gala for children’s charities. She practices commercial litigation at Harrison, Bettis, Staff, McFarland & Weems. Beckman graduated from Baylor University in 1990 and earned her law degree from Oklahoma City University School of Law in 1994.

Vice President
JILL McCARTHY ARNTZ, HYLA vice president, currently serves as the chair of the Long Range Planning Commit-tee. She previously served as secretary, as director and as editor-in-chief of Pocket Parts, HYLA’s bimonthly newsletter. Arntz has also chaired HYLA’s Animal Welfare Com-mittee for two years. Since 1995, she has been active in numerous other HYLA activities, including the Special Olympics, Adopt an Angel, Teen Court, and Fun Run committees. Arntz is a HYLF Fellow and has served as secretary of the State Bar of Texas Court Rules Committee. She is also active in the Houston Bar Association. Arntz practices commercial and employment litigation with Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP.
Arntz earned her B.A. in English from Michigan State University in 1991 and her J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 1995. Prior to graduation, she clerked for Judge Charles Baird with the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. While in law school, she competed on the National Environmental Law Moot Court Team. Arntz is married to Kevin Arntz, an officer with the Houston Police Department. She is a member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church.

Secretary
DOMINIQUE MARSHALL VARNER, HYLA secretary, practices bankruptcy and consumer credit law at Hughes, Watters
& Askanase, L.L.P. She has been involved with the HYLA since 1995, when she joined the Arts & Entertainment Committee. She chaired that committee from 1998 to 2000. She has been on the HYLA Board of Directors since 1999, serving as treasurer from 2001-2003. She has also been active in the TYLA’s Reading Power Club Committee, sponsoring reading contests for children at B.C. Elmore Middle School and Lee Elementary School from 1996 to 2000. She was the president of the Italian-American Lawyers Association of Texas from 1997 to 2000. Varner also serves as treasurer for the HYLF, and has been a trustee of the Foundation since 2000. Varner graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1990 and earned her J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 1994. She and her husband, Roy Varner, have one son, Grant.

Treasurer
CYNTHIA M. RUIZ, HYLA treasurer, practices civil litigation and family law with Simpson & Ruiz, P.C. She has served on the HYLA Board of Directors for three years. She currently serves as chair of the Membership Benefits Committee and actively coordinates special functions and promotions for HYLA. Ruiz co-chaired the Arts & Entertainment Committee in 2000-2002 and the Teen Court in 2002-2003. Ruiz is a HYLF Fellow and serves as a HYLF trustee. Ruiz also serves as a board member and the current membership chair for the Mexican American Bar Association Houston. Ruiz earned her B.A. in Speech Communications in 1992 and her J.D. in 1996 from Baylor University. She is married to Chad Mansfield, a chemical engineer with the Lubrizol Corporation.

Immediate Past President
JOHN ANAIPAKOS, HYLA immediate past president, is a partner in the trial department of Baker Botts L.L.P. He has previously served as HYLA president, vice president and secretary and as an HYLA director. Anaipakos is a Life Fellow of the HYLF and previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Houston Lawyer Referral Service and the HYLF. Anaipakos currently serves on the Pro Bono and Employment Committees at Baker Botts. A native of El Paso, Texas, Anaipakos earned his J.D. cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1993, where he served as an editor of Harvard Law Review. Upon graduation, he clerked for Judge Edith Jones on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. His wife, Seva, is a family physician with the Polly Ryon Medical Group in Sugar Land. They have one son, Basil.

HYLF Chair
JULIE BAUMGARTEN, the chair of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation, is a 1999 graduate of the University of Houston with a J.D. and M.B.A. She is in-house counsel with The Williams Companies, Inc. This is her fourth year on the HYLF Board of Trustees. Baumgarten is a Fellow of HYLF and the Texas Bar Foundation, and is serving her third year on HYLA’s Board of Directors. Baumgarten also is a Harris County Precinct Chair, on the Women’s Energy Network of Houston Board of Directors, and an active volunteer for the University of Houston, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, and HBA’s annual all-lawyer musical, “Night Court.”

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