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HYLA UPDATE Meet Your 2004-2005 HYLA Officers
HYLA President Laura Beckman currently serves as executive council liaison to several HYLA committees and as an ex officio member of the Houston Bar Association Board of Directors. She has served on the HYLA board for eight years and has been an officer for the last six years. In addition to her HYLA activities, Beckman is the immediate past chair of the board of the Texas Young Lawyers Association and served on the TYLA Board of Directors from 1998-2004. She currently holds a cabinet-level position in the ABA Young Lawyers Division as Meetings Coordinator and served for two years as the ABA/YLD District Representative for South/Central Texas. For a number of years, Beckman has 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.
President-elect JILL McCARTHY ARNTZ Jill Arntz currently serves as president-elect of the HYLA and chair of the Long Range Planning Committee. She previously served on the board as vice president, secretary and as a director of the HYLA, as well as editor-in-chief of Pocket Parts, the bi-monthly newsletter. Arntz also chaired HYLA’s Animal Welfare Committee 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. Jill is a fellow of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation and served as secretary of the State Bar of Texas Court Rules Committee. She also is active in the Houston Bar Association. Arntz practices commercial and employment litigation with Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP. She 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, Arntz competed on the National Environmental Law Moot Court Team. A member of St. Martin’s Episcopal Church, she is married to Kevin Arntz, an officer with the Houston Police Department.
Vice President DOMINIQUE MARSHALL VARNER Dominque Varner practices bankruptcy and creditors’ rights law at Hughes, Watters & Askanase, L.L.P. She has been on the HYLA Board of Directors for five years, having served as treasurer for two years and secretary for one year. She was formerly the chair of the Arts & Entertainment Committee from 1998-2000, also serving as co-chair in 1996-97 and as a committee member since 1995. Varner has 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. She is a past president of the Italian Lawyers of Texas Association. Varner also holds the position of treasurer for the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation and has completed her fourth year on the board of trustees for the Foundation. 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 is married to Roy Varner, Jr. and has a son, Grant, age 4.
Secretary CYNTHIA M. RUIZ Cynthia Ruiz practices civil litigation and family law with Simpson & Ruiz, P.C. She has served on the HYLA Board of Directors for four years and served as the treasurer for HYLA last year. Ruiz chaired the Membership Benefits Committee in 2002-2003. She co-chaired the Arts & Entertainment Committee in 2000-2002 and co-chaired Teen Court in 2002-2003. Ruiz is a fellow of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation and served as a trustee on the HYLF board for 2002-2003. 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.
Treasurer JULIE P. BAUMGARTEN Julie Baumgarten recently joined the Houston office of Cooper & Scully, P.C. This is her fourth year on the HYLA board. She has chaired several HYLA committees, including Texans for Safe and Affordable Water & Wastewater Services in 2003-2004, the Membership Committee in 2001-2003 (co-chair), and the Law Day Committee, which she chaired in 2000-2001 and co-chaired in 2001-2002. Baumgarten is a 1999 graduate of the University of Houston with a J.D. and an M.B.A., and a former chair of the Houston Young Lawyers Foundation. She is a fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and has served on the board of directors for the Texas Young Lawyers Association. Baumgarten is a Harris County Precinct Chair and an active volunteer for the University of Houston, the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo and the HBA’s annual all-lawyer musical, “Night Court.”
Immediate Past President DAVID A. CHAUMETTE David Chaumette practices commercial litigation with Shook, Hardy & Bacon, L.L.P. He is serving his seventh year on the HYLA Board of Directors. Chaumette has chaired several HYLA committees, including the Membership Committee, Minority Involvement Committee and the Technology Committee. He is presently the chair of the Board of Governors for the Downtown Club at the Plaza, and the chair-elect of the Board of Directors of Leadership Houston. Recently, Chaumette was recognized as one of the 2004 Five Outstanding Young Houstonians by the Houston Junior Chamber of Commerce. He has aerospace engineering degrees from Princeton University and Stanford University, and a law degree from the University of Chicago. Upon graduation, Chaumette clerked for Judge Lynn Hughes on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. His wife, Jacqueline, is a principal of BalyProjects, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in policy, planning and governmental affairs. They have two sons, Raphael and Alexandre.
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