Biography

Afton Cavanaugh (J.D. ’13) joined the University of Baltimore School of Law faculty in 2024, following over seven years as a Service Professor of Law and Assistant Dean at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. At St. Mary’s, Cavanaugh taught a wide range of courses, including Legal Communications, Analysis, and Professionalism; Experiential Legal Analysis; Estate Planning; and Bar Prep for Credit. He also developed and implemented innovative curricula for online and in-person J.D. programs.

Prior to his academic career, Cavanaugh practiced law as co-founder and managing member of Cavanaugh Quintanilla, PLLC in Austin, Texas, where he specialized in real estate, business law and wills and estates. He also worked as an associate attorney at The Law Office of John W. Pleuthner, gaining experience in various aspects of legal practice.

He is a member of the Texas Bar and is actively involved in several professional organizations, including the Association of Academic Support Educators (AASE). He is also a member of the Association of Legal Writing Directors and the Legal Writing Institute, where he serves as webmaster and oversees the LWI website. Cavanaugh has presented at numerous conferences on topics such as legal education innovation, diversity in law schools, and the use of technology in legal writing instruction. His research focuses on inheritance rights, tax law and legal education reform. His work has been published in journals such as the UMKC Law Review, Hofstra Law Review and The Scholar.

Periodicals

• Testing Privilege: Coaching Bar Takers Towards “Minimum Competency” During the 2020 Pandemic, 23 THE SCHOLAR 357 (2021).
• Rich Dad vs. Poor Dad: Why Leaving Financial Education to Parents Breeds Financial Inequality & Economic Instability, 34 CHILD. LEGAL RTS. J. 59 (2013).

Biography

Matthew B. Howard (J.D. ’13) joined the St. Mary’s University School as Law as a Practicing Adjunct Professor, discussing wrongful convictions and habeas corpus, in Spring of 2024. Howard also serves as the Director of the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office Conviction Integrity Unit. He has been with the Bexar County Criminal District Attorney’s Office since June of 2013. He has tried several dozen misdemeanors, felonies, and is board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law. Matthew has served in the Conviction Integrity Unit since 2015,and was appointed to the role of Director in 2015.

Howard has had an active role in the post-conviction litigation of over a dozen cases recognized by the National Registry of Exonerations. The root cause of these exonerations have including a wide range of legal issues including ineffective assistance of counsel, prosecutorial misconduct, newly discovered forensic evidence, and recantations from witnesses.

He has spoken at multiple continuing legal education events on writs of habeas corpus, root cause analysis, and post-conviction forensics. He has also trained new and veteran prosecutors on their ethical and legal obligations under Brady v. Maryland, Texas Code of Criminal Procedure Article 39.14, and the Special Responsibilities of a Prosecutor under Tex. Disciplinary R. Prof’l Conduct 3.09.

Howard serves as a member of the Board of Directors with Close to Home, Housing and Urban Development’s Continuum of Care lead agency for San Antonio and Bexar County. Matthew also serves as the Program Director for the Community Courts program, a specialty diversion program for justice involved individuals experiencing homelessness in Bexar County and San Antonio.

Biography

Colin Marks, J.D., graduated magna cum laude and Order of the Coif from the University of Houston Law Center in 2001, where he served as an associate editor on the Houston Law Review. After law school, he clerked for the Hon. Harold R. DeMoss Jr. on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit for two years. In the fall of 2003, Marks joined the law firm of Baker Botts, L.L.P., in Houston, Texas, where he was an associate in the trial department. At Baker Botts, Marks’ practice concentrated on commercial litigation, as well as some pro bono criminal work. Marks left Baker Botts in the summer of 2006 to join the St. Mary’s University School of Law.
At St. Mary’s, Marks was the Ernest W. Clemens Professor of Corporate & Securities Law. During his time at St. Mary’s, he served in a variety of roles including Vice Provost for Graduate Education at the University, Associate Dean of Strategic Partnerships and Innovation, Associate Dean for Graduate and Summer Programs, and the COVID-19 Law School Response Coordinator. At St. Mary’s he received a number of awards including the University Excellence Award (awarded to one faculty member per year at the University for outstanding service to the University) and the University’s Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching.
Marks joined the faculty at UMKC in the fall of 2025 but continues as an Affiliate Professor at St. Mary’s. He is an elected member of the American Law Institute. He has served as the Chair of the American Association of Law Schools (AALS) Section on Contracts, on the executive committee for the AALS Section on Agency, Partnerships, LLCs and Unincorporated Associations, Co-Chair of the American Bar Association’s UCC Annual Survey, President of the Southeast Association of Law Schools (SEALS), and as the Co-chair the SEALS Scholarly Research Committee. His scholarship focuses on contract law, corporate social responsibility, business organizations and securities regulations. He is the co-author of numerous books including The Law of Business Torts and Unfair Competition: Cases, Materials and Problems, (2nd ed. West 2023) (co-author with Douglas K. Moll) and White & Summers Uniform Commercial Code, 8th edition (West Hornbook Series forthcoming) (co-author with Daniel D. Barnhizer and Wayne R. Barnes). He also has developed a coloring book for secured transaction titled Color Me Secured: Secured Transactions Activity and Coloring Book (Peter Lane Publishing 2017) (co-author with Marc L. Roark).

• Member of the American Law Institute
• President (2019-2020), Southeastern Association of Law Schools
• University Excellence Award, St. Mary’s University, 2017-2018
• Distinguished Faculty Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2014-2015
• Business Law Section, UCC Annual Survey Subcommittee Co-Chair, Fall 2013-Present
• AALS Section on Contracts, Executive Committee, 2018-Present
• AALS Section on Agency, Partnerships, LLCs and Unincorporated Associations, Executive Committee, 2013-Present
• Selected for the 2010 Call for Papers on Freedom of Contract Presented by the Federalists Society and the John Templeton Foundation

Biography

Zoe Niesel, J.D., previously served as the Albert Herrmann Professor of Law and Associate Dean for Academic Affairs at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. In Fall 2025, she joined the Joseph F. Rice School of Law at the University of South Carolina.

Niesel now serves as Affiliate Faculty at St. Mary’s Law. She is teaching AI Management in Law and Compliance.

Her legal scholarship focuses on civil procedure, federal court jurisdiction and conflict of laws. In her scholarship, she examines difficult issues of civil and administrative procedure and how procedural concepts are challenged by advanced technology. Her work has been published in the Indiana Law Journal, Cardozo Law Review, SMU Law Review, and George Mason Law Review, among others.

Niesel began her teaching career as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Law at Wake Forest University, where she taught classes in Civil Procedure, Complex Commercial Litigation and Transnational Litigation. In addition to her experience in academia, she previously clerked for the Hon. Thomas D. Schroder, U.S. District Judge for the Middle District of North Carolina, and spent time in private practice as an associate attorney in the area of complex commercial litigation.

Niesel received her Bachelor of Arts, magna cum laude, from Southern Methodist University, and her law degree, summa cum laude, from Wake Forest University School of Law.

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Articles

• Machine Intelligence and the New Civil Procedure, 73 SMU Law Review (2020).
• Putting Poverty Law into Context: Using the First Year Experience to Educate New Lawyers for Social Change, 76 NYU Annual Survey of American Law, 2020
• Terrible Touhy: Navigating Judicial Review of an Agency’s Response to Third-Party Subpoenas, 41 Cardozo Law Review, April 2020
• #PersonalJurisdiction: A New Age of Internet Contacts, 94 Indiana Law Journal 103, 116-38, 2019
• The Knottiest Problem: Unraveling Arising Under Jurisdiction in Copyright Cases, 23 George Mason Law Review, March 2016, with Bethany Corbin
• Daimler and the Jurisdictional Triskelion, 82 Tennessee Law Review
• Collateral Damage: Protecting Cultural Heritage in Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, Wake Forest Law Review Online, 2014
• King Tut and Tahrir Square: The Egyptian Revolution of 2011 and the Advantage of Viewing Cultural Heritage Destruction through a Right to Culture Lens, 20 Southwestern Journal of International Law 283, 2014
• Comment, Better Late Than Never? The Effect of the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act’s 2010 Regulations, 46 Wake Forest Law Review 837, 2011

Books

• Legal Research Guide: Patterns and Practice, Carolina Academic Press, 8th Edition, 2019, with Linda Schlueter

Biography

Lizbeth Parra Davila (J.D. ’19) is Practicing Faculty teaching Deposition Skills and a Staff Attorney with the Real Estate Clinic at the St. Mary’s University School of Law. Her clinic work and advocacy focus on preserving homeownership and building generational wealth in marginalized communities. She also co-teaches clinic seminar classes and assists with the supervision of clinic student attorneys.

She is a frequent speaker on heir’s property topics around the country. Davila uses her experience to advocate for legislative and local policy reform on issues important to low-income Texans, including homeowner and landlord-tenant issues. Her work has been covered nationally in the ABA Journal, and locally in the San Antonio Express-News.

Prior to joining St. Mary’s, Davila was a managing attorney and the director of the Tenant Eviction Relief Project (TERP) with Texas RioGrande Legal Aid (TRLA) in San Antonio, Texas, where she primarily defended tenants and homeowners facing displacement but also represented clients against fraud, deceptive practices, and partition cases. She has also handled state appeals and mandamus cases. While at TRLA, she created the Tenant Eviction Relief Project (TERP), a state-wide crisis response team focused on helping renters access rental assistance and preventing evictions.

After graduating from law school, Davila joined The University of Texas School of Law as a Housing Justice Fellow, where she worked to increase housing stability in San Antonio, with a focus on the preservation of mobile home ownership.

Davila is currently Co-Chair to the Community Development and Environmental Justices Taskforce and a Director and Secretary of the Texas Justice Court Section.

• Housing Justice Fellow, UT School of Law, 2019
• St. Mary’s Francisco Leo Award, St. Mary’s University, 2018
• Student of the Year, Our Lady of the Lake University, 2015

Biography

Austin Reyna (J.D. ’20) is a dedicated legal professional with deep roots in San Antonio, Texas. From a young age, he was drawn to the principles of justice and advocacy, fostering a lifelong passion for the law. After completing his undergraduate studies, Reyna returned to his hometown to pursue his legal education at the St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he honed his skills in legal analysis, research and oral advocacy.
Following law school, Reyna began his career in complex litigation, representing clients in high-stakes civil disputes. His work in private practice sharpened his ability to navigate intricate legal issues and deepened his understanding of both trial and appellate procedure.

Today, Reyna serves as a staff attorney at the Fourth Court of Appeals in San Antonio. In this role, he assists the court in resolving appeals across a wide range of civil and criminal matters, applying his litigation experience and strong analytical skills to support the judicial decision-making process.

Reyna regularly volunteers his time to Cindy’s Angels, the nonprofit he and his wife started that provides estate planning services to individuals facing terminal illnesses. 

• 2023 Rising Star Lawyer, Scene in SA Magazine
• Member, Mu Alpha Mu
• 2016 Oak Farms Dairy Athletic Academic Achievement Award
• Member of Sigma Alpha Lambda Business Leadership and Honor
  Society
• Member of Delta Alpha Pi National Honor Society

• San Antonio Lawyer, Family Law Update, July-August 2024
• San Antonio Lawyer, New Courts on the Horizon, January-February 2024

Biography

Robert Almonte II is an award-winning trial attorney with over 15 years of experience as both a federal and state prosecutor, now a highly respected defense lawyer. Nationally recognized by the Department of Justice Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys for superior performance, he is known for his knowledge in criminal law, offering a strategic edge in high-stakes cases.

A graduate of St. Mary’s University and its School of Law, Almonte began his career as an Assistant District Attorney, earning a reputation for aggressive and effective advocacy. He later became an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Western District of Texas, handling major federal cases, including fraud, human trafficking, public corruption, and violent crimes. Assigned to the Complex Fraud and Public Corruption Unit, he developed extensive experience in white-collar crime, healthcare fraud, tax violations, and wire fraud.

Transitioning to defense, Almonte leverages his prosecutorial background to craft aggressive, strategic defenses for clients facing serious criminal charges, particularly in financial crimes. His deep understanding of government tactics allows him to challenge cases with precision and insight.

Beyond the courtroom, Almonte is a sought-after instructor, training law enforcement nationwide on search warrant drafting, combining his experience from both prosecution and defense perspectives.

A tenacious advocate with extensive courtroom experience, he is dedicated to securing justice for his clients, whether in prosecution or now in defending complex criminal matters.

Biography

Suzanne Oliva, LL.M., J.D., CPA, Assistant Professor of Business Law, has taught undergraduate, graduate and law classes at St. Mary’s University since 2003. In addition, she was the Director of the Greehey Scholars Program from 2016 to 2022 and an advanced tax trainer and preparer for the St. Mary’s Law School Center for Legal and Social Justice Voluntary Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program from 2005 to 2019.

Prior to earning her J.D., Oliva was an auditor with what is now the Big Four public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP. After graduation from law school, she joined the law firm of Oliva, Saks, Garcia & Curiel LLP, and primarily concentrated her legal practice in the areas of wills, probate, estate planning, family law, personal injury law and corporate law.

She is past president of the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association and Foundation. She is a member of the State Bar of Texas and is also admitted to practice law in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas and the United States Supreme Court. Oliva is an active member of Holy Trinity Catholic Church and enjoys live theater, sporting events and world travel with her husband, Javier and four sons.

Articles in a Periodical

• Oliva, S. (2015). In The Institute of Law and Policy (Ed.), To Buckle Up or Not Buckle Up, That is the Question (2nd ed., vol. 7, pp. 147-165). The Institute of Law and Policy: Journal of International Judicial Affairs.
• Royalty, K., Oliva, S., Fix, B. (2012). Reverse Payments in the Pharmaceutical Industry: Finding the Right Prescription. Southern Law Journal, 22(1), 61-78.
• Oliva, S. (in press). Attorney Advertising – A Comparison of the Attorney Advertising Laws in Florida, Texas and California. No. St. Petersburg, Fl: Society of Marketing Advances National Conference.
• Oliva, S. (2010). Elder Law Handbook – Texas Department of Public Safety Laws. Elder Law Handbook (pp. 50). San Antonio, Texas: San Antonio Bar Foundation.
• Oliva, S. (2008). Elder Law Handbook – Residential Services and Placement Laws in Texas, Texas Department of Public Safety. Elder Law Handbook (pp. 48). San Antonio, Texas: San Antonio Bar Foundation.

Biography

Joan Labay-Marquez (J.D. ’90, M.Jur. ’22, B.A. ’87) is the Assistant Director for Graduate Studies at the Dreeben School of Education at the University of the Incarnate Word (UIW). She has taught undergraduate, graduate and doctoral classes at UIW since 2016. Prior to her entry into Higher Education Administration, she maintained a general practice that included matters in employment law, family law, school law, wills, probate and estate planning, mortgage lending, oil and gas, corporate law and consumer bankruptcy.

Labay-Marquez is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association and is admitted to practice law in the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas. She served as a Municipal Court Prosecutor for the cities of San Antonio and Kirby.

She is Vice President for the Women in Cybersecurity (WiCyS) San Antonio Affiliate and Former Director of the UIW Young Women’s Global Leadership Program and Board Member for Young Professionals of the Editorial Board for the NASPA Journal of Women and Gender in Higher Education (JWG). She is a member of the Society of Corporate Compliance and Ethics (SCCE) and the International Association of Privacy Professionals.

She is a member of Holy Spirit Catholic Church and enjoys music, reading and traveling with her family.

Biography

Since February 2022, Bruce Anderson, J.D., has first chaired 11 medical malpractice trials in Bexar, Nueces, Travis and Val Verde County, Texas. Having been “grounded” during the COVID-19 pandemic, he has enjoyed returning to the courtroom and looks forward to trying many more cases with is partner, Brett Pattillo.

Anderson is a Diplomate with the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), having tried over 100 cases to verdict in virtually every part of Texas. His practice focuses predominantly in the area of medical malpractice litigation; however, he has also tried many cases involving personal injury and handles commercial litigation. Since 2003, he has served as an adjunct professor at the St. Mary’s University School of Law, teaching the Medical Malpractice Litigation course. Over the last 30 years, Anderson has practiced primarily in Central and South Texas and has tried a number of dangerous medical malpractice cases in Laredo, winning almost all of them.He also had the unique experience of receiving two unanimous defense verdicts in the same week.

After completing his undergraduate degree in Political Science at the University of Missouri at Columbia, and a brief stint in the United States Navy, Bruce earned his J.D. from the University of Missouri, Columbia School of Law. He served on the school’s Law Review and was awarded the American Jurisprudence Prize in Constitutional Law, the Judge Roy W. Harper Prize for Best Work in Federal Courts, and the Russell Castile Scholarship.

Anderson was admitted to the Missouri Bar in 1975 and clerked for a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals from 1975-1976. Thereafter, he served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Criminal, Anti-Trust and Administrative Law Divisions of the Office of the Missouri Attorney General. When his wife, Cheryl, completed her Ph.D. and was offered a position at the University of Texas in Austin, Anderson moved his practice to support her career. She reciprocated in 1990 when he was offered a position in San Antonio to work alongside George Brin. Cheryl Anderson, Ph.D., then joined the University of the Incarnate Word, where she served as a Professor and as Dean of the School of Media and Design and Dean of the UIW Library.  

They met at the University of Missouri and have been married for 56 years. They both enjoy traveling and spending as much time as they can with their grandson. 

Presentations

• Thota v. Young: The Casteel Problem and Contributory Negligence Instructions (2012)
• “Update on ‘Paid or Incurred’ – Haygood v. Escobedo (2011) Texas Medical Liability Trust Biannual Seminar
• Update on Suing Governmental Employees (2011) Advocate MD seminar
• An exception to the Physician – Patient Relationship (2010)
• Winning the Causation Defense with Foreseeability (2009) Texas Medical Liability Trust Seminar
• “Paid or Incurred” Practice and Problems in Limiting Damages for Medical Expenses (2008) Texas Medical Liability Trust Biannual Seminar.
• Analysis of Damage Caps before and After Tort Reform (2006) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.
• Preservation of Harm – A New Approach To An Old Problem (2005) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.
• Recent Significant Cases (2004) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance; Certified by the State Bar of Texas for CLE Credits.
• Standards of Care — Issues, Proof (2003) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.
• Voir Dire in Healthcare Liability Cases (2002) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.
• The Physician/Patient Relationship (2000) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.
• Res Ipsa Loquitur (1998) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.
• The Implications of Managed Care in Medical Malpractice Litigation (1997) Medical Malpractice Tort Law Seminar-Sponsored by Brin & Brin for our Insurance Clients, Certified for Continuing Education Credits by the State Board of Insurance.