Biography

Dr. Carlos A. Gabuardi, Lic. Jur., LL.M., Ph.D., is a practicing lawyer and founder of Gabuardi Abogados. He holds a License in Jurisprudence from the Universidad de Monterrey; a Master of Laws, with distinction and a Doctorate of Laws (Ph.D.) both from Tulane University. He has published several articles in Law Reviews and Journals in Mexico and abroad. He is currently a Professor of Law and a Distinguished Legal Researcher at Facultad Libre de Derecho de Monterrey and teaches a Course on Legal Spanish: An Inductive Comparative Law Approach to the Mexican Legal System in St. Mary’s UNiversity School of Law

He was a lawyer in the Legal Department of the World Bank (Washington, D.C.) where he was in charge of the Bank’s portfolio for various countries in Latin America and the Caribbea,. Corporate Legal Manager and Assistant Secretary of Grupo Gamesa (currently Pepsico). In December 2004, he was part of the team that organized the first training for Judges in the Americas on the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction.

He was Professor of Law and researcher at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, Head of the Law Department and Professor of Law at Universidad de Monterrey; Visiting Professor of Law, St. Mary´s University School of Law, San Antonio, Texas; co-planner and administrator of the program: “Joint Venture. A Transnational Study and Training Program for U.S. and Mexican Business Lawyers” (St. Mary’s University School of Law and Universidad de Monterrey); Adjunct Professor of Law, The Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, D.C., and Universidad Regiomontana,

Dr. Gabuardi is a member of the Mexican Bar Association, the Monterrey Bar Association the Mexican Academy of Private International and The Nuevo Leon Academy of Commercial Law.

• The Correlation between Personal Jurisdiction and Foreign Judgments (A Comparative Law Study about Canada, the United States and Mexico), VDM Verlag, 2008.
•  El derecho y los signos de los tiempos. Ibañez y Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Bogotá, Colombia. 1 enero 2014.
•  Las Fuentes del Derecho Internacional Privado (Complejidades por su fragmentación). Editorial académica española. 2017
• La Familia y su Trascendencia: (reflexiones sobre la vida familiar y los bienes materiales) (Spanish Edition) Kindle Edition. 2017.
• Las Fuentes del Derecho Internacional Privado: (Complejidades por su Fragmentación). Kindle Edition. 2017.
• La Dimensión Internacional del Derecho Privado: (Ejes temáticos y tendencias actuales) (Spanish Edition) Kindle Edition. 2017.
  
  II. Chapter in Books:
• ¿Qué va a pasar cuando Bush y Salinas ya no sean presidentes? (Consideraciones jurídicas al proceso de integración económica con la América del Norte). Ponencia preparada para el Foro Nacional de Consulta convocado por el pleno del Senado de la República sobre “Las Relaciones de México con el Mundo” celebrada en la Cd. de Monterrey, N.L. los días 14 y 15 de mayo de 1990. Publicada en las Memorias del Foro Nacional de Consulta “Las Relaciones Comerciales de México con el Mundo.” Senado de la República. LIV Legislatura. Tomo II. 1990.
• Open Price terms in the CISG, the UCC and Mexican Commercial Law, in Review of the Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), (Michael Maggi, Editor), Kluwer Law International, 2004
• Chapter 9. Biligual Promissory Notes, in Jorge A. Vargas, Mexican Law for the American Lawyer. 2009.

Biography

The Hon. Craig Gargotta (J.D. ’19) was appointed to the bench on October 1, 2007. He was then appointed Chief Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Texas on November 2, 2021. Judge Gargotta has a B.A. and M.A. from Texas A&M University and his J.D. from St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. After law school he clerked for the Honorable Ronald B. King, United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Western District of Texas. He then served as an Asst. U.S. Attorney for 17 years prior to taking the bench. Judge Gargotta is a member of the NCBJ, Federal Bar Association, and Larry E. Kelly Inn of Court. He serves as an Associate Editor for the American Bankruptcy Law Journal and is an adjunct professor at St. Mary’s Law School. Judge Gargotta has spoken at numerous bar conferences on a local and national level. Judge Gargotta currently serves as a Master in the Larry E. Kelly Inn of Court and Director of the Texas Aggie Bar Association.

Biography

Dayna Jones J.D., is a native of Eugene, Oregon and attended the University of Oregon for undergrad where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in International Studies with a focus on Law, Diplomacy, and Relations. She moved to Texas in 2004 to attend law school at St. Mary’s. Since graduating from law school in 2007, Dayna has focused solely on practicing criminal defense. After working as a defense attorney at Goldstein, Goldstein, and Hilley (now Goldstein & Orr) and with attorney Neil Calfas, Dayna opened her own office in 2010. She handles all stages of a case, but focuses mostly on post-conviction appeals and writs of habeas corpus. As lead counsel, she has overturnd over 12 wrongful convictions and she currently has six clients listed in the National Registry of Exonerations. Dayna has assisted as co-counsel on several other wrongful convictions as well. She sits on the Board of the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyer’s Association and she is on the Bexar County Managed Assigned Counsel’s Oversight Committee.

Biography

After attaining my degrees from St. Mary’s University, I embarked on a career in public service that has spanned over 30 years. I currently serve as the Executive Director for Administration and Financial Services for the Edwards Aquifer Authority, a political subdivision for the State of Texas, where I manage all administrative functions that include finance, budgeting, human resources, building services, and information technology. Prior to the EAA, I served as Director of Human Resources for Angelo State University and Benefits Manager/Director of Civil Service for the City of Plano, TX. In these positions, I led the development and implementation of various programs that contributed to the success of these organizations and augmented workplace culture through fostering entrepreneurial programs vis-à-vis operational initiatives, technological advancements, financial stewardship; and fostering organizational critical thinking through employee training & development, compensation, and employee benefits enhancements. My public service career has brought rewards and challenges that I never anticipated, but I know that the foundation and core values I gained at St. Mary’s have been instrumental both my career and personal life. As Adjunct Professor, I hope to pass on some of these experiences to the next generation of professionals.

Biography

Since 2011, the Hon. Marina Garcia Marmolejo has served as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of Texas, Laredo Division. As a federal judge, Garcia Marmolejo has heard over 12,000 criminal and civil cases, presided over nearly 100 trials, and maintained a reversal rate of less than 1%. Garcia Marmolejo has sat by designation on the Fifth Circuit and authored an opinion on a matter of first impression.

Despite presiding over once of the busiest dockets in the country, Garcia Marmolejo devotes significant time to promoting the legal profession at home and abroad. From 2014 to 2019, she co-directed the Hispanic National Bar Association’s moot court competition. She regularly teaches seminars and workshops on U.S. law in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay and Spain. In 2022, she founded St. Mary’s clerkship mentorship program. In 2023, she will teach an advanced legal writing seminar at St. Mary’s.

Judge Garcia Marmolejo is also active in improving the judiciary process. She currently holds leadership positions with the Federal Judges Association, District Judges Association of the Fifth Circuit, Editorial Committee for the Fifth Circuit’s Criminal Pattern Jury Instructions and Advisory Committee for Texas’s State Criminal Pattern Jury Charges. Chief Justice John Roberts has twice appointed Garcia Marmolejo to serve on the Judicial Conference of the United States’ IT Committee.

Before she became a federal judge, Garcia Marmolejo served as a federal public defender, federal prosecutor and an attorney in private practice. As a federal defender and prosecutor, Judge Garcia Marmolejo tried over 30 cases to verdict. Her cases included domestic corruption, transnational drug trafficking, and complex human trafficking cases.

• Outstanding Service in the Judiciary, Mexican American Bar Association, 2016
• Latina Judge of the Year, Hispanic National Bar Association, 2014
• Americanism Award, Daughters of the American Revolution, 2012
• Distinguished Alumni Award, University of the Incarnate Word, 2011
• Best San Antonio Lawyers, Scene In S.A., 2011
• Texas Rising Stars, Super Lawyers, 2011
• Top 100 Influential Leaders, Hispanic Business Magazine, 2010
• Outstanding Service, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2007
• Outstanding Service, Drug Enforcement Administration, 2006
• Recognition for Excellence in Prosecution and Outstanding Prosecutorial Skills, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2003, 2006
• Recognition of Professional Contribution, Department of Homeland Security – Office of the Inspector General, 2005
• Director’s Award for Superior AUSA Performance, Executive Office for the U.S. Attorney, 2002
• Michael T. Shelby Sisyphus Award, U.S. Attorney’s Office, 2002, 2004, 2005
• Tejano Achievers Award, Laredo LULAC Council, 2000

Biography

As a law student at St. Mary’s University, Tyler J. Ryska was the Faculty Coordinator for the Dean’s Research Fellows, a member of the Board of Advocates and the External Advocacy Program Negotiations Team.

After becoming licensed to practice law in 2017, he served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Environmental Protection Division. There, his two areas of expertise are Superfund and Utilities law. In 2022, he formed the Clean Initiative Project. The Clean Initiative Project is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides financial assistance to Texas landowners who need support remediating their land. In 2024, he joined Rigby Slack Lawrence Pepper + Comerford PLLC as an associate focused on environmental and commercial litigation. 

He is licensed to practice law in Texas. He is married and has two children. He lives in Bee Cave and attends Lake Hills Church.

• Case Law Update, Texas Environmental Superconference 2021, Co-Presenter
• The Attorney General’s Role in State Water Matters, Water Law 101 – Changing Face of Water Law 2022, Presenter

Biography

Following graduation from the St. Mary’s University School of Law, Joseph Gay served as a law clerk to the Honorable J. Bonner Dorsey, Justice of the Texas Thirteenth Court of Appeals. He then joined the Appellate Section for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas as an Assistant U.S. Attorney and served from June 1991 until August 1998.

Currently, Gay is a supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney, Chief of the Criminal Appellate Section, for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas.  During his tenure, he has authored hundreds of appellate briefs and has argued more than 100 times before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

In 2000, Gay joined St. Mary’s Law as an adjunct professor of Legal Research and Writing where he taught for 18 years.  He is currently an adjunct professor teaching Torts in the Master of Jurisprudence Program.  He has also taught, at the undergraduate level, courses in Criminal Law, Criminal Procedure, and Organized Crime.  Gay is a frequent instructor and presenter at the Office of Legal Education, Executive Office for United States Attorney, National Advocacy Center, Columbia, South Carolina and Continuing Education seminars for the San Antonio Bar Association and the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit.