School: School of Law

Joaquin Gonzalez

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law

Biography

Joaquin Gonzalez is a San Antonio native and civil litigator. Prior to joining the St. Mary’s faculty, he was the Senior Supervising Attorney in the Voting Rights Program at the Texas Civil Rights Project.

He has played a leading role in some of the most significant Texas voting rights cases in recent years. This includes halting an attempt to improperly purge nearly 100,000 naturalized citizens from the voter rolls and forcing Texas to fully comply with the federal motor voter law, which has led to over 2,000,000 voter registrations. He helped design Bexar County’s S.M.A.R.T. Elections initiative in 2020, which successfully expanded access and ensured safe and effective elections during the COVID pandemic.

One of Gonzalez’s focus areas has been redistricting. He has served as the redistricting counsel for the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, and recently argued a major Voting Rights Act case in front of the En Banc Fifth Circuit.

Prior to becoming an attorney, Gonzalez worked in policy and campaign positions for a number of state and local elected officials.

Publications

Media Highlights

Joaquin Gonzalez

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law

Professional portrait of Joaquin Gonzalez, Assistant Professor of Practice of Law, wearing a dark suit, white shirt and blue tie.

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., Yale Law School, 2018
  • B.Sc., University of London, 2015

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Legal Research and Writing
  • Election Law

Shem Vinton

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law | Moody Foundation Visiting Assistant Professor

Biography

Originally from Pearsall, Texas, Shem Vinton, J.D., Assistant Professor of Practice of Law, was — like many of his current students — a non-traditional law student. Before attending the SMU Dedman School of Law, Vinton enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves and completed several active-duty tours, including one supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom/New Dawn. After graduating from law school, he served as an Assistant District Attorney in Nueces County, representing the State of Texas in misdemeanor and felony prosecutions as well as representing his office on the Veterans’ Court treatment staff.

In 2022, Vinton returned to his law school to work as a policy attorney for the Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center, where his research focused on early-stage criminal procedure and prosecutorial discretion. As part of his work with the Deason Center, Vinton had the opportunity to meet with elected prosecuting attorneys across the country and discuss their charging policies, and to work closely with the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office on several research projects.

Most recently, and before joining the faculty at St. Mary’s, Vinton served as an Assistant Public Defender in Bexar County, representing indigent defendants charged with misdemeanor offenses.

At St. Mary’s Law, he also serves as a Moody Foundation Visiting Assistant Professor.

When not preparing materials for his class, Vinton enjoys word puzzles, reading, running and spending time with his friends and family.

Shem Vinton

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law | Moody Foundation Visiting Assistant Professor

Portrait of Shem Vinton

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., SMU Dedman School of Law, 2018
  • B.A., University of Texas, 2008

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Legal Writing
  • Research
  • Criminal Law

Publications

“The Difference a D.A. Makes,” Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law, Forthcoming (with Prof. Pamela Metzger and Dr. Victoria Smiegocki)

“Charging Decisions, Pretrial Detention, and the Defense Attorney’s Duty to Enforce,” American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, November 17, 2022, Atlanta, GA

“Weeding Out Racial Disparity: Dallas DA Declination Policies,” Deason Criminal Justice Reform Center: Criminal Justice Reform Workshop, February 9, 2023, Dallas, TX (with Prof. Pamela Metzger and Dr. Victoria Smiegocki)

“Roundtable: Challenges and Innovations in Courts Research and Practice” presenting on “Innovations in Prosecutorial Screening and Charging,” American Society of Criminology Annual Meeting, November 15, 2023, Philadelphia, PA (with Prof. Pamela Metzger and Dr. Victoria Smiegocki)

Monesca R. Smith Johnson

Director of Law Student Affairs

Biography

Monesca R. Smith Johnson, J.D., Ed.D., brings to St. Mary’s Law a background comprised of strong leadership and diverse experiences that has played an integral role in her career.

Smith is well-versed in many facets of higher education which includes student conduct, disabilities services, Title IX, student activities, and internal compliance reviews.

She attended the University of Southern Mississippi and obtained her Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and Master’s degree in Counseling Personnel Services with an emphasis on College Student Personnel. She obtained her certificate of graduate study in Conflict Management from Lipscomb University, a Doctorate in Higher Education (Ed.D.) from AU-Atlanta. Smith recently earned her Juris Doctorate (J.D.) from WMU-Cooley Law School.

Prior to joining St. Mary’s University School of Law, Smith served as an Associate Dean of Residence and Student Life at Kentucky State University, Associate Dean of Student Affairs at South University-Savannah, Adjunct Faculty, and an Area Coordinator for Housing and Residential Education at Vanderbilt University.

Presentations

  • Conflict Management, Professional Development Presentation, Virtual, Savannah, GA, 2023, 2012
  • Ole Miss Way: Excellent Customer Service, Candidate Presentation, Oxford, MS, 2016
  • Eagles Engaged: Enhanced Pathway Experiences, Candidate Presentation, Hattiesburg, MS, 2016
  • The Power of Social Media, Student Leadership Training, Savannah, GA, 2013, 2015, 2016
  • Faculty & Student Engagement, Professional Development Presentation, 2012
  • Got Leadership? Student Leadership Training, Savannah, GA, 2012
  • The Student Leadership Challenge, Student Leadership Training, Savannah, GA, 2012
  • College Student Success: Formula for Student Persistence, Doctoral Coursework, Atlanta, GA, 2012
  • Advising Student Groups & Organizations, Professional Development Presentation, Savannah, GA, 2011
  • Driving Education with a Purpose: A Roadmap to creating a Living Learning Community, NASPA Conference, 2011
  • The Price of the Privilege, Professional Development Presentation, Nashville, TN, 2010

Monesca R. Smith Johnson

Director of Law Student Affairs

Contact Information

Education

  • Juris Doctor (J.D.), WMU-Cooley Law School, 2020
  • Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), Higher and Postsecondary Education, AU-Atlanta, 2017
  • Certificate of Graduate Study, Conflict Management (Rule 31 Mediator), Lipscomb University, 2012
  • Master of Education (M.Ed.) Counseling Personnel Services, University of Southern Mississippi
  • Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) in Sociology (Psychology minor) with honors, University of Southern Mississippi

License to Practice

  • Mississippi

Aaron Diaz

Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law

Biography

Diaz (J.D. ’20) is a Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law with the St. Mary’s School of Law Criminal Justice Clinic. Before joining the criminal justice clinic, Diaz spent six years working with the Goldstein & Orr law firm in San Antonio, Texas. Prior to law school, he spent over a decade as a paralegal working for a criminal defense firm in South Texas and various state agencies. During that time, Diaz received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice from The University of Texas Pan-American, and a Master of Arts degree in Legal Studies from Texas State University. He graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law, cum laude, in May of 2020.

Since becoming licensed, Diaz has solely practiced juvenile and adult criminal defense, representing clients charged with misdemeanor and felony crimes. He has also handled state and federal appeals and post-conviction writs of habeas corpus cases. Diaz is currently on the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Board of Directors and serves on several TCDLA committees. He is also a member of the San Antonio Criminal Defense Lawyers Association.

Aaron Diaz

Visiting Clinical Assistant Professor of Law

Portrait of Aaron Diaz

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., (cum laude), St. Mary’s University School of Law, 2020
  • M.A., Texas State University, 2014
  • B.S., University of Texas Pan-American, 2012

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Criminal Law
  • Appellate Law

Publications

  • Aaron Diaz, Comment, Restoring the Presumption of Innocence: Protecting a Defendant’s Right to a Fair Trial by Closing the Door on 404(b) Evidence, 51 ST. MARY’S L.J. 1001 (2020)

Jena Martin

Professor of Law | Katherine A. Ryan Chair for Global, Comparative, and International Law

Biography

Jena Martin, J.D., LL.M., is Katherine A. Ryan Chair for Global, Comparative, and International Law and a Professor of Law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. Her research is in the field of business and human rights, where she has written extensively on many issues, including: the intersection of human rights with a number of fields including data privacy, AI and securities regulation.

Prof. Martin has emerged as a thought leader on these subjects and her work has been presented in a variety of forums including newspapers (such as The Chicago Tribune and The Houston Chronicle); law journals (including a forthcoming co-authored work in the Yale Journal of Law and Technology and a prior piece in the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law); and the United Nations. Professor Martin has also co-edited and co-authored a number of books in the field of securities regulation and business and human rights, including “The Business and Human Rights Landscape: Moving Forward, Looking Back” (Cambridge University Press); “When the Levees Break: Re-visioning Regulation of the Securities Markets” (Lexington Books), and “Dying to be Heard: Businesses’ Impact of Communities” (Anthem Press).

Prior to coming to St. Mary’s Prof. Martin was the Robert L. Shuman Professor of Law and Ethics at West Virginia University.

Prof. Martin also draws heavily on her practice experience as a consultant and advisor for small businesses and her previous position serving as Senior Counsel for the Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement. She earned her LL.M. from The University of Texas at Austin and her J.D. from Howard University School of Law.

Publications

Books

  • INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS LAW, POLICY AND PROCESS, 5TH ED., Carolina Academic Press (2021)(with David Weissbrodt)(spearheaded overhaul of the casebook with a new organizational structure and streamlined content. Drafted the casebook’s first Teacher’s Manual)
  • WHEN BUSINESS HARMS HUMAN RIGHTS: AFFECTED COMMUNITIES THAT ARE DYING TO BE HEARD, Anthem Press (2020)(ed., with Karen Bravo and Tara Van Ho)
  • WHEN THE LEVEES BREAK: RE-VISIONING SECURITIES MARKET REGULATION, Lexington Books (2017)(with Karen Kunz)
  • THE BUSINESS & HUMAN RIGHTS LANDSCAPE: MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK, Cambridge University Press (2015)(ed., with Karen Bravo)

Articles

  • Everything New is Old Again: The Veil of Scale, Platforms as Premises and the Coming Metaverse, __ YALE J. OF L. & TECH. __ (forthcoming 2024)(with Lara Putnam)
  • The Securities and Exchange Commission as Human Rights Enforcer?, 18 VA. LAW. & BUS. REV. 93 (2024)(with Rachel Chambers)
  • “A Change is Gonna Come:” Developing a Liability Framework for Social Media Algorithmic Amplification, 13 UC IRVINE L. REV. 155 (2023)(with Amy Cyphert)
  • Reimagining Corporate Accountability: Moving Beyond Human Rights Due Diligence, 18 NYU BUS. L. J. 773 (2022)(with Rachel Chambers)
  • Reckoning: A Dialogue about Racism, Anti-Racists and Business and Human Rights, 30 WASH. I. L. J. 171 (2021)(with Erika George and Tara Van Ho)
  • Data Privacy Issues in West Virginia: An Overview, WV. L. REV. ONLINE (2021)
  • The United Postal Service—The One Word that Makes all the Difference, 99 Texas L. Rev. Online 72 (2020) (with Matthew Titolo).
  • It’s Complicated: The Challenge of Prosecuting TNCs for Criminal Activity under International Law, 29 IND. INT’L & COMP. L. REV. 219 (2019)
  • Easing “the Burden of the Brutalized”: Applying Bystander Intervention Training to Corporate Conduct, 68 CATHOLIC U. L. REV. 1 (2019) (lead article)
  • Parallel Worlds: Comparing Rural Development to Development in Global Communities, WV. L. REV. (with Karon Powell)(2018)(invited symposium piece)
  • Hiding in the Light: The Misuse of Disclosure to Advance the Business and Human Rights Agenda 56 COLUMBIA TRANS’L L. J. 530 (2018)
  • Changing the Rules of the Game: Beyond a Disclosure Framework for Securities Regulation 118 WV. L. REV. 59 (2015)
  • Business and Human Rights, What’s the Board got to do with it?, 2013 ILL. L. REV. 959 (2013)
  • The End of the Beginning?: A Comprehensive Examination of the U.N.’s Business and Human Rights Agenda from a Bystander Perspective, 17 FORDHAM J. CORP. FIN. L. 871 (2012)(lead article)
  • What’s in a Name? Transnational Corporations as Bystanders under International Law, 85 ST. JOHN L. REV. 1 (2011)(lead article)
  • The SEC and Shareholder Empowerment – Analyzing the New Proxy Regime and its Impact on Corporate Governance, BANKING & FINANCIAL SERVICES REPORT (2011)
  • In Praise of Process: An Exploration of the SEC, Rule 14a-(8)(i)(8) and AFSCME v. AIG, 5 U.MD. J. BUS. L. & TECH 23 (2010)

Refereed Articles and Book Chapters:

  • “UN Guiding Principle Number 8” in ThE RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON THE UN GUIDING PRINCIPLES ON BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, Edward Elgar Press (2024)(Barnali Choudhury, ed.)
  • “Commentary, Dodge v. Ford” in FEMINIST JUDGMENTS: REWRITTEN CORPORATE LAW OPINIONS, Cambridge University Press (2023)(Kelli Alces et. al., eds.)
  • “Corporations 101” in TEACHING BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, Edward Elgar Press (2023)(Anthony Ewing, ed.)
  • “United States: Potential Paths Forward after the Demise of the Alien Tort Statute,” in CIVIL REMEDIES AND HUMAN RIGHTS IN FLUX, Bloomsbury Publishing (2022)(Ekaterina Aristova & Ugljesa Grusic eds.)
  • “The Use of Disclosure-Based Regulation to Advance the State’s Duty to Protect” in THE RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON HUMAN RIGHTS AND BUSINESS, Edward Elgar Press (2020)(Surya Deva ed.)
  • “The Evolving Business and Society Landscape: Can Human Rights Make a Difference,” (with Michael Addo) in THE BUSINESS & HUMAN RIGHTS LANDSCAPE: MOVING FORWARD, LOOKING BACK, Cambridge University Press (2015)(Martin & Bravo, eds.)
  • “Transnational Corporations as Bystanders under International Law,” in BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS, Sage Publications (2013)(Manoj Sinha, ed).
  • Into the Breach: The Increasing Gap between Algorithmic Trading and Securities Regulation, Vol. 44, JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL SERVICES RESEARCH No. 2 (peer reviewed journal) (co-authored with Karen Kunz)(Oct. 2013)

Awards

  • West Virginia Executive’s Lawyers & Leaders, Class of 2022
  • 2019 Reviewer of the Year Award – Business and Human Rights Journal (Cambridge University Press)
  • Dean’s Award of Distinction in Teaching – Adjunct (College of Business & Economics) 2015
  •  “50 Under 50,” Law Professors of Color, Lawyers of Color
  • WVU ADVANCE Grant Recipient, grant provided to organize a conference on Business and Human Rights (2012 – 2013)
  • Significant Scholarship Award, WVU College of Law, (awarded for “The End of the Beginning?: A Comprehensive Examination of the U.N.’s Business and Human Rights Agenda from a Bystander Perspective”)(2012)
  •  WVU Public Service Grant Recipient, provided to fund an outreach program within the State of West Virginia to help local businesses understand contract pitfalls (2011 – 2012)
  • Shortlist Finalist, Fletcher Fellowship (administered by Harvard University’s W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research)(2010).
  • Next Generation Fellow, The Next Generation Fellowship (part of the American Assembly Series, run by Columbia University). Invited participant in three-day conference to discuss the future of U.S. global policy. (2007)
    Recipient, Director’s Award, SEC Division of Enforcement. (2004)

Jena Martin

Professor of Law | Katherine A. Ryan Chair for Global, Comparative, and International Law

Contact Information

Education

  • J.D., cum laude, Howard University School of Law, 1997
  • LL.M. in International Law, The University of Texas at Austin, 2006
  • B.A., McGill University, 1994

License to Practice

  • Maryland
  • District of Columbia
  • West Virginia

Specialties and Courses

  • Business and Human Rights
  • Securities Regulation
  • Business Association
  • Corporate Governance

Krystal Moczygemba

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law

Biography

Krystal earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Agricultural Economics with a minor in History from Texas A&M University in College Station, Texas in 2017. She then earned a Master’s Degree in Social Anthropology from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom in 2019. She also earned a Juris Doctorate Degree from Notre Dame Law School in South Bend, Indiana in 2021.

Krystal began her career with Chasnoff Valkenaar Pepping & Stribling LLP in San Antonio, Texas, where she advised foreign and domestic insurers in complex matters arising out of director and officer liability, management liability, professional liability, cyber liability, commercial general liability, and excess insurance policies. She also represented foreign and domestic insurers in federal and state court lawsuits concerning declaratory judgments, breaches of contract, bad faith allegations, and statutory violations in complex civil litigation matters.

Krystal joined St. Mary’s University School of Law in the fall of 2024, where she is teaching legal writing and research in the school’s Legal Communications, Analysis, and Professionalism course.

Finally, Krystal married attorney, Cam O’Connor, who she met in law school, in 2024. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, family, and friends, going to the theater, reading fantasy and mystery stories, various outdoor hobbies, working with her family’s cow-calf operation, and cooking.

Krystal Moczygemba

Assistant Professor of Practice of Law

Education

  • J.D, Notre Dame Law School, 2021
  • M.Sc., University of Oxford, 2019
  • B.S., Texas A&M University, 2017

Contact Information

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Legal Communication, Analysis, and Professionalism

Match Dawson

Assistant Professor of Law | Englehardt Research Fellow

Biography

Match Dawson (J.D. ’13), AEP, CTEP, ChTA, CWM, FGAFM, is an Assistant Professor of Law and an Englehardt Research Fellow at the St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he teaches Property, Estates and Trusts, Federal Income Tax, Asset Protection and Contracts.

Before entering academia, Dawson clerked for Justice Paul W. Green of the Texas Supreme Court and then practiced with one of the nation’s leading estate planning and asset protection firms before founding his own boutique practice. For more than a decade, Dawson advised ultra-high net worth clients on estate planning, asset protection and tax strategy, working with businesses owners, high-visibility individuals and multigenerational family enterprises on complex domestic and offshore planning matters. His practice focused on structuring trusts, business entities, wealth transfer tax, closely-held business taxation and business succession.

Before his legal career, Dawson built a nationally recognized financial advisory practice and was named a Top of the Table advisor by the Million Dollar Round Table, a distinction reserved for the top one percent of global wealth planners. He draws on this combined legal and financial experience in his teaching, connecting doctrinal rules to the practical challenges attorneys face when advising sophisticated clients.

Dawson is a Fellow of the Global Academy of Finance and Management (distinguished) and holds advanced designations as an Accredited Estate Planner, Chartered Trust and Estate Planner, Chartered Tax Analyst and Chartered Wealth Manager. He has also been recognized as a Texas Super Lawyer, an Elite Lawyer and one of the top estate planning attorneys in the state.

His scholarship examines whether modern doctrine adequately protects property rights as a constitutional guarantee, with particular focus on the relationship between substantive due process and property regulation under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments. His work has been published in leading journals, including the William & Mary Law Review, Tennessee Law Review, the Michigan Journal of Law Reform and the Texas A&M Journal of Property Law.

Awards and Highlights

  • Accredited Estate Planner (AEP)
  • Chartered Trust and Estate Planner (CTEP)
  • Chartered Wealth Manager (CWM)
  • GAFM, Fellow (Distinguished)
  • Super Lawyers, Thomson Reuters
  • Best Estate Planners in Austin, Expertise
  • Elite Lawyer

Publications

  • “Tomorrowland”, 68 Wm. & Mary L. Rev., forthcoming 2027
  • “Discriminatory Takings,” 59 U. Mich. J. L. Reform, forthcoming 2026
  • “The American Oligarchy,” 92.4 Tenn. L. Rev., 2025
  • “The Sovereign Acre,” 12 Tex. A&M J. Prop. L., 2025
  • “Profiteers of Death,” 17 Drexel L. Rev. 697, 2025
  • Lead Article: “Gun Range Immunity: An Argument Against Legalized Nuisance and Non-Governmental Takings,” 59 Gonz. L. Rev. 1., 2023
  • SSRN Author Page

Presentations

  • Aspiring Law Teachers Workshop – Designing Your Ideal Teaching Package, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, Florida, forthcoming July 2026
  • “Reclaiming Property,” Association of Law, Property, and Society (ALPS), Tulane University Law School. New Orleans, forthcoming June 2026
  • “Tomorrowland,” Texas Junior Scholars Faculty Workshop, Baylor Law School, Waco, Texas, December 2025
  • Discriminatory Takings, Journal of Law Reform Symposium, The University of Michigan Law School, Ann Arbor, Michigan, November 2025
  • Central States Law Schools Association 2025 Scholarship Conference, The University of Kansas School of Law, Lawrence, Kansas, October 2025 (first-time attendee)
  • Aspiring Law Teachers Workshop – Designing Your Teaching Package, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Amelia Island, Florida, July 2025
  • Profiteers of Death, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 2024
  • Aspiring Law Teachers Workshop – Designing Your Teaching Package, Southeastern Association of Law Schools, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, July 2024
  • The Principles of American Constitutionalism, Jack Miller Center, San Diego, California, February 2024
  • Gun Range Immunity: An Argument Against Legalized Nuisance and Non-Governmental Takings, Southeastern Association of Law Schools. Boca Raton, Florida, July 2023
  • Estate Planning Basics, Texas Legal Insurance, Austin, Texas, May 2020
  • Landowner Protections, Central Texas Wildlife Legacy, Austin, Texas, February 2019
  • A Plunger, a Policy, and a Different Way of Thinking, The Million Dollar Round Table, Top of the Table Annual Meeting, Main Platform Speaker, Kauai, Hawaii, August 2009
  • Premium Financing: A Strategy to Fund Premiums for Wealthy Clients, Securian Foundation, St. Paul, Minnesota, March 2009
  • The Living Benefits of Life Insurance, Securian Foundation, St. Paul, Minnesota; October 2008

Match Dawson

Assistant Professor of Law | Englehardt Research Fellow

Professional portrait of Matthew Dawson in gray jacket with white shirt

Contact Information

Education

  • B.A., Economics, California State University, 2006
  • J.D. (cum laude), St. Mary’s University School of Law, 2013

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Wills, Estates and Trusts
  • Property
  • Federal Income Tax
  • Asset Protection
  • Contracts

Samantha Alecozay

Faculty in Residence

Biography

While attending the St. Mary’s University School of Law, Samantha Alecozay (J.D. ’20) received a pro bono service recognition and women in law leadership award. Shortly after graduation, she founded Alecozay Law Firm, PLLC, where she focuses her practice on corporate transactions, corporate bankruptcy and health regulatory law. As a Faculty in Residence, she continues to operate her practice to provide legal care to small businesses in the San Antonio community.

Alecozay is admitted to practice in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Texas and Supreme Court of Texas. She is an active member of the Business Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and the Texas Bar College.

Alecozay frequently volunteers her time providing no-cost legal services to local music education programs to promote the arts. She also volunteers with non-profit professional development programs, offering educational materials and delivering guest lectures.

Alecozay’s hobbies include advanced culinary arts, sketching and maintaining her vocal skills as a former operatic performer. She is also a classic car enthusiast who regularly works on her 1950 Oldsmobile Rocket 88.

Samantha Alecozay

Faculty in Residence

Education

  • J.D., St. Mary’s University School of Law, 2020
  • B.A. Music, University of the Incarnate Word, 2016

Contact Information

License to Practice

  • Texas

Specialties and Courses

  • Secured Transactions
  • Contract Drafting
  • Law Practice Management

Publications

  • Author: The Small Business Killer: How FinCEN Enforcement of the CTA Could Destroy the Last Bastion of the American Dream,12 Lincoln Memorial U. L. Rev. 1, 2024
  • Co-Author/Co-Presenter: Subchapter V of the Bankruptcy Code: A Breakthrough; The Hon. Larry E. Kelly Bankruptcy American Inn of Court, January 2022

Awards

  • 2025 Best S.A. Lawyer, Mergers and Acquisitions – Scene In S.A.
  • 2023 Rising Star Lawyer – Scene In S.A.

The Hon. Henry Bemporad

Practicing Faculty

Biography

Judge Bemporad has been a United States Magistrate Judge for the Western District of Texas in the San Antonio Division since 2012. He was the Federal Public Defender for the Western District of Texas from 2007–12. He previously served as Deputy Federal Public Defender from 1998–2007, as a Supervisory Assistant Federal Public Defender from 1993–98 and as an Assistant Federal Public Defender from 1990–93. From 1988 to 1990, he clerked for United States District Judge Edward C. Prado.

Judge Bemporad recently served on the Committee on Pattern Jury Instructions for the District Judges Association of the Fifth Circuit, assisting in the preparation of Pattern Jury Instructions (Criminal Cases) (2015 ed.). Judge Bemporad served the U.S. Courts as the appellate representative to the Office of Defender Services Training Expert Panel, as co-chair of the Defender Supreme Court Resource & Assistance Panel and as Defender Liaison to the Judicial Conference Criminal Law Committee.

He also previously served as co-chair of the National Association of Federal Defenders Amicus Committee, as Fifth Circuit vice-chair of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Amicus Committee, and as a member of the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association. Judge Bemporad also co-founded and has served for many years as regular faculty of the Federal Judicial Center’s Appellate Writing Workshop.

Honors and Awards

  • Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, Presidents Award, 2007, 2010, 2012
  • National Outstanding Assistant Federal Defender, National Association of Federal Defenders, 2002
  • University of Texas, Phi Beta Kappa, 1988

Publications

Books

  • An Introduction to Federal Sentencing (1st through 13th editions).  This publication, formerly titled An Introduction to Federal Guideline Sentencing, was originally prepared on behalf of Federal Public Defenders nationwide and published by the Administrative Office of the United States Courts. The Introduction has been reprinted in whole or part in many legal treatises, manuals, and magazines. Large portions of the Introduction were included in Volume II of Defending a Federal Criminal Case, published by the Federal Defenders of San Diego in 2010.

Articles in a Periodical

  • “Supreme Court Vacancy? Rehnquist Is the Real Story of the Supreme Court’s 2004 Criminal Cases” Voice for the Defense (Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association Sept. 2005)
  • With Sarah P. Kelly, Novel Issues, Futile Issues, and Appellate Advocacy: The Troubling Lessons of Bousley v. United States, 35 St. Mary’s L.J. 93 (2003)

The Hon. Henry Bemporad

Practicing Faculty

Education

  • J.D. Stanford University with honors, 1988
  • B.A. University of Texas at Austin with highest honors, 1985

License to Practice

  • Texas
  • U.S. Court, Western District of Texas
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
  • U.S. Supreme Court

Specialties and Courses

  • Advanced Legal Writing
  • Federal Criminal Law
  • Federal Sentencing
  • Federal Civil Procedure
  • Federal Criminal Procedure

Ernesto Ballesteros

Practicing Faculty

Biography

Ballesteros serves as the Cybersecurity Advisor for the Capitol Region of Texas, for the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA). Prior to that he served the State of Texas, as the State Cybersecurity Coordinator and Chairman of the Texas Cybersecurity Council, at the Texas Department of Information Resources (DIR), pursuant to Texas Government Code, Section 2054.511 and 512, where his primary charge was to “oversee cyber matters” for the State of Texas.

Prior to joining the DIR, Ballesteros‘ career spanned several industries, including: academia; financial services; private consulting; and public utilities. Of note, his prior professional roles included the following: Information Security Officer for the Alamo Colleges District, Information Security Officer (ISO) at Jefferson Bank; Information Security Consultant at Omnikron Systems, Inc; Assistant Professor of Computer Information Systems and Security (CISS) at Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU); Director of the Center for Information Assurance Management and Leadership at OLLU; and Information Systems Auditor for CPS Energy.

Academically, Ballesteros holds several degrees and professional certifications pertaining to cybersecurity, law, management information systems, and risk management. He holds a Bachelor and Master of Science in Computer Information Systems and Security (CISS) from OLLU; an NSA/DHS designated Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense Education (CAE-CDE). Additionally, Ernesto completed his legal education at St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he received his Doctor of Jurisprudence (JD). Lastly, Ballesteros is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA), and CompTIA Security+ professional.

Ernesto Ballesteros

Practicing Faculty

Education

  • J.D., St. Mary’s University School of Law
  • M.S., Our Lady of the Lake University
  • B.S., Our Lady of the Lake University
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