Underwood Shareholder, Roger Cox has been reappointed by Governor Greg Abbott as Canadian River Compact Commissioner. 

Roger Cox is counsel to the region’s leading financial institutions and businesses. He is Board Certified in Commercial Real Estate Law, Farm & Ranch Real Estate Law, and Business Bankruptcy Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.

To view the Governor’s announcement, visit here. 

Underwood attorney Slater C. Elza has been selected as a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (“FDCC”), an organization of attorneys who defend civil litigation and the corporate executives who oversee such litigation.  The FDCC is composed of recognized leaders in the legal community who are dedicated to promoting the knowledge, fellowship, and professionalism of its members as they pursue the course of a balanced justice system and represent those in need of a defense in civil lawsuits. The privilege of membership is restricted to those who have differentiated themselves professionally and personally and whose exemplary reputations have been earned.  Potential members must be nominated for membership and are subject to the rigorous vetting of multiple references, opposing counsel and judges familiar with the nominee.

A huge accomplishment for one of our Underwood Shareholders! Jennie Knapp is now Board Certified in Civil Appellate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, a distinction achieved by less than one percent of lawyers in Texas.

Board certification is a voluntary designation program certifying Texas attorneys in specific areas of law. To qualify for Board Certification in Civil Appellate Law, attorneys must be licensed for at least five years, devote a certain percentage of their practice to civil appellate law, have handled all or a substantial part of at least a dozen appellate cases, receive judicial and fellow lawyer recommendations, attend continuing education seminars, and pass a rigorous six-hour written examination.

Jennie heads Underwood’s Appellate Section and practices appellate and trial law.

Underwood Shareholder Slater Elza recently presented “Ethics + Best Practices = Great Business” at the 85^th Annual TAMIC Convention and Seminar in Round Rock, Texas. The Texas Association of Mutual Insurance Companies is an insurance trade organization comprised of farm mutual insurance companies which provides property and casualty insurance coverages for the people of Texas.

Cara Kennemer, chair of Underwood Law Firm’s Construction Section, presented “Construction Law Traps for the Unwary” to the Amarillo Bar Association on October 14, 2021. Her presentation covered construction insurance and indemnity, experts, certificates of merit, residential nuances, lien and bond claims, and an update on the recent legislative changes affecting construction cases.

Cara is Board Certified in Construction Law and assists Underwood’s clients in all aspects of the construction process on projects involving underground utilities, event venues, wastewater treatment facilities, residential developments and subdivisions, public facilities and paving, higher education buildings, and numerous other types of commercial and residential projects. She also negotiates design and construction contracts on a wide array of projects.

During the week of September 20, 2021 Underwood Shareholder, Slater Elza attended the Texas Association of Defense Counsel’s (“TADC”) Annual Meeting where he concluded his one-year term as President of the Organization.  At the conference, he led a panel discussion regarding the 2021 Texas Legislative Session and was elected to serve a three-year term as the Defense Research Institute’s (“DRI”) Texas State Representative.  Slater was also awarded the DRI Exceptional Performance Citation for 2020-21. Slater will continue to serve on the TADC Executive Committee next year as the Immediate Past President.

Attorney Janet Bubert has been invited to present a Legal Update for Education Foundations as part of a webinar series sponsored by the Texas Education Foundation Network. Janet’s presentation will include information about new legislation impacting nonprofit organizations, best practices for virtual meetings and other guidance to ensure legal compliance for an education foundation.

Janet Bubert focuses her practice on representing all types of educational entities and works extensively with education foundations throughout the state.

To learn more about TEFN and other programs in the webinar series visit www.tefn.org.

On August 2, 2021 at the Advanced Family Law Course in San Antonio, Texas, Chris Wrampelmeier, along with co-author the Hon. Karl Hays, received the Joseph W. McKnight Best Family Law CLE Article award from the Family Law Section of the State Bar. Each year a committee reads every article written for the Advanced Family Law Course, Marriage Dissolution Institute, New Frontiers in Marital Property Course, and the December continuing legal education (CLE) course. The committee then selects the best paper from the many presented at those seminars. Mr. Wrampelmeier’s paper was entitled You Presume Too Much: Overcoming Fit Parent, Visitation, and Child Support Presumptions. Judge Hays and Mr. Wrampelmeier presented their paper at the Advanced Trial Skills for Family Lawyers 2020 Course in December 2020, webcasted due to the pandemic.

Mr. Wrampelmeier is a frequent speaker at CLE courses. On July 17, 2021, he presented his paper, 2021 Changes to Discovery and the Impact on Family Cases, at the Texas Bar College Summer School 2021 in Galveston, Texas. On August 4, 2021, he presented his paper, Reimbursement and Reconstituted Estate, at the Advanced Family Law Course.

Underwood Shareholder, Autum Flores is now Board Certified in Labor and Employment Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Autum primarily focuses her practice on labor and employment counseling, regulatory practice, and litigation. As part of her labor and employment practice, Ms. Flores frequently consults with employers in relation to a wide range of labor and employment-related questions and issues.

TBLS certifies lawyers that have substantial, relevant experience in select areas of law, completed continuing legal education hours in the specialty area, and passed a rigorous exam.

Underwood lawyer, Roger Cox, has released the 2021 edition of Texas Creditors’ Rights Laws Annotated.  The book is published by Thomson Reuters, America’s leading publisher of law books and online legal solutions, including Thomson Reuters Westlaw.™

Texas Creditors’ Rights Laws Annotated is part of the Thomson Reuters Texas Annotated Code Series, authored by prominent law professors and practitioners. The series can be found in law firms and law libraries throughout the State.  “We’re hopeful that this publication will become a cost-effective, user-friendly tool for Texas lawyers engaged in any facet of the debtor-creditor relationship,” said Cox. “By pulling together laws from a variety of statutory and regulatory sources, the book provides a comprehensive view of debtor-creditor law.”   

Mr. Cox is Board Certified in Business Bankruptcy Law, Commercial Real Estate Law, and Farm & Ranch Real Estate Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and a past contributor to the SMU Law Review’s Annual Survey of Texas Law.