HOUSTON BAR ASSOCIATION
JUVENILE LAW SECTION
7thANNUAL JUVENILE LAW CONFERENCE
Biographical Information on Speakers
Robert Thomas, J.D.
Robert graduated Cum Laude from Baylor University School of Law in 1988 and began the practice of law in the Houston office of Fulbright & Jaworski. In 1990, he began his formal training in juvenile law as Kris Moore’s number three prosecutor in the 313th District Court. In that assignment, Kris taught Robert almost everything you need to say in juvenile court, word for word. Robert finished his career at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office as a Concurrent Chief Prosecutor handling Certification and Determinate Sentencing cases in all three juvenile district courts. After leaving the District Attorney’s Office, he returned to private practice and has been board certified in juvenile law since 2002. Robert is also a Substitute Associate Judge/Juvenile Law Master in the Harris County Juvenile Courts.
John Reed, J.D.
John Reed is a 1983 graduate of ClearLakeHigh School; a 1987 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin in Finance and Marketing; and a 1990 graduate of the University of Texas Law School including a semester in Professor Dawson's Criminal Defense Clinic. John was a prosecutor with the Bexar County District Attorney's Office for 4 years including 9 months in the Juvenile Division. John hasbeen in private practice since 1996 and is a member of the 2001 Inaugural Class of attorneys Board Certified in Juvenile Law.
Teresa Stroud
Teresa Stroud has more than 20 years’ experience working with at-risk and other youth. Teresa is the Senior Director of State Programs and manages the division responsible for state operated residential programming, security operations, treatment services and ancillary services for the agency. She has approximately 15 years of service with legacy TYC and TJJD. Teresa has also worked in private non-profits serving at risk youth in multiple states. Teresa spent five years with the Texas Child Protective Services agency and also worked with adult chronically mentally ill.Teresa has held a variety of positions in the agency since 1996 including Youth Rights Specialist and Program Specialist, Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent. Teresa has served the agency in multiple locations during her tenure. Teresa is a graduate of East Texas Baptist University and received her master’s degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Stephen F. Austin State University. Teresa is currently a graduate student at Sam Houston State University where she is pursuing a second Master’s degree in the college of Criminal Justice.
Tami Coy
Tami Coyis the current TJJD/TDCJ Liaison. She serves as the liaison between TJJD, TDCJ, and the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles to develop a continuum of care for sentenced offenders between the juvenile justice system and the adult system.Tami provides assistance to families of offenders, victims of offenders, TJJD personnel and court personnel in understanding juvenile law and TJJD policies related to sentenced and other violent offenders. She previously worked at the GiddingsStateSchool in the Chemical Dependency program and as Program Administrator for the Capital & Serious Violent Offender Treatment Program and the Female Offender Program. She has 23 years of casework and administrative experience working with violent juvenile offenders within TJJD. She has a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from TexasStateUniversity and is a Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor.
Leah Shapiro, J.D.
Leah Shapiro is an Assistant Public Defender in Harris County, Texas having joined the Juvenile Division in November 2011. Prior to joining the Public Defender’s Office, Leah was a trial attorney in private practice, specializing in indigent criminal defense. Before that, she was an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office for almost five years. She has first-chair trial experience on cases such as murder, aggravated assault, aggravated robbery, aggravated sexual assaults of children and adults, and other misdemeanor and felony offenses. Leah has been licensed to practice law since November 2006. She received her J.D. from the St. Mary’s School of Law and her B.A. in philosophy from New York University.
Miriam Riskind, J.D.
Miriam Riskind was born and raised on the Texas-Mexico border in a multi-cultural environment. She was licensed to practice law in 1990 and has practiced juvenile law since that time. She volunteers with the HBA Speakers Bureau, speaking at local schools on juvenile issues. She is a speaker at Juvenile 101, an orientation program for juveniles and their families, a project of the Harris County Juvenile Probation Department, and isa speaker at the Juvenile Consequences Program.
Brian Fischer, J.D.
Brian Fischer is an attorney in Houston and is board certified in Juvenile Law having been certified with the first class in 2001. He has spoken over 60 different seminars on Juvenile Law across the State of Texas including the Robert O. Dawson Juvenile Law Institute, each of the Dallas Bar Association Juvenile Law Conferences and Dallas Bar Association Child Welfare Conferences and each of the Juvenile and CPS conferences sponsored by the Juvenile Law Section of the Houston Bar Association. He is a past chair of the State Bar of Texas Juvenile Law Section, Houston Bar Association Juvenile Law Section and is the current program chair of the Houston Bar Association Juvenile Law Section and conference chair of all of the Juvenile Law and CPS seminars sponsored by the HBA-Juvenile Law Section. Brian is also a Substitute Associate Judge/Master in the Juvenile Courts of Harris County.
Martina Longoria, J.D.
S. Martina B. Longoria is currently an Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, Texas which encompasses the greater Houston metropolitan area. The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is responsible for prosecuting state crimes for hundreds of state and local law enforcement agencies. Martina is a 1995 graduate of Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, where she majored in Economics and Political Science, and a 1998 graduate of Baylor University School of Law in Waco, Texas, with a concentration in Criminal Law. Martina has devoted her legal career to criminal prosecution beginning in Jefferson County, Texas in 1998 where she prosecuted for 6 years. She is currently a District Court Chief prosecutor assigned to the Juvenile Division of the Harris County District Attorney’s Office where she is responsible for supervising attorneys and cases in the 313th District Court, speaking at the Juvenile Consequences Workshop, Juvenile 101, and representing the HCDAO in Gang Court. Past special assignments include White Collar Crime Major Fraud, where she prosecutedand investigated large scale employee embezzlement, health care insurance fraud, and the unauthorized practice of both law and medicine; and the assignment to various District Courts where she has prosecuted the entire spectrum of felony offenses from drug offenders to capital murderers. Martina has tried nearly 100 cases to jury verdict. Martina is a native of Denver, is married to a Texas Game Warden, and has 2 young daughters.
Christopher Tritico, J.D.
Christopher L. Tritico, a native of Houston, Texas, received his Bachelors Degree at SamHoustonStateUniversity and his Doctor of Jurisprudence at South Texas College of Law.
Mr. Tritico is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas and before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth and the Tenth Circuits, and the United States District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, The Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, The Harris County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, and The Houston Bar Association. Mr. Tritico was named one of Texas Super Lawyers 2003 - 2008 by Texas Monthly Magazine. Mr. Tritico was named one of the Top Lawyers for the People by H Texas Magazine in 2005 - 2010.Mr. Tritico has practiced criminal defense his entire career. He has handled cases in both state and federal courts; cases ranging from environmental law to capital murder. Mr. Tritico has represented notable athletes such as Moses Malone, former Houston Rocket, Gary Sheffield, All-Star third baseman for the Florida Marlins and Julio Lugo, former Houston Astro. In 1997 Mr. Tritico was one of the trial lawyers who represented Timothy McVeigh in the Oklahoma City Bombing Case.Since 1988, Mr. Tritico has represented the Houston Federation of Teachers; with more than 5,000 members it is the largest teachers’ union in the State of Texas. Mr. Tritico has represented the rights of union members at administrative trials before a Certified Hearing Examiner, the Board of Education for the HoustonIndependentSchool District, and the Texas Education Agency. In addition to the Houston Federation of Teachers, Mr. Tritico represents the Employee Federation of Lone Star College. Further, he has represented teachers’ interest in both criminal district court and civil district court in Harris County, Texas.Mr. Tritico began his career as an associate of famed attorney Richard “Racehorse” Haynes. After leaving Mr. Haynes’ office in 1994, Mr. Tritico formed the law firm of Essmyer & Tritico, L.L.P., which later became known as Essmyer, Tritico & Rainey, L.L.P. In March, 2011 Mr. Tritico founded Tritico Rainey, P.L.L.C. A regular speaker to the Houston Federation of Teachers and other groups, Mr. Tritico has presented workshops in areas such as administrative rights and techniques for avoiding false allegations of child abuse. Mr. Tritico has authored several articles “Investigative Techniques Every Lawyer Should Know” presented at South Texas College of Law, “Teacher Contracts and the Hearing Process: The Road to Victory” The Houston Lawyer, March/April 1997, Vol. 34, No.5, and Collision Course: When Criminal Law and School Law Meet, Voice for the Defense, October 2008, Vol. 37, No. 8.
Mr. Tritico has appeared on Good Morning America, World News Tonight, Night Line, CBS Evening News, Meet The Press, CNN, Fox News Channel, Court TV and others both nationally and internationally. Mr. Tritico is the host of FoxLaw on Fox 26 KRIV and the legal analysts for Fox 26 and News Radio 740 KTRH. The most dangerous place in Houstonfor anyone to be standing is between Chris Tritico and a TV camera.
Ryan Mitchell, J.D.
Before attending law school at Hofstra University in New York, Ryan obtained his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at Santa Clara University in California. Ryan is licensed in both New York and Texas. He is a former Harris County District Attorney currently in private practice, practicing primarily in Harris County, Chambers County and Fort Bend County. As an Assistant District Attorney or over six years at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office, Ryan served as a Misdemeanor, Felony and Juvenile Prosecutor and tried numerous certification hearings as a Juvenile Prosecutor.
Bill Thursland, J.D.
Bill Thursland has been a practicing trial attorney in HarrisCounty for 28 years with extensive experience in civil, juvenile and criminal litigation. He has participated in numerous CPS trials and represented both parents and children in juvenile and CPS cases on appeal.
He is licensed by the State Bar of Texas, the Federal District Court for the Southern and Eastern Districts of Texas and the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals He graduated with an A.B. from Georgetown University in 1981, was a Rotary Fellow at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, Caracas in 1977 and graduated fro South Texas College of Law in 1981. He is a member of the Juvenile Law Section, State Bar of Texas, Harris CountyBar Association, Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association and Texas Defense Lawyers Association.
Terrance Windham, J.D.
Terrance Windham is currently an Assistant District Attorney in HarrisCounty and Chief of the Juvenile Division in the Harris County District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Windham began his career at the District Attorney’s Office in 1989. He has spent his entire career as a prosecutor in the Trial Bureau, and has had assignments in Misdemeanor, Felony, and Juvenile Courts. He received his law degree (J.D.) in 1976 from St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. After law school, Mr. Windham served in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General’s Corp, and retired after 27 years of active duty and reserve service. He as attended numerous military and civilian continuing legal education courses; and is a graduate of the United States Air Force’s Air Command and StaffCollege. He is board certified in Juvenile Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization.
Sarah Bruchmiller, J.D.
Sarah Bruchmiller is an Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, Texas. Sarah graduated with honors from the University of Texas at Austin in 1997 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Speech. She received her law degree from South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas. During her time with the District Attorney’s Office, she has been assigned to numerous felony courts and several specialty divisions, including the Juvenile Division, the Child Abuse Division and the Family Criminal Law Division. She has prosecuted various cases involving offenses ranging from Assault to Capital Murder. She currently serves as the Chief Prosecutor in the 315th Juvenile District court. Sarah also has a wonderful child who is going to school this fall.
Evan Glick, J.D.
Evan Glick graduated from The University of Florida in 1974 with a degree in Chemistry and from The South Texas College of Law in 1978 with a Juris Doctorate degree. After practicing as an attorney in the areas of Exploration and Production and Environmental Law for Marathon Oil Company, he began working in the Juvenile Courts in 1985 practicing Juvenile Delinquency Law. Evan represents bothChildren and parents in cases involving the Texas Department of Family and Protective Services. In addition to practicing in the Probate Courts in Probate, Guardianship, and Elder Protection matters, Evan has served as the Associate Judge of the 315th District Court from 2007 until December 1, 2009.
Hans Neilsen, J.D.
Hans Nielsen is an Assistant District Attorney with the Harris County District Attorney’s office of Harris County, Texas from November 1990 to present.Hans received his undergraduate degree from The Citadel, Charleston in 1987 and his J.D. from the University of Houston Law School in 1990. Hans is the Chief Prosecutor - 314th District Court (Juvenile Court), Harris County and has had Specialty Court Assignments in the Harris County Adult STAR Drug Court (Success Through Addiction Recovery), 248th District Court, drug court prosecutor – 2006 to present Harris County Juvenile SOAR Drug Court (Sobriety Over Addiction and Relapse), 315th District Court, drug court prosecutor – 2010 to present, and the Harris County Juvenile Mental Health Court – 314th District Court – March 2015 to present. Hans is Board Certified Juvenile Law
Honorable Mike Schneider, J.D.
Judge Michael Schneider was appointed to the 315th District Court Bench in 2006 by Governor Rick Perry and was elected to his first full term that same year. Prior to being appointed to the bench, he was an Assistant County Attorney in Harris County representing DFPS in CPS cases. He has created the first Juvenile Drug Court in Harris County. He is a graduate of TexasA&MUniversity and received his J.D. from South Texas College of Law. He also serves as a volunteer instructor for Child Advocates, Inc. and, when an attorney, he was a member of the Interdisciplinary Child Abuse Task Force at MemorialHermannHospital. In addition, he is a featured speaker at national conferences on child abuse and juvenile justice issues. He recently hosted the first local program to educate the legal community on the correlation between animal abuse and child abuse and established the first Animal Law Scholarship at the South Texas College of Law.He also has been instrumental in conjunction with the Houston Bar Association-Juvenile Law Section in the development of specialized seminar for the training of attorneys in CPS cases and Juvenile Law cases. Judge Schneider is a Secretary of the State Bar of Texas, Juvenile Law Section, a member of the State Bar of Texas, Commission for Children, Youth and Families and is the Chair of the HBA Juvenile Law Section. Judge Schneider was also instrumental in establishing the Houston Bar Association Juvenile Sealing Project and the University of Houston Legal Clinic Juvenile Sealing Project.
Dena Fisher, J.D.
Dena Fisher is a criminal defense attorney and owner/solo practitioner at Fisher Law Office, P. C. located in Houston, Texas. Her practice focuses on the defense of juveniles and adults charged with crimes, although she also represents children in the CPS system as attorney and guardian ad litem. Dena was a juvenile probation officer in Harris County for 13 years before graduating from law school and going to work at the Harris County District Attorney’s Office as an Assistant District Attorney. While a probation officer, Dena worked as a Gang Officer and when she left Harris County in 2002 and opened her law practice, she soon became involved in working with that population again, as one of the defense attorneys for the 313th District Court’s Gang Court Program. She finds this population of kids especially rewarding to work with, although any juvenile in trouble Dena sees as an opportunity to help change the path they are on and become a successful young person. Dena is involved in working with the Girls Court Program and is on the committees of HBA’s Juvenile Law Section, Juvenile Consequences Partnership Program and the Communities in Schools Program, and frequently does public speaking for schools, generally addressing at risk youth and parents of at risk youth.