President’s Page

Iam honored, humbled and thrilled to serve as TCBA President for 2021–2022.

ABOUT ME: For those of you who don’t know me, I am a graduate of Texas Tech University School of Law and practice family law. I am Board Certified in Family Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. I practice law with my husband Steve Naylor, at Naylor & Naylor, P.L.L.C. in Fort Worth. Prior to teaming up with my husband, I was a partner at Loveless & Naylor where I practiced family law with Jim Loveless, my friend and mentor. I am also a member of the Family Law Council of the State Bar of Texas and past Grievance Committee Member for District 7. I have also just been elected to serve on the Board of Directors (District 7) of the State Bar of Texas. Steve and I have one daughter, Ainsley, who just graduated high school and will be attending Texas A&M University in the Fall.

HOW I FIRST BECAME INVOLVED WITH THE TCBA – COMMITTEE INVOLVEMENT:

My first involvement with the TCBA was when I filled out my application to join the TCBA and I checked the box of what committees I was interested in. I became a member of the Fee Arbitration Committee and Lawyer’s Against Domestic Violence Committee. This was early in my career as a lawyer and honestly, I didn’t really know what to expect. But after serving on those committees, I quickly realized that the TCBA had so many opportunities to serve, learn, network and just have fun. Most committees do not require a significant time commitment and it is a great opportunity to meet so many attorneys from different areas of practice.

THANK YOU TO MY PREDECESSORS:

I have to take a moment to brag a little bit on my predecessors who served as President of the TCBA during the pandemic. When Covid-19 hit in March of 2020, Justice John Cayce was the TCBA president. Justice Cayce jumped right in and continued to lead the TCBA with complete confidence through what was an extremely difficult time. When Gary Medlin took over as President in July 2020, he continued with the same steadfast approach to leading the TCBA through this pandemic. I have to be honest, however, that I am so grateful to take the reins as President of the TCBA at the END of this pandemic.

The past year has been difficult for all of us but I am happy to begin seeing my friends and colleagues at bar events and at the courthouse. Many of our new board members have only participated in Zoom board meetings so we are planning to start off the 2021–2022 bar year with live meetings for those who feel comfortable.

MY FOCUS FOR 2021–2022:

GETTING BACK TO NORMAL! I look forward to having board meetings in person, scheduling social events and seeing everyone’s smiling, unmasked faces. We certainly recognize that everyone’s comfort level is different and we intend to take that into consideration when planning events which will include hybrid options. One good thing that has come out of the pandemic is that we had to quickly learn the technology necessary to continue the work of the TCBA. We learned to conduct meetings remotely and became experts at offering excellent CLE. Since the beginning of the pandemic in March of 2020, the TCBA offered 50 different remote CLE presentations and 28 of those CLE’s were of no cost to our members.

Now is a great time to get involved with the TCBA. One of my goals as President this year is to increase committee involvement and have more diverse leadership in those committees. Out of our more than 2500 members, we need representation from different sized firms, attorneys with varying years of experience and attorneys from all areas of practice. I hope that you will consider becoming a member of a committee – we need your help. It does not involve a huge time commitment and I promise you will feel good about serving.

HERE IS WHAT IS GOING ON:

I am looking forward to TCBA’s Membership Luncheon on July 13, 2021 and hope to see many of you at the event at City Club. Sylvia Borunda Firth, the new President of the State Bar of Texas, will speak to our group, and Judge Lori DeAngelis will install TCBA’s new board of directors.

TCBA is spending the summer getting ready for a busy fall of events and CLE programs, and it is installing some technology upgrades at the Bar to better serve our members when regular meetings resume at the building. The Bar Building will be open to small meetings this summer with an anticipated return to regular events in the fall. Chairs of TCBA’s sections and committees will meet in August to begin planning their programs. It’s a great time to get involved and offer suggestions on what type of programming will help you in your professional develop. You can stay involved in the activities through TCBA’s weekly Monday emails, its website, and announcements through the various e-communities set up for sections and committees. g JULY/AUGUST 2021 ▪ TCBA BULLETIN 3