Faculty

Professor Maslanka is widely regarded as one of the top employment and human resources lawyers in Texas. After earning his J.D. from Tulane Law School with honors, Professor Maslanka served as a trial attorney for the National Labor Relations Board; his legal career in Dallas includes being an associate and partner with Clark, West, Keller, Butler and Ellis; serving as partner and head of Labor and Employment group at Godwin Gruber; and serving as managing partner of the Dallas office of a national employment law firm, Constangy, Brooks, and Smith.

Professor Maslanka is a prolific writer and speaker on employment law, and also on topics relating to professionalism, ethical decision-making, and law practice. Among his regular writings are: Work Matters, a monthly column in the Texas Lawyer on professionalism, and on employment law; The Literate Lawyer, a quarterly column in the Texas Lawyer on how literature makes us better lawyers and better human beings; and the Texas Employment Law Newsletter, a monthly newsletter. He is also the author of Human Resources Forms with Commentary (Warren, Gorham & Lamont 1998); Maslanka’s Field Guide to the FMLA (4th ed. 2015); Maslanka’s Field Guide to the ADA (2012); and Maslanka’s Field Guide to the Texas Labor Code (2012), among other books.

He developed “The Adaptable Lawyer” in conjunction with the Texas Bar CLE annual program at the Texas Bar Convention; the program is designed to help solo and small firm lawyers adapt to the changing practice of law. His extensive teaching in continuing legal education has addressed employment law, as well as topics of effective client communications, dealing with professional challenges such as dysfunctional counsel, and professionalism.

Professor Owsley received his J.D. from Columbia University School of Law, where he was a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar. He served as Executive Editor of the Columbia Human Rights Law Review. He also received a master’s degree in International Affairs from the Columbia School of International and Public Affairs.

After law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Janis Graham Jack, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas; served as Leonard H. Sadler Fellow for Human Rights Watch in New York City; and clerked for the Honorable Martha Craig Daughtrey, United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. After his appellate court clerkship, he practiced with the Southern Poverty Law Center as a legal fellow in Montgomery, Alabama; the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.; and with a private law firm in Washington, D.C., which now has merged with the international firm of Troutman, Sanders.

After private practice, Professor Owsley returned to government practice, working as a trial attorney for the United States Department of Justice in Washington, D.C. Following this period, he was appointed as a United States Magistrate Judge for the Southern District of Texas, where he served from 2005 until 2013. With this extensive and varied practice and judicial experience, he entered law teaching in 2013. He has taught at Texas Tech and Indiana Tech Law Schools.

Perkins obtained his B.A. from Harvard University and his J.D. from Loyola University School of Law. He started his legal career with the Federal Trade Commission, and then moved into private practice, engaging in public finance law, commercial and insurance litigation, and trial and appellate work.

In 1992, Perkins was appointed Division Chief of the Antitrust and Consumer Protection Division, Office of the Attorney General of the State of Texas. As Division Chief for five years, he had primary responsibility for enforcement of the State’s consumer protection and antitrust laws; this also entailed supervision of staff attorneys in regional offices across the State of Texas.

Following his work with the Attorney General, Perkins returned to private practice before being named as First Assistant City Attorney and Chief of Litigation for the Dallas City Attorney. In 2005, the City Council appointed him as Dallas City Attorney.

In his position as Dallas City Attorney, Perkins was the chief legal officer for the City, and supervised approximately 100 attorneys in the Litigation Division and the General Counsel Division. His responsibilities included advising the City Council, council members, and all city departments. In overseeing the work of the Litigation Division, his responsibilities included litigation relating to employment, personal injury, zoning, environmental, and class actions. The General Counsel division, which he also oversaw, advised all city departments (including boards and commissions) and drafted all procurement contracts, ordinances, and opinions. As City Attorney, Perkins also managed outside counsel and the City’s risk fund, and managed all Municipal Court prosecutions, including the Office’s nationally recognized Community Prosecution team and Community Courts.

In 2010, the Dallas Business Journal named him as the “Best Corporate Counsel” with a staff of 11 or more.

Perkins’ service to the legal and civic community includes serving as Council Member of the State Bar of Texas’ Antitrust and Business Litigation Section, membership on the Court Advisory Committee for the Northern District of Texas, and membership on the Boards of Texas Appleseed, C.C. Young Retirement Center, and St. Mark’s School of Texas.

In 2001, Professor Porterfield earned his B.A. from the University of Texas at Austin with highest honors with a double major of Government and German, and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa and the National Golden Key Honor Society. In 2004, Professor Porterfield graduated as the Valedictorian of his law school class at Baylor Law School, earning his J.D. degree summa cum laude. He earned the highest score in the class in many of his first year classes, including Contracts, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, and Torts. He also served as Senior Executive Editor of the Baylor Law Review, making initial publication decisions, and as Managing Editor of the 2004 edition of Texas Practice, Baylor’s inaugural special issue focusing on Texas evidence and procedure.

Also while at Baylor, Professor Porterfield competed successfully in several advocacy competitions. His team won the inaugural 2003 National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers Mock Trial Tournament and he was named the Best Oral Advocate of the competition as his team went undefeated to claim the championship. His team also claimed the Regional Championship of the 2004 Association of Trial Lawyers of America (now AAJ) Mock Trial Competition, beating another Baylor team in the finals, and was a National semi-finalist, placing third on points overall. His brief was also named Third Best Brief of the 2002 New York Bar Association Moot Court Tournament. 

After graduating from Baylor, Professor Porterfield served as a law clerk to the Honorable David C. Godbey, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division. While a law clerk to Judge Godbey, Professor Porterfield was an assistant coach of Baylor’s National Championship Mock Trial Team in the 2005 ATLA Competition. The Texas House of Representatives issued a congratulatory Resolution describing the school’s success in the 2003, 2004, and 2005 competitions. See Texas House Resolution 2058 (May 26, 2005).

Professor Porterfield then joined Carrington Coleman, a large Dallas law firm. He defended a variety of medical and legal professionals in malpractice and administrative licensure actions, health care institutions in a variety of matters, and corporations in multi-national disputes, helping to resolve a global dispute in London involving parties from three continents. While at Carrington Coleman, he was active in pro bono work for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, helping victims of domestic violence and exploited consumers. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Dallas Wind Symphony from 2006-2009.

In 2009, Professor Porterfield joined Lee Brown at the Brown Law Firm in Dallas – a firm specializing in complex automotive product defect cases. He represented catastrophically injured consumers in these complex cases against car manufacturers and automotive component suppliers from around the world. Professor Porterfield has tried several multi-week product liability cases and has litigated these cases in courts all across the country – including Hawaii – at all stages, from pretrial through trial and appeals, including briefing to the Courts of Appeals and the Texas Supreme Court. 

In 2012, Professor Porterfield left the Brown Law Firm to pursue an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School. While at Harvard, he researched and specialized in international civil litigation and published his first article with the Temple Law Review, entitled “Too Much Process, Not Enough Service: International Service of Process Under the Hague Service Convention,” a critique of the treaty governing international service of process, including suggestions for reform. He graduated from Harvard Law School in 2013 and his LL.M. Thesis, which earned Honors marks, focuses on reforming personal jurisdiction and judgment enforcement rules, including a critique of the Hague Judgments Convention. He continues to research and write in the areas of Civil Procedure and Evidence.

Following graduation from law school, Shultz joined the global firm of King & Spalding LLP, in Washington, D.C. At King & Spalding, she focused her practice on business litigation and civil and criminal antitrust law. She managed complex cases, drafted dispositive motions and appellate briefs, prepared corporate clients for trial, and represented an inmate on death row. In addition, she represented corporate and individual clients before the grand jury and conducted civil and criminal antitrust and SEC investigations. Late in 2006, Professor Shultz left King & Spalding and co-founded ReLegal Group LLC. She relocated to Dallas in late 2014.

Shultz attended the University of Texas School of Law, where she served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Texas International Law Journal and received the Vinson & Elkins’ Scholarship for Excellence in International Law. Before law school, Professor Shultz graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in English and a concentration in Global Development Studies in 1998. After graduation, she worked for the Japanese government as an English teacher in the Tokushima prefecture of Japan.

Tamer has successfully authored numerous appellate briefs in courts across the country as well as two successful Motions for Rehearing in front of the Texas Supreme Court. She recently represented a family in a jury trial resulting a $48 million verdict that was included in the Top 100 Verdicts for 2012. She has published two law review articles: “Arab Americans, Affirmative Action and a Quest for Racial Identity,” 16 Tex. J. on C.L. & C.R. 101 (2010) and “Toddlers, Tiaras and Pedophilia: The Borderline Child Pornography Embraced by the American Public,” 13 Tex. Rev. Ent. & Sports L. 85 (2012). She is licensed in Texas and California.

Tamer graduated from the University of Texas School of Law in 2011, receiving her degree with highest honors. She served as an Associate Editor on the Texas Law Review, and graduated as a member of Order of the Coif and Chancellors. She also served for several years as a “Teaching Quizmaster” in the law school’s first year legal writing and research program. She received Dean’s academic achievement awards in Brief Writing and Oral Advocacy, and in Legal Research and Writing. She was honored by the Texas Supreme Court for receiving one of the top three scores on the Texas Bar exam.

He previously served as Associate Dean for Administration and Finance, and held the Ernest W. Clemens Professorship for Corporate and Securities Law at the St. Mary’s University School of Law in San Antonio, Texas. He was the founding director of the Center for Latina/Latino Legal Studies at St. Mary’s.

Born and raised in the Texas Panhandle, Professor Valencia is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Law School. Following law school, he practiced law with Jones, Day in Dallas for 5 years, in the areas of commercial litigation and corporate bankruptcy.

He joined the St. Mary’s law faculty in 1995. He was appointed by President Clinton as one of 16 White House Fellows for 1999-2000, and worked in the White House Office of Chief of Staff, focusing primarily on race, civil rights, immigration, and Hispanic education issues. He is the lead author of Mexican Americans and the Law: ¡El Pueblo Unido Jamas Sera Vencido!

Valencia has received the 2012 Equality Texas Becky Cross Anchor Award in recognition of work with and support of LBGTQ students; the 2008 Distinguished Faculty Award from St. Mary’s Law School; and the Outstanding Legal Achievement Award (2003 and 2006) from the Mexican American Bar Association of San Antonio. He has served, by appointment, on: the Supreme Court of Texas Task Force for Gender Fairness; several committees of the Law School Admission Council; and the Council on Legal Education Opportunity.

Professor Wattley graduated from Smith College, cum laude, with high honors in Sociology. She received her Juris Doctorate degree from Boston University College of Law, where she was a Martin Luther King, Jr. fellow and recipient of the Community Service Award. She also served as a summer intern for the General Counsel's Office of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Professor Wattley began her legal career as an Assistant United States Attorney in the District of Connecticut representing the United States in civil litigation. Through her actions, the United States participated as litigating amicus curiae in Connecticut ARC v. Thorne, the lawsuit that led to the entry of a consent decree overhauling the system for serving persons with mental retardation in Connecticut.

She later transferred to the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Texas, located in Dallas, where she focused on the prosecution of white collar crime and served as Chief of the Economic Crime Unit. During her service as a prosecutor, she received two Department of Justice Special Achievement Awards, the United States Postal Inspection Service National Award, and commendations from the Department of Treasury, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and the Customs Department.

Professor Wattley then went into private litigation practice, where her work included white-collar criminal defense, civil rights litigation, federal and state criminal defense, and post-conviction proceedings. After joining the OU College of Law faculty in 2007, Professor Wattley continued to represent clients on a pro bono basis, primarily involving post-conviction relief.

Professor Wattley continues to work with Centurion Ministries, a non-profit organization based in Princeton, New Jersey, devoted to the vindication and liberation of persons wrongfully convicted and imprisoned. Through Centurion, she served as one of the attorneys for Kerry Max Cook, a former Texas death row inmate. In 2009, Professor Wattley represented Richard Miles in his release from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Professor Wattley has served on a variety of civic and professional boards and committees, including the State Bar of Texas Board of Disciplinary Appeals; District 6 Grievance Committee; Dallas Bar Foundation; and the Board of Regents for Texas Woman's University. She was appointed to serve on "Dallas Together," a mayoral committee appointed to address racial issues within the City of Dallas, and also was appointed Vice Chairperson for the 1990 and 2000 City of Dallas Redistricting Commissions. She has been an instructor for National Institute of Trial Advocacy programs.

Professor Wattley received the Dallas Bar Association’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award in 1994. She is also the recipient of the DaVinci Institute Fellow Award for Innovative Teaching (2013), the Oklahoma Bar Association’s Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Diversity Award (2012), the Association of Black Lawyers’ Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher Award (2012), and the University of Oklahoma Regents’ Award for Superior Professional and University Service and Public Outreach (2011).

A native of Ohio, Wondracek chose to pursue her undergraduate studies in the warmer climate of Charleston, SC. Wondracek graduated from the College of Charleston with a B.S. in Business Administration, a B.A. in Political Science, and a minor in Economics in 2000.

In 2003, Wondracek earned her J.D. from the University of North Carolina School of Law. Licensed to practice law in North Carolina, Wondracek went on to become a Staff Attorney at North Carolina Prisoner Legal Services in Raleigh, NC. Family obligations changed Wondracek’s career path, and in 2006 she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee with her Masters of Library and Information Science. Wondracek also obtained her Florida bar license in 2006. She has since worked as a law librarian and legal research instructor for Barry University Dwayne O. Andreas School of Law, Elon University School of Law, and University of Florida Levin College of Law.

Wondracek is the co-author of a forthcoming book chapter “Librarians & MOOCs” in Creating the 21st Century Academic Library published by Scarecrow Press (November 2014) and author of journal article “The E-FAC – One Year Later” in the January, 2015 issue of the Florida Bar Journal. Wondracek has also published in several newsletters and was a blogger and Editor for the RIPS Law Librarian Blog.

Wondracek has been a member of the American Association of Law Libraries (AALL) since 2005. She has served on the AALL Copyright Committee, as Secretary/Treasurer of the Government Document Special Interest Section, and as current Chair of the Research, Instruction, and Patron Services Special Interest Section. In July 2014, Wondracek coordinated the first AALL Hackathon at the Annual Meeting. In addition to AALL, Wondracek is a member of the Southeastern Association of Law Libraries, American Bar Association, North Carolina Bar Association, Florida Bar Association, and Dallas Association of Law Librarians.