ADJUNCT PROFESSORS, SPRING 2017

CRIMINAL LAW TOPICS - WHITE COLLAR CRIME

Adjunct Professor Ignacio Perez de la Cruz will teach the Criminal Law Topics - White Collar Crime in Spring 2017. Professor Perez de la Cruz currently works as a trial attorney with the United States Department of Justice in Dallas. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Brown University in molecular biology and a Ph.D. from MIT in neurobiology. He then graduated from Harvard Law School in 2008. Before and during law school, he worked as a patent agent at Ropes & Gray LLP in Boston, drafting and securing biotechnology patents before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. After graduating from law school, Professor Perez de a Cruz joined the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Tax Division, in Washington D.C. as a trial attorney. At DOJ, he investigated and prosecuted tax fraud and related white-collar offenses throughout the country, including in California, Alaska and Wyoming. He also served two six-month stints as a Special Assistant United States Attorney (SAUSA) in Washington D.C. and in San Diego. As SAUSA in D.C., he conducted over twenty trials. As a SAUSA in San Diego, he prosecuted primarily immigration and drug smuggling crimes. 

ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Adjunct Professor Howard Gilberg has practiced environmental law for over 30 years in Dallas as a shareholder in Guida, Slavich & Flores, P.C., an environmental law boutique firm, and before that, as a shareholder in Thompson Knight, LLP.  He received his undergraduate degree in Honors Economics from the University of Virginia in 1977, and received his J.D. cum laude from the Indiana University School of Law in 1981. Howard has been listed several times as a Best Lawyers in Dallas: Environmental Law. He has served in environmental leadership roles for many years, among them Chair of the Environmental Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and of the Dallas Bar Association, Chair of the North Texas Clean Air Coalition, Chair of the Greater Dallas Chamber Water, Energy and Environment Committee and its predecessors, and as a Board member of the Trinity Commons Foundation. Howard represents economic development interests, from real estate, banking and corporate entities, manufacturers and individuals subject to environmental regulation, and others. In his work, he interacts extensively with elected officials and with government agency environmental policy makers, and elected officials. He believes that lawyers trained in environmental law can be creative and collaborative environmental problem solvers.

HEALTH CARE LAW II

Adjunct Professor Ashley Johnston will teach Health Care Law II in Spring 2017. She is an Associate at Gray Reed. She is Board Certified in Health Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. Her practice focuses on representing a range of health care providers about transactional, operational, and compliance issues relating to laws including the Affordable Care Act, Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement, and others. She is a member of the College of the State Bar of Texas and was recognized as a Rising Star in Texas Super Lawyers.

Adjunct Professor Joshua Weaver will teach Health Care Law II in Spring 2017. He recently opened his own firm, Weaver & Weaver, with a practice dedicated to health care law. Previously, he was a Shareholder at Posinelli, P.C., where his practice focused on health care law, including representing hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers on transactions implicating federal and state health care laws, on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues, and on other transactions and compliance issues. He is Board-Certified in Health Care Law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization. He is President-Elect of the DFW Alliance for Healthcare Excellence.

IMMIGRATION LAW I

Adjunct Professor Danial Gividen will teach Immigration Law I in Spring 2017.  He received his undergraduate degree from Webster State University and his J.D. from Gonzaga University School of Law in 2009. Following law school, he served as law clerk to the Honorable Jorge Solis, United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas.  Because he had held summer internships in several public defender’s offices, he joined the criminal defense firm of Sorrell, Udashen & Anton following his judicial clerkship.  Soon after, he received an opportunity to serve as Assistant Chief Counsel for the Office of Chief Counsel, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), Department of Homeland Security. He now also serves as Special Assistant U.S. Attorney, working with ICE and with the United States Attorney’s Office.  His interests and experience focus on use of prosecutorial discretion in immigration removal actions, and he has written and presented on immigration-related topics.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW II - TRADEMARK LAW

Adjunct Professor Richard Salgado will teach Intellectual Property Law II -  Trademark Law in Spring 2017. Professor Salgado is a Partner at Dentons US, LLP, the largest law firm in the world. He received his J.D., summa cum laude, from Brigham Young University and began his legal career by clerking for the Honorable Fortunato P. Benavides on U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. After working in the Issues & Appeals practice at Jones Day for five years, Professor Salgado joined Dentons in 2012. He has obtained significant wins for clients in cases of all types, including class actions, antitrust, intellectual property and commercial litigation matters, in state and federal courts across the US. In the intellectual property space specifically, Professor Salgado recently obtained the first Federal Circuit opinion considering the interplay between the America Invents Act and joinder rules under the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, and a precedent-setting Federal Circuit decision establishing the amount of due diligence that an employer must exercise in order to enforce employees’ assignment agreements concerning IP rights.Texas Lawyer magazine recently honored Salgado as one of 20 “Lawyers on the Rise” state wide, a recognition for attorneys 40 and under who have established a record of accomplishments and have demonstrated that they are top contributors to the practice of law and their communities.

PRACTICUM - state criminal law

Adjunct Professor Mike Howard will teach the Practicum - State Criminal Law in Spring 2017. He graduated from Texas Tech University and from SMU Dedman School of Law, where he was an Articles Editor on the International Law Review. After law school, he was a staff attorney at Legal Aid of Northwest Texas, where he handled housing, consumer protection, bankruptcy, and economic benefits. He then joined the office of the Dallas County Public Defender as an Assistant Public Defender, where he served for 3 years in felony and misdemeanor courts, serving as first-chair attorney and second-chair attorney across a span of cases including misdemeanor, assault, aggravated assault, sexual assault, murder, and capital murder. Since July 2009, he has been in a solo practice, where his caseload ranges from misdemeanor to felony criminal cases. He has served as a Bedford Mentor at the College of Law.

PRACTICUM - TAX AND ELDER PLANNING

Adjunct Professor Eric Reis will teach Practicum - Tax and Elder Planning in Spring 2017. He received his bachelor’s degree from Harvard College in 1992 and his law degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1996. In law school he served as an Associate Editor of the Texas Law Review and was admitted to the Order of the Coif. Following law school, he joined the law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP, where he specializes in tax and estate planning. He is Board Certified in both Tax Law and Estate Planning & Probate Law; is a Fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC); and is listed in the Best Lawyers in America and Texas Super Lawyers. He previously served on the Council of the Real Estate, Probate & Trust Law section of the State Bar of Texas and was chair of the section’s Decedents’ Estates committee, where he helped develop probate legislation for adoption by the Texas legislature.

WILLS, TRUSTS, AND ESTATES

Adjunct Professor Sam Long will teach Wills, Trusts, and Estates in Spring 2017. He is Of Counsel to the firm of Shackelford, Bowen, McKinley & Norton, LLP.  He received his undergraduate degree from SMU with highest honors, and received his J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University. At Vanderbilt, he was an Associate Editor on the Vanderbilt Law Review and a member of Order of the Coif.  After graduation from law school, he joined the firm of Thompson & Knight, practicing in the areas of estate planning and taxation. He is Board Certified in both Estate Planning and Probate Law and in Tax Law. He has written and presented in multiple settings on wills, trusts, estate planning, and taxes. He has over thirty years of legal experience in all aspects of comprehensive estate planning, wills, trusts, disability and end-of-life documents, family wealth planning, probate and administration, and planning and administering trusts and non-profit organizations.