Law Briefs: Blum Firm hires Rittmayer

Matthew Rittmayer

LAW BRIEFS

Blum Firm hires Rittmayer

The Blum Firm has hired Matthew G. Rittmayer, an attorney with 10 years of experience beginning in litigation and shifting to estate planning, probate, and estate administration in 2016.

Rittmayer earned his Juris Doctor from Texas Tech University School of Law magna cum laude in 2009. He earned a bachelor of arts in history from Emory University.

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While at Texas Tech Law, Matthew served as Comment Editor for Texas Tech Law Review. He received CALI Excellence for the Future Awards for the highest grades in Constitutional Law and Contracts. He also received Jurisprudence Awards for academic excellence in Contracts, Criminal Law, and Legal Practice II.

He has repeatedly been recognized by his peers in Thomson Reuters’ Texas Super Lawyers publication as a “Texas Rising Star Super Lawyer” (2015-2019).

Pro Bono Award

Julie K. Sherman, a board certified paralegal at Cantey Hanger LLP., is the lone recipient of the 2020 Pro Bono Support Staff Award, presented by the State Bar of Texas and its Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee.

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 “ … [T]he State Bar of Texas and the Committee recognize your dedication to the provision of legal services to the poor as truly exceptional,” the announcement said. Sherman will be honored during the virtual 2020 State Bar Annual Meeting June 25-26.

The Pro Bono Support Staff Award recognizes the outstanding and exemplary contributions of non-attorney volunteers such as paralegals, administrative assistants, interpreters and other support staff who work on pro bono projects. To qualify, an individual must provide legal assistance, without compensation, in a non-mandatory program that requires specific legal skills, knowledge, or training under the supervision of a licensed attorney or qualified organization.

“I am very honored,” Sherman said. “I would like to thank my family and my firm, Cantey Hanger, for all of their support. Pro bono work has always been a very important part of our community, but right now it is essential.  Please consider volunteering; Tarrant Volunteer Attorney Services, Texas Lawyers for Texas Veterans and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas are all in need of volunteers.”

Sherman has been a paralegal since 1985 and in the litigation section at Cantey Hanger since 1996. She serves on the Board of Directors for the Fort Worth Paralegal Association and has been a paralegal instructor at The University of Texas at Arlington. She was board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization – Personal Injury Trial Law in 1995 and has been re-certified in 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2015.

This is not Sherman’s first recognition. She has been honored with the Tarrant County Young Lawyers and The State of Texas’ Young Lawyers’ Liberty Bell Awards, the Tarrant County Bar Foundation – TVAS Paralegal Volunteer of the Year, State Bar – Paralegal Division’s Exceptional Pro Bono Volunteer, Paralegal of the Year – Fort Worth Paralegal Association, and President – Fort Worth Paralegal Association.

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Professionally, she is associated with the State Bar of Texas – Paralegal Division, Fort Worth Paralegal Association, Tarrant County Bar Association, The College of the State Bar of Texas, Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas and the Tarrant Volunteer Attorney Services Committee.

In the community, she has volunteered with the Tarrant Attorney Volunteer Services,
Tarrant Area Food Bank, Cook Children's Medical Center, Susan G. Komen and Legal Aid of Northwest Texas.
“Recognition for Julie’s work is more than well deserved,” said Brian Newby, Managing Partner at Cantey Hanger. “She sets the standard for the firm for what is possible to give back professionally and in our communities.” 

Waco attorney president-elect of TYLA

In the Texas Young Lawyers Association election in May, Jeanine Novosad Rispoli of Waco was elected president-elect and will serve as TYLA president from June 2021 to June 2022. Rispoli received 57 percent of the 3,401 votes cast.

Rispoli said she was inspired to be a lawyer from an early age after learning of her adoption. Adopted in San Antonio and raised in Houston and Sugar Land, she graduated from Baylor University and Baylor Law School before returning to Houston to practice.

Rispoli moved back to Waco to join a large firm. Her passion for helping families led to opening Rispoli Law Firm in 2018. Rispoli’s goal is to help families build a better future, paying back the help her adoptive and biological families received. She enjoys volunteering through the Baylor Law Veterans Clinic and pro bono adoptions.

She served on the TYLA Local Affiliates and Attorney Wellness committees, is a State Bar of Texas Local Bar Services Committee member, Junior League of Waco secretary, Texas Bar Foundation fellow, LeadershipSBOT graduate, and frequent mock trial judge. Rispoli speaks regularly on panels to law students and young lawyers and mentors law and pre-law students.

The following individuals were elected to the TYLA Board of Directors:

Padon D. Holt, College Station; Ryan R. Bauerle, Plano; Hisham A. Masri, Dallas; Michael Gaston-Bell, Dallas; Eduardo Canales, Houston; Ashley Hymel, Houston; Katie A. Fillmore, Austin; Martin A. Garcia, Fort Worth; Matthew S. Manning, Corpus Christi; Kirk Cooper, El Paso; and Courtney White, Amarillo.

Perkins Coie grows in Texas

Perkins Coie announced that Jill Louis has joined the firm’s corporate and securities practice as a partner in the Dallas office. That follows the opening of the firm’s Austin office in February and the recent addition of John Treviño in Dallas, a privacy law attorney, as Perkins Coie continues to grow and expand its Texas operations. Louis  received her J.D. from Harvard University and her B.A., magna cum laude, from Howard University. She is well known in Dallas civic and philanthropic circles and serves on several boards, including as a director at the AT&T Performing Arts Center, an executive board member of KERA, and as a member of the board of trustees for Howard University.