Electronic ballots will be distributed Friday, April 26; voting will close Friday, May 17.
The Austin Bar’s Nominating Committee has released its slate of nominees for the 2024-25 board of directors.
The following candidates are running uncontested for officer positions:
President-Elect: Maitreya Tomlinson
Tomlinson is a board-certified civil appellate attorney and managing member of the Tomlinson Firm, PLLC. He currently serves as secretary of the Austin Bar Association. He has previously served as treasurer and on the board of directors.
Secretary: Judge Maya Guerra Gamble
Judge Guerra Gamble was elected to the 459th District Court bench in 2018. She has recently been honored to be named a Courageous Judge by the National Conference of Judges.
She currently serves as the Austin Bar treasurer and co-chairs the Mentorship Committee. A previous chair of the Equity (now DEI) Committee, Judge Guerra Gamble oversaw the inaugural Equity Summit presented by the Austin Bar.
Judge Guerra Gamble is a native Austinite, graduate of Austin High School, Yale College, and Yale Law School. She is married with two children. She is a devoted Scouter and is planning to canoe the Boundary Waters in Canada for 10 days this summer.
Her varied career prior to taking the bench included a solo practice representing children and parents in child protective services cases; representing whistleblowers at O’Connell & Soifer; prosecuting child pornography and child exploitation cases for the Texas Attorney General; suing companies committing fraud against the United States for the Department of Justice; and clerking for Judge Richard Cudahy on the 7th Circuit.
Treasurer: Rob Frazer
A partner at Goranson Bain Ausley, Frazer is board-certified in family law and proud father of three. Frazer has been named among the Best Lawyers in America from 2019 to 2023 and was recognized as Outstanding Director by the Austin Bar Association for the 2021-22 bar year.
Mary-Ellen King, the 2023-24 president-elect, will assume the office of president on July 1, 2024.
President: Mary-Ellen King
King is an attorney practicing civil litigation nationwide with Thompson Coe LLP. She currently serves as president-elect of the Austin Bar Association. She has previously served as secretary, treasurer, and on the board of directors, as well as on the Austin Young Lawyers Association board of directors. King was awarded the President’s Award of Merit for 2022-2023, named Outstanding Director by the Austin Bar for 2019-20, and Outstanding Young Lawyer by AYLA in 2012. She also received AYLA’s President’s Award of Merit in 2013 and is a graduate of the Austin Bar/AYLA Leadership Academy. She served as chair of the Judicial Reception Committee from 2010 to 2014 and as co-chair of the Austin Bar Foundation Gala Committee from 2020 to 2024. The 2024 Gala raised more than $234,000—the most of any Austin Bar Foundation Gala.
King is a current Austin Bar Foundation Fellow and previous leader and member of the Solo/Small Firm Section, where she served as chair, vice chair, and programming committee chair. She currently serves as president of the Rotary Club of Westlake, Rotary Paul Harris Fellow, secretary of the Austin chapter of Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, on the board of directors for the Women Symphony League, and is an active member of the Westlake Chamber of Commerce. Her most important accomplishment is her son, Wyatt, a third grader at Eanes Elementary.
The following candidates are running for four available director positions, each with a two-year term:
Elliott Beck
Beck works as the staff attorney for the 345th District Court. He is currently on the board of directors of the Austin Bar and a co-chair of the DEI Committee.
Beck has been a member of the Austin Bar and AYLA since he was licensed in 2011. Since that time, he has served as a co-chair for the Austin Bar/AYLA Leadership Academy, graduated from the 2018 Leadership Academy class, served on the Austin Bar Gala Planning and Bench Bar committees, and presented at Bench Bar.
Beck also previously served as a precinct chair and chair of the Rules Committee for the Travis County Democratic Party, as well as the chair of the LGBT Law Section of the State Bar of Texas and the president of the Austin LGBTQ+ Bar Association.
At the courthouse, Beck works with the Local Rules Committee, and he advised the Travis County Law Library in its efforts to make pro se forms gender neutral. He is also a barrister in the Lloyd Lochridge American Inn of Court.
Beck lives with his husband, Ryan, and their pups, Minnie, Bernie, and Pearl. The whole family loves movies and food, and the humans love wine and travel.
Sam Denton
Denton is a native Austinite, third-generation attorney, and Army veteran who currently serves on the Austin Bar board of directors and is seeking a second term.
Beginning in 2003, Denton served in the active duty and reserve components of the U.S.Army, both as a military intelligence officer and as a judge advocate (JAG) officer. His time in the military included a deployment to Iraq and service in key positions such as chief military intelligence officer for a maneuver enhancement brigade and chief legal advisor to a sustainment brigade.
In civilian life, Denton has worked as an attorney with the Special Prosecution Unit; co-founded Denton & Fahring, PLLC; and worked as a staff attorney for the Honorable Judge Maya Guerra Gamble at the Travis County Civil Courts. He currently serves as an associate corporate counsel at University Federal Credit Union.
With respect to community involvement, Denton is co-chair of the Austin Bar’s Fundraising and Events Committee, a former co-chair of the Leadership Academy, a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the Robert Calvert American Inn of Court, and Cubmaster for his children’s local Cub Scout pack. He has also served in several other volunteer roles.
Denton and his wife, Kristen, an accomplished emergency room physician, are the proud parents of three wonderful children: twin seven-year-olds and a four-year-old.
Katie Fillmore
Fillmore is a litigation partner at Michael Best, focusing on healthcare, product liability, and construction law. Before private practice, Fillmore worked for the government, including the Texas Supreme Court, the First Court of Appeals, and the Texas House of Representatives.
Fillmore has continuously held leadership roles in the Austin legal community for 13 years. She is the longest-serving board member in the history of the Austin Young Lawyers Association (AYLA), serving from 2011 to 2024. Fillmore served in executive leadership roles for AYLA from 2013 to 2018, including president from 2016 to 2017. She also served on the board and executive committee of the Austin Bar from 2015 to 2017.
Fillmore has held legal leadership roles at the state and national levels as well. She was a commissioner on the Texas Access to Justice Commission from 2022 to 2023, during which time she served on the working group that prepared recommendations for the Texas Supreme Court regarding the paraprofessional rule change. She served on the board of the Texas Young Lawyers Association from 2018 to 2023. Fillmore has also held leadership roles in Defense Research Institute.
Outside of legal pursuits, Fillmore enjoys working out and being involved in the community.
Sarah Harp
Harp graduated from The University of Oklahoma with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and anthropology and a minor in history. She obtained her JD from The University of Tulsa.
As soon as she graduated from law school in 2014, Harp moved to Austin and joined the Austin Young Lawyers Association (AYLA).
Harp has served as a director, secretary, and treasurer of AYLA and is currently the president. She is a recipient of the AYLA Outstanding Committee Chair Award and the President’s Award of Merit. Harp also serves as the project facilitator for the Austin Bar/AYLA Leadership Academy.
Additionally, Harp is a member of the District 9 Nominating Committee for the Texas Bar Foundation; is in the Guardian Angel Society for the Center for Child Protection; is a Volunteer Legal Services Judge Suzanne Covington Pro Bono Service Award Honoree; and recently took a Psychology of Criminal Behavior course at the University of Oxford in England.
Harp currently practices criminal appellate law at the Office of the Attorney General. In her free time, she enjoys reading non-fiction, watching every Bravo reality show, traveling, and hanging out with her dog, Moxie Mae.
Judge Sylvia Holmes
Judge Holmes assumed office as Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, in 2019, with a commitment to upholding fairness and compassion in the legal system. Re-elected unopposed in 2022, she has continued her mission to serve the community.
Judge Holmes holds a BBA in marketing from The University of Texas at Austin’s McCombs School of Business and earned her law degree from the University of Alabama School of Law in 2006.
Prior to her judicial role, she worked in private practice and served as associate director of the Legal Services for Students Office at UT Austin for eight years.
With 18 years of legal experience, she brings a wealth of knowledge to her roles, including president of the Rotary Club of Austin, director at large of the ABA Criminal Law Section, and editor of the JPCA Gavel & Badge newsletter.
Committed to community service, she’s a lifetime member of the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association and volunteers in various initiatives, including supporting the Community First! Village and fostering civic engagement among students with Early Act First Knight.
Passionate about mentoring aspiring legal minds, Judge Holmes strives to make a meaningful impact and foster a stronger, more inclusive legal community.
Rachel Seshan
Seshan practices regulatory and administrative law, specializing in public utility law. Currently serving as an enforcement attorney at the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, she was previously a prosecuting attorney at the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Her prior legal work was in private practice with a focus on construction and commercial litigation. In between the transition from private practice to regulatory attorney, she took time off to focus on family.
Seshan’s campaign for the Austin Bar board of directors is centered on promoting a healthier and more balanced legal community. She envisions a bar association that prioritizes mental health awareness, fosters a supportive environment for lawyers to find a better balance between their professional and personal lives, and encourages trauma-informed lawyering practices.
Seshan will advocate for initiatives that support lawyers in achieving a healthier work-life balance, recognizing the importance of mental well-being in maintaining high-quality legal services.
She will also push for the implementation of the Mental Health First Aid training program within our legal community, ensuring that lawyers have the skills and knowledge to support their colleagues and clients facing mental health challenges.
By focusing on these key areas and engaging with stakeholders, Seshan’s campaign aims to create a more supportive and mentally healthy legal community in Austin.
Beyond her legal work, Seshan is actively involved in professional and community activities. She is a member of the Barbara Jordan American Inn of Court, the Texas Bar College, and the State Bar of Texas Administrative Law and Public Utility Law sections, among others. She has also served on the board of directors for the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association.
Seshan’s advocacy and volunteer work include pro bono legal assistance for organizations like American Gateways and the CANLAW clinic, demonstrating her commitment to giving back to the community.
Seshan holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in International Law from the University of Houston Law Center, a JD from South Texas College of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts in political science from Baylor University.