Special Thanks to TCDLA's Course Directors
Bobby Mims, Tyler
Mr. Mims is a frequent lecturer at criminal law seminars and provided presentations on various criminal defense issues. Mr. Mims regularly appears by request for assistance and opinions with the local media outlets. Mr. Mims has obtained dozens of acquittals in Driving While Intoxicated cases. He is certified in the Standardized Field Sobriety Testing protocol as promulgated by the National Highway Safety Association. Recent statistics show that the acquittal rate for Mr. Mims’ clients on Driving While Intoxicated trials is over 90 percent of his cases taken to jury trials. Bobby D. Mims has been a criminal defense attorney for more than 30 years in East Texas. He has handled thousands of cases in the State including Smith, Henderson, Rusk, Cherokee, Gregg, Wood, Panola, Upshur and Nacogdoches counties and numerous cases in the United States District Courts of Texas and Louisiana. Mr. Mims is a Past-President of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, a member of the Smith County Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, the Cherokee County Bar Association, the Smith County Bar Association, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Mr. Mims is a Super Fellow of the Texas Lawyers Education Institute. He is on the faculty of the Texas Criminal Trial College and has served on the faculty of the Capital Trial Advocacy Program at the Center for American and International Law. Most recently he served on the 2016 State Bar of Texas advisory committee for the Advanced Criminal Law Seminar to further educate prosecutors, Judges, and other Defense attorneys.
Jeremy Rosenthal, McKinney
Jeremy Rosenthal is a senior partner at Rosenthal, Kalabus & Therrian, PLLC, the largest criminal defense law firm in Collin County and one of the largest in the State. Jeremy has tried over 200 cases to juries and he's Certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law. He's been designated as a "Super Lawyer" by Thomson Reuters and by D Magazine as a "Best Lawyer" for multiple years. He is a founder and past president of the McKinney Bar Association, former chair of the Collin County Bar Association's Criminal Law Section, and Lead Course director for Collin County Bar Association's Trial Academy. He is a past TCDLA Board Member and is currently an assistant editor for "The Voice for the Defense" in addition to being a past an current TCDLA committee chair. He was graduated from SMU School of Law in 2000 and earned his undergraduate degree from Texas Tech in 1997.
Monique Sparks, Houston
Monique C. Sparks received her bachelor's degree in Political Science from Dillard University in 2003. She received her Juris Doctorate degree in 2006 from Texas Southern University’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law and became licensed in the same year. She opened her firm, The Sparks Law Firm, P.C. in 2008 in Houston, Texas. Attorney Monique Sparks handles Felonies, Federal, and Parole matters in Houston and surrounding counties. She is graduate of the Gerry Spence Trial Lawyers College. She is a Co-chair of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Project committee.
Clay Steadman, Kerrville
Is a partner in the Law Offices of Jesko & Steadman, in Kerrville, Texas. He has had a general law practice with his wife, Elizabeth, in Kerrville since 1995. His primary focus is litigation, with an emphasis on criminal defense. He has been a member of TCDLA since 1995, and served on TCDLA’s Board of Directors, from 2009 – 2015. He is the immediate past chair of the Criminal Defense Lawyers Project and is a current member of the Executive and Budget Committees. Clay is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Educational Institute, and currently serves as the Chair of TCDLEI. He is a TCDLEI Super Fellow. Clay has served on the faculty of the Tim Evans Texas Criminal Trial College for 2017, 2018, and 2019. As a charter member of the Hill Country Criminal Defense Lawyers Association, he has served on the Board of Directors since 2013. He is member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, and the National Child Abuse Defense & Resource Center. Clay is also a member of the Kerr County Bar Association. An active speaker, he has presented and spoken at numerous continuing legal education seminars, served as course director, and authored numerous articles on various criminal defense topics. Clay received his B.B.A. in Finance from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989, and his J.D. from St. Mary’s Law School in 1992.