Austin Lawyer - Austin Attorney - Sue Berkel - Credientials and Experience

Credentials & Experience

Past Experience

Attorney, Law Office of Sue Berkel - engaged in general civil and criminal practice, including: residential construction law, criminal law, collections, administrative, family, and probate law.

Senior Administrative Law Judge, State Office of Administrative Hearings - conducted hundreds of administrative hearings for a variety of state agencies, drafted and issues Proposals for Decision, Final Orders, Interim Orders, made pretrial and trial procedural and evidentiary rulings, supervised and trained other administrative law judges.

Municipal Judge, City of Austin - conducted trials before the court as well as jury trials, made evidentiary rulings, issues subpoenas and warrants, reviewed probable cause affidavits, arraigned criminal defendants and set bonds.

Section Chief, Texas Department of Insurance - conducted administrative hearings and appeals, drafted rules, supervised attorneys, investigators, paralegals and secretaries who pursued enforcement actions against insurance companies including several actions which resulted in record setting million dollar fines against insurance companies.

Supervising Attorney, Pope & Associates, P.C. - conducted litigation as well as supervised attorneys in the litigation department: litigation matters included insurance defense, breach of contract, negligence, DTPA, personal injury defense, collections, civil rights, real estate, family and probate: clients included Texas Associate of School Boards, Franklin Federal Bancorp, Anchor Mortgage Savings, State Board of Insurance, H.U.D., F.D.I.C., R.T.C.

Assistant Attorney General, Texas Attorney General's Office - represented state agencies in civil rights, tort claims, family law, administrative appeals and licensing litigation; maintained an over ninety percent win record in litigation in federal and state, district and appellate courts; conducted over one hundred trials and appellate arguments (including arguments in the Fifth Circuit and the Texas Supreme Court); testified before the Texas Legislature as an expert / author of numerous bills amending the Family Code, Penal Code, and Human Resources Code.

Assistant County Attorney, Travis County Attorney's Office - criminal misdemeanor prosecutor

Professional Development and Education

Business Law Instructor - Austin Community College

Guest Lecturer -

A.P.W.A. Tri-regional Training Conference, San Antonio, TX - Implications of Licensing
Am. Assoc. of Public Welfare Attorneys Education Conference, Boston, MA - The Constitutionality of the Texas Videotape Law in Criminal Proceedings and The State as Plaintiff (Using Media in Settlement)
National Child Welfare Resources Center Teleconference - Church-State Issues
Virginia Commonwealth Universities Licensing Institute, San Antonio, TX - Current Litigation in Licensing

State Bar Committee on Child Abuse and Neglect, past Chair of Legislative subcommittee
Travis County Women Lawyer's Association, past President
Austin Young Lawyer's Association, past Director

Licensed in Texas 1984; Federal District Court, 1986, 5th Circuit 1989

University of Texas School of Law - J. D. December, 1983
University of Texas in Austin - B. A. with Honors, 1980