This is archive.

Mark Ciavaglia

October 24, 2023

Mark Ciavaglia practice is primarily focused on collection law in Galveston County. In 2004, the firm he was currently working for merged its collection practice with Linebarger. He formerly served the City of Texas City Municipal Court as a prosecutor and Alternate Judge for seven years. He served six years on the District 5B Grievance Committee for the State Bar of Texas, three years of which he served as Chair of the Committee. 

Mr. Ciavaglia has been active in civic and community affairs, having served on the founding board of the Advocacy Center of Children for Galveston County and the Texas City ISD (TCISD) Foundation for the Future. In 2020, he was given the ‘Vocational Service Award’ by the Rotary Club of Texas City. 

Mr. Ciavaglia attended College of the Mainland in Texas City, Texas and graduated from the University of Houston, Clear Lake with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting in 1990. He received his Doctor of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law in Houston, Texas in 1993 and was licensed to practice by the State Bar of Texas that same year. 

Ronald E. Rocha

October 24, 2023

Ronald Rocha supervises regional clients from the firm’s San Antonio office and his tenacity has produced higher collection rates for our clients. His background as a research assistant positioned him to be one of the office’s best researchers, problem solvers, and trouble shooters.

He first joined Linebarger in 1994 as a Research Assistant after earning his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from St. Mary’s University. After six years working with the firm as a research and litigation assistant, he went on to law school, in 2000. While in law school, he did his legal internship in our Houston Office within the bankruptcy department under the direction of John Dillman, who had just started with the law firm.

Upon graduation from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law in 2002 with his Juris Doctor, Ronald returned to the San Antonio Office to work and study for the bar exam. After passing the bar, he was designated as the firm’s official Ombudsperson to ensure the firm’s efforts aligned with the taxpayer’s rights and responsibilities. He was also assigned oversight of the sheriff sale process. While in that role he drew upon his experience as Ombudsperson to put in place procedures, that streamlined our foreclosure process to minimize the number of properties pulled from the sale as a result of payment arrangements.

David Aelvoet

October 24, 2023

David Aelvoet is the Managing Partner of Linebarger’s Bankruptcy division and has practiced law in the area of tax collection for three decades.

He is a member of the State Bar of Texas, the San Antonio Bar Association, and the San Antonio Bankruptcy Bar Association, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas.

Mr. Aelvoet was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1993 after receiving his Juris Doctorate from Oklahoma City University School of Law, his Masters of Business Administration in Management from St. Mary’s University, and his Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from Southwest Texas State University.

Lilia Gibson

October 24, 2023

Lilian Gibson oversees the day-to-day operation of the San Antonio office, including providing client service, litigation oversight, and team management.

Ms. Gibson joined Linebarger’s Edinburg office as a delinquent tax attorney in June 2003. In 2006, she was promoted to partner. In 2012, she moved to the firm’s San Antonio office, where she managed the Bexar County docket, representing school districts and cities within Bexar County for delinquent tax collection. Ms. Gibson is bilingual in English and Spanish and has 20 years of experience representing governmental entities in South Texas.  

 Locally, she has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Bexar County Family Justice Center, Edgewood Education Foundation of San Antonio, Judson Education Foundation, Northside Education Foundation and the North East Education Foundation. 

She is a member of the State Bar of Texas and a past member of the Local Bar Services Committee and Disaster Response Committee. She currently serves as Chair of the Firm’s Audit Committee and serves on the  IT Subcommittee and the Firm’s CLE Committee. She also participates as a member of the Bexar County Women’s Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association in San Antonio. Ms. Gibson earned her Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Texas at Austin in 1993 and a Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1997. 

Mark S. Harris

October 24, 2023

Mark Harris currently serves as Managing Partner in Linebarger’s Philadelphia law office, overseeing a team of attorneys and providing support for the clients served by the firm’s local office. Mr. Harris also serves on the firm’s National Marketing Committee, pursuing new business opportunities for the firm.

Before joining the firm, Mr. Harris practiced Title VII, labor and employment discrimination, family and juvenile law, breach of contract, intellectual property, and both corporate and consumer collections law in the federal and private sectors.

Mr. Harris is a 2015 graduate Fellow of the Leadership Dallas Independent School District program, a non-profit organization dedicated to developing leaders and agents of change to impact DISD’s educational programs. Mr. Harris has been a recurring speaker and panelist on taxation and collections issues, discussing issues of interest and impact to the firm’s clients in the industry. He is an active member of the State Bar Association of Maryland, serving in the State and Local Government and Delivery of Legal Services. He was a long-time volunteer for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and is a member of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity and the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Incorporated. Mr. Harris also sits on the boards of the North Broad Renaissance in Philadelphia, PA; Tel International in Dallas, TX; and the Alumni Board of Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, Houston, TX.

Mr. Harris is admitted to practice law in Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Texas, and the District of Columbia. Mr. Harris obtained his Bachelor of Science degree from Xavier University of Louisiana and his Juris Doctor from Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University.

Mark A. Flowers

October 24, 2023

Mark Flowers oversees Linebarger’s West Texas clients from the firm’s Odessa office. Mr. Flowers has deep ties to the region, serving as an assistant city attorney for the City of Midland, Texas, where he did civil litigation at the trial and appellate levels, contract drafting and review, general counsel on various municipal issues, and misdemeanor prosecution.

Mr. Flowers is licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas and the Federal District Court for the Western District of Texas and has received Merit Certification in Municipal Law from the Texas City Attorneys Association. Mr. Flowers is a Life Fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation and a College of the State Bar of Texas member.

He received his Juris Doctor from Texas Tech University in 1997, where he was Director of the Texas Tech School of Law Legal Research Board. He also has a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from Austin College in 1991 and a Master of Education from Texas A&M – Commerce in 1994.

Mr. Flowers has served as Vice President of the Midland County Young Lawyers Association, on the board of directors for the Texas Young Lawyers Association, Rotarian in the Odessa Rotary Club, Board of Directors of the Ellen Noel Art Museum in Odessa, Board of Directors of the Odessa Chamber of Commerce.

Cristina Gonzalez

October 24, 2023

Cristina Gonzalez manages daily operations, ensures compliance, and maintains regular communications with clients served by our New York City office.

Prior to Linebarger, Ms. Gonzalez was an associate with the law firm of Person, Whitworth, Ramos, Borchers and Morales in Laredo, Texas. She then worked for Texas State Senator Judith Zaffirini for two regular and three special legislative sessions from 2000 to 2003, serving as General Counsel and Chief of Staff.

Ms. Gonzalez is a graduate of the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, Leadership San Antonio Class 30. She served on the Board of Directors for the Southwest School of Art, Communities in Schools of San Antonio, Northside Education Foundation, Big Brothers/Big Sisters of South Texas, San Antonio Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Fiesta San Antonio Commission. She currently serves as the Chair of the Hispanic Alumni of Notre Dame.

She is admitted to practice law in Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, Texas, and Vermont.

Ms. Gonzalez received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Notre Dame in 1989 and her Juris Doctor from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1992.

Tara Grundemeier

October 24, 2023

Tara Grundemeier serves as the managing attorney for the Houston bankruptcy division, where she oversees bankruptcy matters for the firm’s clients in Greater Houston, East Texas and Southeast Texas.  Ms. Grundemeier provides strategic advice, planning, and representation for the firm’s clients in bankruptcy cases across the United States and cross-border insolvency cases.  She has extensive experience litigating ad valorem tax issues in the country’s largest and most complex corporate reorganization and liquidations, generating millions of dollars in property tax collections for the firm’s clients.

Ms. Grundemeier serves on the firm’s Benefits Committee and the Litigation and Legal Standards Committee.  She also serves on the Board of Directors for the States’ Association of Bankruptcy Attorneys.  She is a member of several professional organizations including the American Bankruptcy Institute, the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation, the Turnaround Management Association and many others. Her distinction as a Fellow of both the Texas Bar Foundation and the Houston Bar Foundation is coupled with the honor of receiving the Houston Bar Association’s President’s Award in recognition of her contributions to local literacy programs.

Ms. Grundemeier earned Bachelor of Science degrees in Psychology and Political Science from the University of Houston.  She received her Juris Doctor degree from the Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, graduating magna cum laude.

She is licensed to practice in Texas and for the United States District and Bankruptcy Courts for the Northern, Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas as well as the United States District Court for the District of Colorado.  She is also licensed to appear before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

Richard Hill

October 24, 2023

Richard Hill works at Linebarger’s Houston, Texas office. He has been licensed to practice law in Texas since November 1986. His legal career began as a criminal and civil attorney in the private sector.

In February 1989, Mr. Hill joined the Harris County Attorney’s office as a trial attorney in the Eminent Domain and Ad Valorem Tax Divisions. He was then elevated to Division Chief in November 1991. During his 13-year tenure with the Harris County Attorney’s office. In February 2000, Mr. Hill was unanimously appointed by the Harris County Commissioners Court to serve as Judge of Harris County Civil Court at Law #1. While on the bench, he presided over more than 500 jury and non-jury trials. 

Mr. Hill attended public schools in Orlando, Florida. After graduation from High School in 1971, he served a four-year tour of duty in the United States Air Force, where he was awarded the Air Force Commendation Medal for Meritorious Service while serving in Southeast Asia. He graduated from Florida State University in 1978 with a Bachelor of Science. He then attended Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University and received a Doctor of Jurisprudence in August 1981. Mr. Hill enjoyed a successful career in sales and marketing as an account executive for several years before applying to the State Bar of Texas for his law license. 

Tanya Eriksson Wood

October 24, 2023

Tanya Eriksson Wood is a capital partner and a member of the firm’s Management Committee. She is responsible for overseeing current and delinquent tax collections for various clients at Linebarger.

Before joining Linebarger, she served as the Tax Assessor-Collector for the Houston Independent School District and holds the title of Registered Tax Assessor-Collector. Her background also includes roles as an abstractor and escrow officer for Lawyers Title Company in Houston and as a law clerk for Hughes, Watters & Askanase, LLP in Houston. She holds Real Estate Salesman and Real Estate Broker licenses obtained in 1996 and 2002, respectively.

Mrs. Eriksson Wood is a lifetime member of the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo™ and is actively involved with their International Committee. She is also a member of charitable organizations such as the Bluebonnet Bells and Art Angels.

She is licensed to practice law in the courts of Texas and Oregon. Mrs. Eriksson Wood received her Doctor of Jurisprudence from South Texas College of Law in Houston and holds a Master’s of Business Administration and a Bachelor’s of Business Administration, graduating Cum Laude, from Texas A&M University in College Station.