Derick Mendoza has extensive experience in managing property tax collection programs for our Houston-area clients.

From 2006 to 2015, Mr. Mendoza served as an officer in the U.S. Army Reserve Judge Advocate General Corps. In 2011, he was a national finalist for Most Outstanding Army Reserve Junior Officer. He also earned the Army Meritorious Service Medal and Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal.

Mr. Mendoza is an active member of his community maintaining memberships in People Caring for the Community, Inc. and Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity. He is a founding member of the Filipino Young Professionals of Houston. Mr. Mendoza is a Texas Bar Foundation Fellow and the first Filipino American to serve as a Houston Bar Association Ambassador. He also serves as co-chair of the Houston Bar Association Special Olympics Committee.

After receiving a Bachelor of Business Administration from Texas A&M University-College Station in Business Administration in 1997, Mr. Mendoza earned a Doctor of Jurisprudence at South Texas College of Law-Houston in 2001. He also earned a Professional Certificate in Innovation and Entrepreneurship in 2018 from Stanford University. He was admitted to the Texas Bar in 2002 and to the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas in 2011.

Partner Angelica Hernandez practices from the firm’s Houston office and serves as the Chair of the Texas Bar Journal, former Chair of the Hispanic Issues Section, and former Minority Director of the Board of Directors for the State Bar of Texas. She’s a member of the Go Tejano Committee of the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Ms. Hernandez was the recipient of the Presidential Citation from SBOT President Sylvia Firth, Outstanding Third Year Director Award from SBOT Chair of Board Laura Gibson, Hispanic Issues Section James W. Wray Jr. Founder’s Award, Hispanic Issues Section Chair Award, Houston Bar Association’s President’s Award, State Bar of Texas Certificate of Merit, and Attorney of the Year Award from Linebarger LLC.

Prior to joining Linebarger, Ms. Hernandez worked as a briefing clerk for the Honorable David M. Medina (157th District Court Harris County) and as an associate at the law firm of Callier & Garza, LLP in Houston, Texas.

Ms. Hernandez received her Doctorate of Jurisprudence in 1993 from the University of Iowa, College of Law. She received her Bachelor of Arts degrees in Communication Studies and Spanish from the University of Iowa. She is licensed to practice before the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Texas and in all Courts of the State of Texas.

Kevin Underwood serves as Chief Compliance Officer for Linebarger and is an integral part of the firm’s statutory and regulatory compliance.

Prior to Linebarger, Mr. Underwood served as the Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs for AllianceOne. He is a former Judge pro tem and current member of the Washington State Administrative Office of the Courts, Pattern Forms ad hoc Subcommittee on Garnishment.

Mr. Underwood is a past president and the former long-serving Legislative Committee Chair for the Washington Collectors Association and has served on various committees for ACA International, including as chair of the Judiciary Committee (2023-2024). He has worked on virtually all legislation in Washington related to court and government collections, drafting numerous industry-related bills that became law. He has lectured on collection and compliance subjects at the state and national levels.

He is admitted to practice in the courts of Washington; Oregon; Minnesota; U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Washington; U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington; and U.S. Court of Appeals, Ninth Circuit.

Mr. Underwood received a Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice from the University of Washington, and his Juris Doctor from the University of Puget Sound (now Seattle University) School of Law with honors.

Marcus Hanna obtained his Doctor of Jurisprudence from Texas Wesleyan School of Law (now Texas A&M School of Law) and has been a licensed attorney in the Supreme Court of Texas since 2011. Recently, in July of 2023, he joined Linebarger as a Partner. With an impressive background, he brings a wealth of experience garnered during his tenure with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

During his time at the Criminal District Attorney’s Office, Mr. Hanna held various positions, including Court Team Attorney, Court Team Assistant Chief, and ultimately, Court Team Chief. His extensive experience in criminal court prosecution makes him an invaluable asset to Linebarger’s court-focused collection service.

Mr. Hanna was actively involved in various roles during his time at Baylor University, including membership in the Phi Delta Theta fraternity and serving as the president of the Baylor Ducks Unlimited Chapter in 2004. Later, at Texas Wesleyan School of Law (now Texas A&M School of Law), he achieved recognition for his academic excellence by earning a spot on the Dean’s List.

Partner Jordan Stimpson provides exemplary legal representation for our government clients in property tax collections and litigation from our Fort Worth office.

Mrs. Stimpson began her legal career at the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor where she prosecuted in both Felony and Misdemeanor courts, as well as the Felony Family Violence Unit. While with Dallas County, Mrs. Stimpson was named Prosecutor of the Year. Prior to joining Linebarger, Jordan worked in the Civil Division of the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office where she handled an array of tasks including litigation, labor and employment matters, public information requests and reviewing and drafting contracts involving Tarrant County. Before transitioning to the Civil Division, Jordan served as the Deputy Chief of a District Court and in the Special Victims Unit.

Jordan is an active member in the Tarrant County Bar Association, Mahon Inn of Courts, L. Clifford Davis Legal Association, and Texas Bar College. She is also deeply involved in her community and serves on the Board of Directors for various non-profit organizations. Ms. Stimpson is also a member of the Junior League of Fort Worth and the Junior Women’s Club of Fort Worth.

Mrs. Stimpson received a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism with honors from Southern Methodist University and went on to earn her Juris Doctor from the University of Houston Law Center.

Esther Alarcon joined Linebarger in 2019 as a delinquent tax attorney and handles delinquent property tax litigation and foreclosures for clients served by the firm’s El Paso office.   

During law school, Ms. Alarcon served as a qualified Texas mediator at the Alternative Dispute Resolution Clinic in Lubbock and as a law clerk at Mounce, Green, Myers, Safi, Paxon & Galatzan, PC, in El Paso. In her final year of law school, she was a full-time extern for the Houston-based non-profit Kids in Need of Defense.   

Prior to joining Linebarger, she served as an attorney at Reyes & Reyes, PLLC and supervised a full-time extern from the University of Arizona E. Rogers College of Law.   

Today, Ms. Alarcon engages with her local community through the El Paso Women’s Bar Association (EPWBA), and serves as a Mentor in the Mentors in Equality Program (MILE) of the EPWBA. Ms. Alarcon engages in community outreach, and shares her personal background with aspiring students who wish to join the legal profession. 

Ms. Alarcon is a member of the Texas State Bar Association. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Texas at El Paso in 2012 and her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Texas Tech University School of Law in 2016. 

Jaime “Jimmy” Gonzalez provides Hidalgo, Starr, and Zapata Counties with ad valorem tax collection and litigation services. Mr. Gonzalez focuses on collecting all delinquent taxes, attorney’s fees, and interest and penalties for his clients while assisting taxpayers with payment arrangements to avoid foreclosure.

Mr. Gonzalez has a long working relationship with the Hidalgo County legal community. He served as the chief public defender in the Hidalgo County Public Defender’s Office from 2005 to 2019. He also served as an assistant criminal district attorney from 2002 to 2005 in the Hidalgo County Criminal District Attorney’s Office.

While at law school, he was a member of the Mexican-American Law Students Association, serving as Secretary in 2002. He also joined the Minority Law Students Association in 2000 and served as President in 2002.

Mr. Gonzalez was admitted to the Texas State Bar in 2002. He is a member of the State Bar of Texas and the Hidalgo County Bar Association.

Mr. Gonzalez graduated from Texas Tech University School of Law with a Juris Doctorate in 2002. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English in 1999.

Linebarger partner George Calloway is a key member of the Ohio office management team and skilled litigator.

Mr. Calloway worked for the City Attorney in Columbus, Ohio, before he joined the Linebarger firm in 2005. As the Chief of the Claims Division, he provided clients with litigation related to outstanding individual and corporate local taxes and tort actions to recover damages to municipal property. Mr. Calloway also worked as a sole practitioner and served as special counsel to the Ohio Attorney General.

Mr. Calloway worked as the chief of a revenue recovery section for the Attorney General of Ohio early in his career. During this time, he administered one of Ohio’s largest delinquent debt/tax collection enterprises for over three years.

Mr. Calloway was admitted to the State Bar of Ohio in 1983. He is also admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Ohio.

Mr. Calloway graduated from Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, with a Bachelor of Arts in 1977. He received his Juris Doctor from Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, in 1981.

Partner Lisa Evans provides key legal expertise to our Bankruptcy department and is currently the Administrative Bankruptcy Attorney in our Dallas office.

She has been a frequent speaker at many judicial conferences since 2003, lecturing on bankruptcy and topics involving creditor rights and mortgage servicing, including at the Fifth Circuit level and the annual Texas State Bar Conference. Additionally, she served as moderator and speaker at the annual meeting of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association (TMBA).

She has been active in the American Inns of Court, Moller/Foltz Chapter, serving one year as President. She also served on the Executive Council Committee and as Liaison, mentoring newly licensed lawyers. She also participated in Money Wise Programs, teaching budgeting skills to high school students. She has served on two Appointed Mortgage Committees in the Southern District of Texas and the Northern District of Texas.

Ms. Evans received her Bachelor of Arts in Communications from the University of Kentucky in 1993. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the Thomas M. Cooley Law School in Michigan in 2000. Ms. Evans was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2002, and all four Federal District Courts in Texas, in 2003. She is currently a member of the Dallas Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and the Society of Legal Scholars, Texas Bar College.

Partner Alison Wylie specializes in business personal property tax warrants from the firm’s Corsicana office. She currently leads a specialized mineral collections department that targets mineral accounts. She also supports conference planning.

Ms. Wylie was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 2008.

Active in her local community, Ms. Wylie currently serves on the board for several local organizations including President-Elect for the Board of Directors for the Corsicana Education Foundation, Chairman of the Board for the Corsicana & Navarro County Chamber of Commerce, President of the Board of Directors for Chamber Area Foundation, the Salvation Army Advisory Board.

She is a graduate of Texas A&M University with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Science. In 2008, she graduated from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law, where she earned her Juris Doctorate.