Our Staff

WE'D LIKE FOR YOU TO MEET the dedicated group of administrative, marketing, accounting and legal support staff at BoyarMiller that play a critical role in the day-to-day operations of the firm.  Each of our team members is committed to our Mission and Core Values and strives diligently to provide exceptional service to our clients — both internally and externally. 

For a little more insight into what it's like to work at BoyarMiller, visit the Staff section of our Careers page to read testimonials from a few of our team members.

Management

J. Douglas Parker, CPSM — Executive Director
As Executive Director, Doug oversees the daily operations of the firm to include managing the administrative, finance, marketing, IT and HR departments. Doug brings to BoyarMiller more than 15 years of experience leading business development and marketing departments and managing the day-to-day operations for professional services firms.

Doug is active in a variety of professional and philanthropic organizations. He earned his Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) designation from the Society for Marketing Professional Services, and has served the organization as Houston Chapter President. He currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Urban Land Institute–Houston as well as the DiverseWorks Artspace Board of Directors and the Alumni Board of Houston Baptist University. A native Houstonian, Doug earned bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Communications from Houston Baptist University, where he was awarded Outstanding Student in Communications.

Lynne Pfile — Accounting Manager
Lynne joined BoyarMiller in 2006 and manages the day-to-day financial operations of the firm. Among her many responsibilities, she prepares monthly financials, manages cash flow, oversees daily work of the accounting personnel that handle cash receipts, disbursements and billing activities and also manages many of the firm's insurance and HR benefits.

Prior to joining BoyarMiller, Lynne worked as controller in the financial services industry and brings over 20 years of accounting and HR management experience to the firm. Lynne holds a bachelors degree in Accounting from Texas A&M. She is a member of JUIG, involved in the Houston Juris user group, does volunteer work for Interfaith of the Woodlands, and is a member of the Communications and Special Services committee at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

Legal Services

Sharon Galloway — Legal Assistant, Business Group
Sharon has been with BoyarMiller since 1990, and she has worked as Bill Boyar's assistant since 1978. Sharon provides administrative and legal secretarial support to Bill and Tim Heinrich in the Business Group. In addition to typical document management, Sharon's responsibilities include preparing contract summaries; maintaining the Business Group calendar, which targets the critical dates in transactions; setting up and maintaining closing document files, preparing binders of closing documents after the closing of transactions; preparing summaries of limited partnership agreements, limited liability companies and loan documents; drafting form documents, and setting up and maintaining corporate and limited liability company minute books.

Sharon is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, attended Louisiana State University and has lived in Houston since 1977.

Macel Haygood — Legal Assistant, Litigation Group
Macel has been with BoyarMiller since February 2004 and assists attorneys David Bond, Lee Collins and Jennifer Hebert in the Litigation Group. Macel brings to BoyarMiller more than 25 years of legal experience and a passion for providing excellent customer service.

Macel holds a Bachelor's degree from the University of Houston–Clear Lake and earned a Paralegal degree from Howard College in San Angelo.

Gloria Howard — Business Group Legal Assistant
Gloria has worked in the legal field since 1979 in various areas of law. She joined BoyarMiller in 1997 and provides legal support in the Business Group to Steve Kesten, Brad Scarborough and Taylor Hayden in the areas of corporate and real estate to include acquisitions and mergers, corporate financings, private placements, due diligence and restructuring of companies, coordinating closings, and management and leasing of real properties, office buildings, retail shopping centers and malls, and tenant representation.

Gloria holds an Associates Degree in Legal Secretarial Science and has completed various Paralegal courses.

Jennifer Lucas — Legal Assistant, Business Group
Jennifer joined BoyarMiller in 2003 and provides legal support to Gary Miller and Forrest Gordon — both in the Business Group. Their work involves a variety of business transactions including buying and selling of companies, company restructurings and commercial real estate acquisitions and sales. Jennifer also coordinates many of the firm's online due diligence databases that contain documents for easy access of transaction participants.

Candace McGary — Legal Assistant, Business Group
Candace began her career in the legal field in 1998 and says it's been "true love" ever since. She joined the BoyarMiller team in 2008 as part of the Business Group and assists Stephen Johnson, Gus Bourgeois and Blake Royal in many areas including domestic and international real estate proceedings and company restructurings as well as purchase and sale transactions.

Bill Manning — Paralegal, Business Group
Bill is a graduate of Texas Paralegal School and has been with BoyarMiller since 1986. Bill assists both the Business and Litigation Groups and provides support to the attorneys in connection with whatever transactions they may be working on. Among the many services Bill provides, his primary job is in the corporate area, helping organize corporations, limited liability companies and limited partnerships as well as preparing and drafting many of the formation documents, such as certificates of formation, limited partnership agreements and company agreements. Bill is experienced in many areas of the firm's corporate practice including conversions, merger transactions and the registration of entities to transact business in different states and jurisdictions. Bill also maintains and updates corporate minutes and record books for our clients and is responsible for preparing various annual and special meeting consents and resolutions.

Cheryl Murray -Legal Assistant, Litigation Group
Cheryl brings to BoyarMiller more than 25 years of experience in the legal profession.  She joined BoyarMiller as a Legal Assistant in 2006. Today, she provides legal support in the firm's Litigation Group for Matt Veech, Craig Dillard and Michel Perez assisting with hearings, depositions and trials.

Jan Searson — Legal Assistant, Litigation Group
Jan has been Chris Hanslik's legal assistant since 1997, and came to BoyarMiller with Chris in 2004. She is part of the Litigation Group and supports Chris, Andrew Pearce and Ryan Bardo. Jan is involved in all aspects of a lawsuit from initial proceedings to trial and everything in between. In addition to her duties as a legal assistant, Jan is also part of the recruiting team, acting as liaison between BoyarMiller and various law schools where on-campus interviews take place.

Accounting

Frances Esquivel — Billing Coordinator
Frances began her career with BoyarMiller as an Accounting Assistant in 2007 and was promoted to Billing Coordinator in September 2009. Her responsibilities include handling of daily cash receipts and the prepartion of daily cash and collection reports. She takes care of the daily maintenance of the billing process and handling of attorney and client requests. At month-end, she is responsible for the billing of fees and expenses for the clients, collection reports and other related monthly reports. In addition, Frances processes payroll and handles other miscellaneous administrative duties.

Sam Craig — Accounting Assistant
As one of the newest members of the BoyarMiller team, Sam brings to the firm more than 5 years of experience in legal accounting. She recently relocated to Houston from Virginia Beach, VA and joined BoyarMiller in 2009. Sam works closely with our Accounting Manager and Billing Coordinator and is responsible for accounts payable.

Administration

Dora Gaona-Gonzalez — File Room Manager
Dora came to BoyarMiller in March 2007 on a temporary assignment and was quickly recruited to join the staff permanently that May. In January 2008, she was promoted to File Room Manager. In this role, Dora is responsible for maintenance of all BoyarMiller client matter files. Under Dora's direction, the firm is migrating to an electronic filing system that provides for digital monitoring, storage and retrieval of client matters — both on- and off-site.

Jimmie Johnson — Office Services Manager
Jimmie wears many hats at BoyarMiller including managing the firm's Copy Center where he works closely with the attorneys and legal assistants providing administrative support. He is also responsible for keeping the firm's public spaces organized and presentation ready.  Other duties include sorting and circulating the mail, ordering and organizing office supplies and ensuring that the numerous machines around the office are in good working order.

Sonia Opara — File Room Clerk
Sonia joined BoyarMiller in June 2008 as an Administrative Floater and was quickly promoted to File Clerk. Sonia works closely with our File Room Manager to support the Business and Litigation groups by maintaining a well-organized filing system. Sonia has been an integral part of the firm's migration to an electronic filing system that provides for digital monitoring, storage and retrieval of client matters — both on- and off-site.

Courtney Outland — Receptionist
Courtney is the person behind the voice you hear when you call the BoyarMiller main phone line. In addition to managing calls, Courtney is responsible for greeting and directing all guests at the firm, scheduling conference rooms and handling incoming/ outgoing deliveries. Her ever courteous, highly efficient nature makes her the perfect candidate to represent the front of the house at BoyarMiller.

Information Technology

Martin Rivera — IT Manager
As a graduate of the University of Houston in Management Information Systems, Martin helped develop and maintains the IT environment at BoyarMiller. During Martin's tenure with BoyarMiller, the firm has gone virtual in its hardware infrastructure with remote site failover to ensure a continuous work environment. Under Martin's direction, we have developed our technology capabilities to serve as a competitive advantage in the marketplace. In fact, the systems and processes in place at BoyarMiller rival or surpass many large law firms.