Gloria Leal
LULAC Legal Advisor
Gloria Leal is a lawyer and consultant in private practice representing regulated entities and business clients before the Texas Legislature and state agencies primarily in licensing and disciplinary issues. She was recently appointed : National LULAC General Counsel , the first woman in LULAC history.
Originally from the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, Gloria is a fifth-generation Tejana, whose family were migrants traveling to the mid-west to pick crops on a seasonal basis. Notwitstanding the hardship and inequities experienced, she graduated with honors from the University of Texas and then the University of Texas School of Law.
Gloria has held many “first” positions including being appointed as the first Hispanic woman to serve on the Texas State Bar Board of Directors and as: General Counsel for a national association of oil and gas independent operators; General Counsel and International Regulatory Counsel for the Texas Department of Insurance, making her the highest ranking Hispanic GC in the State; and Assistant Attorney General in the Transportation Division of the Attorney General’s Office of Texas where she successfully litigated jury trials across the state.
Ms. Leal is former President of the Texas Mexican American Bar Association and former Chair of the State Bar of Texas Hispanic Issues Section. As legislative director for MABATX, she organizes a Bi-Annual MABATX & HIS CLE & Legislative Update for Texas lawyers.
Her LULAC community & professional involvement includes serving as: President, LULAC Council 650, ATX; Deputy Director, LULAC District VII ; and State LULAC Redistricting Committee Chair. She has hosted a Legal Update Panel at the last two Texas State LULAC conventions. She is State & National LULAC MALDEF litigation liaison and has provided oral & written testimony to the State Legislature re: redistricting & election bills and responded to extensive litigation discovery requests. During the current Texas 88th Legislative session, Gloria is monitoring redistricting and election law legislation and testifying as necessary.