Dick Weekley is a native Houstonian, businessman and philanthropist. He founded Weekley Properties, a commercial real estate brokerage firm, in Houston in 1973.
Mr. Trabulsi is a co-founder and Chairman of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Chairman of TLRPAC, and Director of the Texans for Lawsuit Reform Foundation.
Hugh Rice Kelly is a co-founder, senior general counsel, and board member of TLR. He authored TLR’s original legislative agenda, most of which was enacted in 1995.
Fred W. Heldenfels IV is president and CEO of Heldenfels Enterprises Inc., a manufacturer of precast/prestressed concrete structures for the highway, industrial, commercial and sports construction markets with plants located in San Marcos and Corpus Christi.
Alan Hassenflu is the co-founder and CEO of Fidelis Realty Partners Ltd., which provides comprehensive services to its commercial real estate portfolio. Since its founding, Fidelis’ portfolio has grown from one million square-feet in the greater Houston area to over 11 million square-feet, including properties in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Jeff Shellebarger is chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 23rd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) to be held in Houston in December of 2020. He also serves on the Board of the Greater Houston Partnership and is a member of the Kinder Institute Advisory Board.
Marc Watts is president of The Friedkin Group, an umbrella company overseeing various business interests that are principally automotive-related, including Gulf States Toyota Inc., a wholesale distributor of Toyota vehicles and products.
Michael is the owner and CEO of Eagle Point Solutions, a Texas-based interior finishes company that has offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio.
Mary Tipps has been with TLR since 2003 and currently serves as executive director, managing the day-to-day operations of the organization and its advocacy efforts. Mary is TLR’s main point of contact for legislators, trade groups and other organizations around the state, and works closely with all interested stakeholders to advocate for TLR’s agenda.
Lee Parsley has worked with TLR since 2002, and now serves as its general counsel. Lee leads a team of attorneys who help identify and research solutions to the challenges facing Texas’ legal system. Lee’s background in civil and appellate law has given him firsthand experience in navigating Texas’ courts. His experience in the legislative process helps TLR engage with lawmakers and stakeholders to ensure Texas is passing principled laws for a fair and efficient legal system.
Will joined TLR’s legal team in 2024, after working in the Texas House of Representatives and handling legal research and legislative analysis in the private sector. His work on legislative drafting, legal research and analysis play a key role in TLR’s advocacy efforts to improve Texas’ legal system.
With a background in political fundraising and grassroots, Ryan facilitates TLR’s outreach to the business and political communities and oversees Dick Weekley’s public policy engagement in a variety of issue areas.
Avery joined the TLR team as administrative manager in the Austin office in 2022. In addition to keeping the office running efficiently, assisting in planning special events and meetings, coordinating the hundreds of bills that are reviewed by TLR’s staff and attorneys during the legislative session and helping manage TLR’s interns, Avery helps research and coordinate special projects related to Texas’ legal system and lawsuit reforms, as well as TLRPAC.
Glenda Hovey has been with TLR since 2000 and serves as administrative director. Glenda works behind the scenes to keep operations running smoothly by ensuring the day to day administrative duties are done. She also works closely with Kristie Vazquez to maintain TLR’s vast database.
Drew Lawson served as director of TLRPAC from 2009 to 2017 and is now the PAC’s lead consultant, overseeing the strategic distribution of the PAC’s election cycle budget and consulting on some of the highest profile campaigns in the state. He also serves on the TLR lobby team during the legislative sessions, advocating for principled, common-sense tort reforms that have been a critical building block of Texas’ thriving economic environment.
A former litigator and outside counsel for small businesses, Kevin brings firsthand courtroom experience to TLR’s legal team, which is critical to helping develop well-crafted legislative solutions to complicated real-world legal issues. His background in legal research and writing is integral to the development and drafting of TLR’s common-sense legislative proposals.
Dick Weekley is a native Houstonian, businessman and philanthropist. He founded Weekley Properties, a commercial real estate brokerage firm, in Houston in 1973.
Along with his brother, David, he co-founded David Weekley Homes in 1976, the largest privately-owned homebuilding company in the country with 2020 revenues of $2.3 billion. Dick and David Weekley also founded Weekley Development Co., which develops and operates shopping centers and other real estate investments in Houston.
Dick has been active in civic and community affairs, including as a member of the Greater Houston Partnership Board of Directors Executive Committee and a life board member of the Metropolitan YMCA, where he formerly served as chairman. He is also a member of the Texas Business Leadership Council, which recognized him with the inaugural Richard W. Weekley Public Policy Leadership Award in 2014. Dick is also a former board member of the Houston Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas and a former member of the Governor’s Business Council Executive Committee. In 2018, Dick was inducted into the Texas Business Hall of Fame.
Dick co-founded Texans for Lawsuit Reform in 1994, a statewide tort reform advocacy organization dedicated to bringing fairness and balance back to Texas’ civil justice system. In that time, TLR has helped pass the most comprehensive lawsuit reforms in the country. He is also co-founder and president of the Quality of Life Coalition of Houston, co-founder of two education reform organizations and Houstonians for Responsible Growth, as well as several other non-profit organizations.
Dick attended Southern Methodist University, where he graduated in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in economics, and was named a Distinguished Alumnus in 2016. He was an officer in the U.S. Navy, serving a tour of duty in Vietnam and then with the Flag Staff of the Commander of Amphibious Forces, U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Dick is married to Margaret Neuhaus Weekley, and is the father of three children and a grandfather of seven.
Mr. Trabulsi is a co-founder and Chairman of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Chairman of TLRPAC, and Director of the Texans for Lawsuit Reform Foundation.
Mr. Trabulsi is a native of Houston, Texas. He is married, has two adult children and four grandchildren.
Mr. Trabulsi received a J.D. from The University of Texas Law School, graduating with honors. Mr. Trabulsi was a Chancellor and Articles Editor of the Texas Law Review. He clerked for Judge Homer Thornberry on The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and was briefly an attorney at Vinson Elkins in Houston.
Mr. Trabulsi has been active in a variety of businesses, including retail, real estate, banking, ranching, and financial investments.
Mr. Trabulsi has served on several community boards, including The George Foundation, Covenant House, the Houston Museum of Natural Science, and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
Hugh Rice Kelly is a co-founder, senior general counsel, and board member of TLR. He authored TLR’s original legislative agenda, most of which was enacted in 1995.
Until his retirement in 2003, Kelly was executive vice president and general counsel of Reliant Energy and CenterPoint Energy, successor companies to Houston Lighting & Power Company. Before joining HL&P, he was a partner in the trial and utility regulatory departments of Baker & Botts in Houston.
A Houston native, Kelly graduated from Rice University and served as an officer in the U.S. Army. He received a law degree from The University of Texas, where he served as editor in chief of the Texas Law Review and graduated with high honors.
Kelly has been active with the Civil Justice Reform Group and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, and in a number of judicial selection reform groups. He is a member of the American Law Institute and the Houston, Texas and American Bar associations. He has also served as a board member and officer of numerous organizations, including cultural, health care, city improvement and others. Hugh and his wife Molly live in Houston. They have two grown daughters.
Fred W. Heldenfels IV is president and CEO of Heldenfels Enterprises Inc., a manufacturer of precast/prestressed concrete structures for the highway, industrial, commercial and sports construction markets with plants located in San Marcos and Corpus Christi.
Heldenfels was appointed chairman of the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board by Gov. Rick Perry, and served on the board from July 2006 through December 2013. He also served as an appointee of Gov. George W. Bush on the Coastal Coordination Council from 1995 to 1998.
Heldenfels chairs the A&M PAC board and is a member of the Austin Chamber of Commerce Executive Committee and board. He is past chairman of the Texas A&M Twelfth Man Foundation, past president of the Texas Good Roads Transportation Association, and Past Chairman of the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute. Heldenfels is a past chairman of the Texas A&M University – Corpus Christi Foundation and Corpus Christi Chamber of Commerce, where he helped initiate support for tort reform in the Coastal Bend, as well as the creation of a four-year university within the Texas A&M University System.
Heldenfels received a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University in 1979.
Alan Hassenflu is the co-founder and CEO of Fidelis Realty Partners Ltd., which provides comprehensive services to its commercial real estate portfolio. Since its founding, Fidelis’ portfolio has grown from one million square-feet in the greater Houston area to over 11 million square-feet, including properties in Texas, New Mexico, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Hassenflu received a bachelor’s degree from Texas Tech University and an MBA from The University of Texas at Austin. After working at Price Waterhouse in Dallas, he earned his CPA certificate. He began his real estate career with the Trammell Crow Company in Houston, starting as a leasing agent and resigning as a senior managing director and member of the Retail Investment Committee.
Hassenflu is a member of the International Council of Shopping Centers and the Urban Land Institute, where he serves on a Retail Council. He is a current or past member of numerous corporate, educational, non-profit, political, municipal and civic boards and committees, and is a former councilman for the City of Southside Place. He and his wife, Cherie, have two grown sons.
Jeff Shellebarger is chairman of the Organizing Committee for the 23rd World Petroleum Congress (WPC) to be held in Houston in December of 2020. He also serves on the Board of the Greater Houston Partnership and is a member of the Kinder Institute Advisory Board.
Jeff recently retired from Chevron after a 38-year career. His last position was president of Chevron’s North America Exploration and Production Company. He also held executive positions in Indonesia, Angola and California.
Jeff served as past chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership and the American Petroleum Institute’s Upstream Committee. He has also served on the boards of the Greater Houston United Way and Houston Museum of Natural Science. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
Marc Watts is president of The Friedkin Group, an umbrella company overseeing various business interests that are principally automotive-related, including Gulf States Toyota Inc., a wholesale distributor of Toyota vehicles and products.
Prior to joining The Friedkin Group, Watts was vice chairman and managing partner—Houston of the 700-attorney law firm of Locke Lord LLP, with more than 26 years of experience in corporate and securities law, governance and related matters. Watts is a board member of Highland Resources Inc., Service Corporation International, and Cabot Oil & Gas Corporation. He is also on various civic and community boards including, the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas (Houston Branch), United Way of Greater Houston and the Greater Houston Partnership.
Jeff recently retired from Chevron after a 38-year career. His last position was president of Chevron’s North America Exploration and Production Company. He also held executive positions in Indonesia, Angola and California.
Jeff served as past chairman of the Greater Houston Partnership and the American Petroleum Institute’s Upstream Committee. He has also served on the boards of the Greater Houston United Way and Houston Museum of Natural Science. He is a graduate of the University of Georgia.
Michael is the owner and CEO of Eagle Point Solutions, a Texas-based interior finishes company that has offices in Houston, Austin, Dallas, and San Antonio. Prior to Eagle Point, Michael was the Founder and Principal of East River Investments – a special purpose investment vehicle. Earlier in his career, Michael was the Director of Financial Analysis at PetroLogistics, a publicly traded petrochemical MLP and the largest on-purpose propylene producer in the United States. At PetroLogistics, he focused on mergers & acquisitions and corporate strategy. Michael previously worked for Citigroup in its Global Energy Investment Banking team and Amegy Bank in its Energy Corporate Banking group. Michael received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Southern California and an M.B.A. from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he graduated with honors.
