Serving Central Texas from our Austin office, Maria, Jacy, Justin, and Melissa have a few opinions about Austin BBQ and traffic that they would like to share with you. We asked them a few questions that go beyond their passion for law so you can get to know them a little bit better.

Maria Moffat’s first inspiration to become an attorney was a history class assignment where she interviewed Vietnam veterans, giving her a glimpse of how the law influences people’s lives.  Today, Maria, the Managing Partner of our Austin office, practices construction and employment law.  She grew up in Plano and while she enjoys working and living in Austin, she would love to see a little less orange around town. Go Aggies! Maria will be representing GS at the Spring TADC 2023 meeting in Los Cabos this May.

With attorneys all around her in her family, it was no surprise that, in fourth grade, Jacy Johnson set her sights on becoming a lawyer. And even though Jacy changed her mind about her career path a few times, her fourth grade decision held on and she joined the GS team in 2021 with a focus on construction law.  Jacy was raised in Johnson City, TX (home of LBJ), loves Black’s BBQ in Lockhart and like everyone else in Austin, complains about the traffic on MoPac. The best book Jacy read this year was The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, the story of a strong woman fighting for her family’s survival during the Great Depression.

Construction is in Justin Naugher’s DNA. He grew up around the construction industry; his father owned foundation and roofing companies and his mom was a chief appraiser who kept him engaged in her work, which included new commercial construction. Justin became interested in law at Texas A&M during his undergraduate years and then decided to pursue it as a career.  He joined GS in 2022 and practices construction law.  Justin was born and raised in Coppell, TX and wishes Austin had a professional sports team.

Melissa Lientz-Green was born in West Germany and grew up in an Air Force family. After living in the DFW area, she made the move to Austin as soon as she could and now calls it home. Since 2021, Melissa has been GS’s in-house investigator, paper wrangler and tech support when not supporting our team of lawyers.  Melissa loves Black’ BBQ in Lockhart and would like there to be a lot less cars on MoPac. The best book she read this year is Transform Your Team with the Enneagram: Build Trust, Decrease Stress, and Increase Productivity by Ginger Lapid-Bogda, PhD.

Gerstle Snelson is excited to continue building the Austin office and the attorneys in Dallas and Austin are ready to help answer your construction and employment law questions. Contact us at info@gstexlaw.com to learn more.

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