Veronica Gonzales

Veronica Gonzales was raised in San Marcos, Texas, but upon graduation from law school in 1991, moved to McAllen and made it her home. She began practicing law at Jarvis & Kittleman, P.C. where she became a partner after only four years. She then joined some of her partners to form Kittleman, Thomas, Ramirez & Gonzales, L.L.P. (KTRG), now Kittleman, Thomas & Gonzales, L.L.P. (KTG). Veronica's practice is diverse. She has successfully litigated cases on both sides of the docket and while her practice consists of primarily defense work in civil and commercial litigation, she also practices in the areas of family and employment law and is a licensed mediator. Throughout her legal career, Veronica has published numerous papers and lectured on various topics, including venue, discovery, premises liability, sexual harassment and ethics.

Veronica graduated cum laude from Southwest Texas State University in 1986 with a Bachelors of Arts degree in English and Spanish and enrolled in the University of Texas School of Law from which she obtained her juris doctorate in 1991. She is licensed to practice law in all courts of the State of Texas, as well as the United States District Courts for the Western and Southern Districts of Texas.

Veronica has served the legal profession and her community in various capacities. She was president (1993-1994) and director (1995-1996) of the Hidalgo County Young Lawyers Association and director (1996-1997), secretary (1997-1998), president-elect (1998-1999) and president (1999-2000) of the Hidalgo County Bar Association. She served as a panel member (1993-1998) and panel chair (1994-1998) of the State Bar's 12B Grievance Committee and is a member of the Hidalgo County Women's Bar Association, the Mexican-American Bar Association and a Committee Member of the State Bar of Texas Legal Assistants Committee. She has also served as a steering committee member of the Texas Minority Counsel Program and has been a member of the College of State Bar of Texas for numerous years. In 2004, she was voted Favorite Attorney in The Monitor's Readers' Choice Awards and in 2005, she received the Community Service Award by El Americano Newspaper.

In 2004 and again in 2006, Veronica was elected to represent District 41 in the Texas House of Representatives. In her first term, Veronica was elected by her colleagues to serve as Secretary of the State Democratic Caucus and was named Freshman of the Year by the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus. Veronica further distinguished herself by passing the highest percentage of bills by any Democrat legislator in the House and was named a legislator to watch by the Texas Observer and an Emerging Leader by the Dallas Morning News.  She was re-elected as Secretary of the Democrat Caucus, asked to chair a task-force on immigration and was named to serve on the Bi-National Alcohol and Drug Abuse Task-Force. She currently sits on the judiciary and public health committees.

Veronica is a member of several civic and charitable organizations, including the American Heart Association, the McAllen Chamber of Commerce, the McAllen Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, the Mission Chamber of Commerce, the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce, is an Education Advisory Board Member to South Texas College and is an Advisory Counsel Member to Texas Rural Legal Aid.