(December 22, 1953 - )

LYNNE LIBERATO
State Bar President, 2000-2001

Lynne Liberato is senior counsel to Haynes and Boone in Houston, where she focuses her practice on appellate law and litigation. In addition to serving as president of the State Bar of Texas, she also served as past chair of the State Bar Board of Directors (1996 to 1997) and State Bar Appellate Section (1997 to 1998). Liberato served on the Texas Bar Journal Board of Editors and was the first woman elected as president of the Houston Bar Association (1993 to 1994). During her year as State Bar president, Liberato sought to reach out to members via technology by launching MyTexasBar, a web portal for news, research, and resources. She is the author of numerous law review and law journal articles and has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, state and federal appeals courts, and federal and state trial courts. She is certified in civil appellate law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization, and she co-authored Summary Judgments in Texas, considered the “bible” of summary judgments, and Texas Practice Guide. Liberato is a sustaining life fellow of the Texas Bar Foundation, a member of the American Law Institute, a past president of the Texas Supreme Court Historical Society (2011 to 2012), and a commissioner on the Texas Legislature’s Judicial 2020 Selection Commission. She also received the 2022 Chief Justice Jack Pope Professionalism Award from the Texas Center for Legal Ethics, the 2020 Lifetime of Excellence in Advocacy Award from the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists, and the 2019 Gregory S. Coleman Outstanding Texas Appellate Lawyer Award from the Texas Bar Foundation. In addition, Liberato received the 2006 State Bar Gene Cavin Award for excellence in continuing legal education and the 2010 Leon Jaworski Award from the Houston Bar Association Auxiliary for her work with the community.

In the community, she is a longtime supporter of the United Way of Greater Houston, serving as board chair from 2005 to 2007 and being named the organization’s Volunteer of the Year in 2008. Liberato also served on the boards of the Greater Houston Partnership and U.S. Naval Academy Parents’ Club of the Texas Gulf Coast and on the Executive Committee of the South Texas College of Law Board of Directors. She is the president of the Fiesta Tableware Company Collectors Organization.

Liberato received her B.S. from Sam Houston State University in 1974, M.A. from Texas A&M University-Commerce in 1978, and J.D. from South Texas College of Law in 1980. She has been named a distinguished alumna from all three schools.