Governor Abbott Names O’Daniel Chair And Appoints Nichols To State Board Of Criminal Justice
Governor Greg Abbott has appointed Eric Nichols to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice for a term set to expire February 1, 2021. Additionally, he named Patrick O’Daniel chair of the board. The board provides confinement, supervision, rehabilitation, and reintegration of the state’s convicted felons.
Eric Nichols of Austin is a partner with Butler Snow LLP. He previously served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas and as Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice for the Office of Texas Attorney General. He is president of the American Inns of Court – Barbara Jordan Inn and fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, Texas Bar Foundation, and Austin Bar Foundation. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates and the State Bar of Texas. He has served as chair of the Texas Supreme Court’s Grievance Oversight Committee and is a trustee with the University of Texas Law School Foundation. Nichols received a Bachelor of Arts in English and History from the University of Virginia and a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Texas School of Law.
Patrick O’Daniel of Austin is a partner at the law firm of Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP and an adjunct professor at The University of Texas School of Law, and is a certified public accountant. He clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. He is former president of Catholic Charites of Central Texas, general counsel for Texas Review of Law and Politics, and a member of the American Bar Association, National Association of Bond Lawyers, and Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants. O’Daniel received a Bachelor of Business Administration from The University of Texas at Austin and a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Texas School of Law.