October 4, 2024
The St. Mary’s University Law Alumni Association will honor three graduates at its Distinguished Law Graduate Dinner on Saturday, Nov. 2, at The Westin San Antonio North. The Association hosts the event to raise funds for scholarships and student services.
2024 Honorees
Distinguished Law Graduates
The Hon. Robbie Partida-Kipness (J.D. ’98), Fifth District Court of Appeals, Texas Judicial Branch
Partida-Kipness is the granddaughter of Mexican immigrants and was born and raised in New Braunfels. She is a first-generation college and law school graduate, earning her law degree from the St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1998. After graduation, she moved to Dallas to begin her legal career. Prior to taking the bench, Partida-Kipness spent 21 years championing the rights of individuals involved in personal injury, medical malpractice and mass tort cases.
In 2018, Partida-Kipness made history by becoming the first Hispanic to be elected to the 125-year-old Court of Appeals for the Fifth District of Texas. The Fifth Court of Appeals presides over Dallas, Collin, Hunt, Kaufman, Rockwall and Grayson counties and is the largest appellate court in the State of Texas and handles one of the largest caseloads of any of the intermediate courts of appeal.
In 2020, Partida-Kipness was appointed to serve on the Supreme Court of Texas Children’s Commission and continues to serve as a commissioner.
Mark Stevens (J.D. ’79), Attorney, Law Office of Mark Stevens
Stevens was born in Texas and raised in Houston. He earned his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from the St. Mary’s University School of Law in 1979. Stevens knew he wanted to be a criminal defense attorney from early on. His father, Ray Stevens, and older brother, Buddy Stevens, were both long-time criminal defense lawyers in and around Houston.
During his third year of law school, Mark Stevens began working at Levey and Goldstein with criminal defense lawyer Gerald Goldstein. He left that practice to open his solo practice on Jan. 1, 1984. Since that time, Stevens has continued as a criminal defense lawyer.
In 1987, he began teaching in the Criminal Justice Department at St. Mary’s University, where he taught for several years. In 1990, he started teaching in the School of Law as an adjunct faculty member. He continues to serve his alma mater through its Center for Legal and Social Justice.
Distinguished Young Alumnus
Aaron Valadez (J.D. ’14), Attorney, Tinsman & Sciano, Inc.
Growing up in Austin, Valadez learned from his parents the value of hard work. He was a bus boy in middle school, paved roads in high school, and worked with his father for Blue Bell Creameries as a merchandiser in high school and college.
He began working at Tinsman & Sciano, Inc. as a law clerk the summer following his first year at the St. Mary’s University School of Law and continued through graduation in 2014. Valadez realized early on that Tinsman & Sciano held those same values of hard work and dedication that his parents had instilled in him.
Following graduation, he began as a full-time lawyer at Tinsman & Sciano, where he was quickly exposed to the litigation environment and had the opportunity to experience the work firsthand with his Supervised Bar Card under attorneys Daniel J.T. Sciano and the late Richard Tinsman.
In 2022, he was a recipient of the 10 Under 10 Award from the St. Mary’s School of Law Graduates of the Last Decade (GOLD) Council.