Attorneys

Gloria Vera

Gloria Vera has been licensed to practice law by the Texas Supreme Court since 1976. She has been admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Her professional activities and memberships have included the American Immigration Lawyers Association, the Texas Bar Association, and the Bar Association for the Fifth Federal Circuit. Her trial experience includes jury trials in both state and federal courts. She has handled all types of administrative appeals, and has represented clients in federal and state courts.

Ms. Vera is a 1973 graduate of the Southern Methodist University (SMU) School of Law in Dallas, Texas, having received a full scholarship from the SMU faculty. As a journalism graduate of the Texas Woman's University in Denton, Texas, with honors, she was the recipient of an Inter-American Press Association Scholarship for work and study in South America in 1970-1971. She completed the Negotiation Program at the Harvard Law School Program of Instruction for Lawyers in 1992, and the Mediation Program at CDR & Associates in Boulder, Colorado in 1993.

Ms. Vera has been practicing Immigration and Nationality Law since 1986, and has extensive experience in all areas of Immigration law. She was the hostess of a radio talk show on Immigration law issues from 1987 to 1992. Before founding the law firm in 1986, she served as an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Texas from 1976 to 1978; Assistant City Attorney for the City of Austin, Texas from 1980 to 1986, during which she acted as General Counsel for the city hospital earning an award for her outstanding contribution to the medical staff; part-time Municipal Court Judge from 1993 to 1995; and Associate for the Jones and Lewis Law Firm, McAllen, Texas from 1978 to 1980.

Michael Ponder

Michael Ponder graduated from Tulane University in 1998 with a B.A. in Spanish. He graduated Magna Cum Laude from Southern University Law Center in 2003 with a Juris Doctorate. He then went on to work for the law firm of Best Koeppel in New Orleans from 2003 to 2005. Since 2005, he has practiced Immigration and Nationality law with the Law Office of Gloria Vera. He also studied abroad in Madrid, Spain from 1996-1997.

Amanda Diaz

Amanda Diaz received her bachelor's degree in International Studies from the University of Mississippi in 2004. After graduation, Ms. Diaz worked in a children’s home in Mexico for one year. This experience led her to attend law school in order to better serve people in need of legal help. She earned her Juris Doctorate from the University of Denver in 2008. She further developed her interest in Latin American culture in Santiago, Chile, where she lived for nearly two years. Previous to joining the Law Office of Gloria Vera, she　worked for　the Immigration Court in Denver, Colorado and a small law firm　in Austin, Texas practicing Immigration, Administrative, and Family Law.