| Education:
- Juris Doctorate, University of Texas School of Law, 1990
- Bachelor of Business Administration - Accounting, University of Texas School of Business, 1985
Bar Admissions:
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State of Texas, 1990
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United States Supreme Court
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United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
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United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern and Western Districts of Texas
Professional Activities:
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Admissions Committee, Western District of Texas, Austin Divison 2005 - Present
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Austin Public Education Foundation, 2004 - Present; Chairman 2008
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United Way Capital Area Board of Directors, 2007 - Present; Chair of the Board 2010 - Present
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Austin History Center, Board Member 2006 - 2007
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Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund Board, Appointed by Lieutenant Governor Bill Ratliff, 2001- End
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Austin Area Urban League, General Counsel, former Board Member and former Chairman of the Board.
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City of Austin Urban Renewal Agency, Commissioner 1997-2001, 2006 -Present
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Texas Bar Foundation, 2001-Present
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College of the State Bar of Texas, 2001
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Austin Bar Association
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Austin Black Lawyers Association
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Robert W. Calvert Chapter of the American Inns of Court (1996-1999)
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City of Austin Community Development Commission, 1997- 2000
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Texas Association of School Board Council of School Attorneys
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National School Boards Association Council of School Attorneys
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Texas Municipal Human Resources Association
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Prior to attending law school, Mr. Cole worked as a Certified Public Accountant in Houston, Texas, his hometown. While in his third year of law school, Mr. Cole served as a teaching quiz master (legal research and writing instructor for the first year law students) at the University of Texas School of Law in 1989. After law school, he served as a briefing attorney to the Honorable Jack Hightower, a Texas Supreme Court Justice.
Mr. Cole initially worked as a litigator for the law firm of Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan,Kever & McDaniel, L.L.P., in Austin, Texas, where he focused his practice on civil rights defense litigation and labor and employment litigation. In January 1998, he became a partner at Bickerstaff, Heath, Smiley, Pollan, Kever & McDaniel, L.L.P.
Mr. Cole joined Wickliff & Hall, P.C., in September 1999 to manage its Austin Office.
Mr. Cole formed Cole & Powell, P.C. on May 1, 2002 and that entity began doing business as The Cole Law Firm on March 1, 2008. Mr. Cole has a variety of experience in handling trials, appeals, civil service proceedings, and administrative matters involving race, gender, national origin, and age discrimination; sexual harassment; retaliation for protected activities; wrongful discharge; overtime pay; and a number of employment related torts, such as negligent supervision, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Mr. Cole is married to City of Austin Councilmember Sheryl Nelson Cole, who is also an attorney and Certified Public Accountant. They have three boys, Femi, Nelson and Marcus.
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