Kelly Rivera Salazar has been licensed by the State of Texas since 2003 and presently serves as president of the Hidalgo County Bar Association Board of Directors and president of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors. She was elected to serve as Hidalgo County Democratic Party Chair from 2012 to 2014. 

Prior to joining Linebarger, Ms. Salazar was a sole practitioner, focusing on the areas of criminal, family, and personal injury law. She also worked as an associate attorney for the law firms of Godwin Pappas Langley & Ronquillo, LLP and Touchstone Bernays Johnston Beall Smith & Stollenwerck in Dallas, Texas, where she practiced civil litigation. 

Ms. Salazar holds a Bachelor of Arts in History and Sociology from the University of Notre Dame in Notre Dame, Indiana, where she made the Dean’s Honor List. She later earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence from Baylor Law School in Waco, Texas, in 2003, where she also made the Dean’s Honor List and was a member of the ATLA Mock Trial Team and the Harvey M. Richey Moot Court Society. 

Partner Sherrel Knighton shares her experience and expertise in bankruptcy and tax warrant issues from our Dallas office.

Ms. Knighton is admitted to the practice of law in the State of Texas and the State of Wyoming. She is also admitted to practice in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Northern, Eastern, Western, and Southern Districts of Texas. She is a member of the Dallas Bar Association.

Ms. Knighton has spoken on ad valorem property tax and consumer bankruptcy issues at both the Annual DFW Area Chapter 13 Consumer Bankruptcy Conference and the State Bar of Texas Annual Advanced Consumer Bankruptcy Conference. In addition, she has spoken at various Chapters of the Texas Association of Assessing Officers, including the Northwest Central, Red River, and Collin County Chapters, as well as at the State Bar of Texas Property Tax Committee Meeting and Legal Seminar. She also served for five years on the Board of Trustees of the North Texas Chapter of the Texas Association of Assessing Officers, culminating in her term as President in 2020. Ms. Knighton is actively involved in the Lewisville Independent School District Education Foundation.

Ms. Knighton received a Bachelor of Arts from The University of Texas – Austin in 1992, graduating with High Honors. She went on to earn her Doctor of Jurisprudence from The University of Texas School of Law in 1996.

Pamela Pope Lee has been an integral part of the firm’s offices in Dallas and Houston, Texas and Memphis, Tennessee. She currently manages the firm’s Lawsuit Production, Litigation, and Post Judgment Departments in the Dallas Office.  She is also responsible for the firm’s Land Bank Demonstration Program for the City of Dallas and is a partner assigned to represent multiple suburban Cities and Independent School Districts located in Dallas County.  

Ms. Lee has over 30 years of experience in delinquent tax collection. She is also experienced in civil trial litigation in both state and federal courts, personal injury, consumer law, products liability, and employment discrimination. Ms. Lee was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1992 and the State Bar of Tennessee in 2006, after receiving her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance from the University of Oklahoma, and her Juris Doctorate from Thurgood Marshall School of Law in Houston, Texas.  

She joined Linebarger as an attorney in 1995 in the Houston office, was named partner in 2003 in the Dallas office, and in 2005, she joined the Memphis office as managing attorney. She became a capital partner of Linebarger in 2012. Ms. Lee is admitted to practice in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of Texas. She has a long history of serving on community boards, associations, and foundations. 

Edward Lopez, Jr. is a capital partner in the Dallas office, chair of the firm’s 401(k) committee, and serves on the firm’s Legal Standards and Management Committees.

Over the past three decades, Mr.  Lopez has lead appellate and complex litigation matters arising out of the Dallas Office of Linebarger. When called upon, he has also lent his expertise to the firm’s other offices. The cases he has argued before the courts of appeal have resulted in over 25 published opinions which have benefitted taxing authorities throughout Texas and created case law on other related points.   In addition to his trial experience, Mr. Lopez has been published in periodicals and related material including most recently, as a contributing author to the 2021 and 2023 Texas Foreclosure Manual (Texas Bar Books).   

Mr. Lopez is a frequent speaker at conferences in Texas, including the Annual Ad Valorem Tax Conference,  Texas Association of Assessing Officers (TAAO), Texas Municipal League (TML), and Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). He has served on committees for the Annual Ad Valorem Tax Conference, TAAO, the National Association of Hispanic County Officials, which is affiliated with National Association of County Officials. 

He serves on the board for Lifeline Shelter in Grand Prairie, the Grand Prairie Education Foundation, the Irving Police Foundation and previously served on the board for the Grand Prairie Chamber of Commerce. He also assisted the Irving Independent School District by serving on a committee associated with the ISD’s 2023 Bond Program.

He is licensed to practice in all state courts and the federal courts for the Northern, Eastern and Southern Districts of Texas.  He is also licensed to appear before the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Mr. Lopez earned his BBA in Finance from Texas State University in 1987. He received his Juris Doctor from Southern Methodist School of Law in Dallas in 1990. While attending law school, Mr. Lopez was an awarded  member on the school’s National Moot Court and Mock Trial Teams. He was also the recipient of the Wilton Fair Scholarship.  

As managing partner of the firm’s Dublin, Ohio and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania offices, Scott McGlasson manages the firm’s national delinquent state-level court and tax collection operations, as well as numerous fees and fines clients throughout the country.

His collection experience began in 1986 with General Motors Acceptance Corporation and expanded into his legal practice upon earning a law degree. As a solo practitioner for several years, Mr. McGlasson handled every aspect of the collection, client, and customer service process.

Mr. McGlasson has served as the law firm’s national marketing director and remains actively involved in marketing efforts and expansion of the law firm’s national footprint. He serves on the firm’s Litigation and Legal Standards committee and is a member of the ACA International Member Attorney Program.

Mr. McGlasson is admitted to practice in Arkansas, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, and Texas.

He received his Bachelor of Science from Emporia State University in Emporia and his Juris Doctor from Washburn University School of Law in Topeka.

Lucy Canales oversees five South Texas offices for Linebarger and is a member of the firm’s Management Committee.

Following law school, Ms. Canales gained valuable experience as a one-year judicial law clerk with the Department of Justice’s Executive Office for Immigration Review. She has over three decades of legal expertise specializing in delinquent tax collections.

Ms. Canales holds memberships in various professional organizations, including the State Bar of Texas, the Texas Association of Assessing Officers (TAAO), the Hidalgo County Bar Association, and the Hidalgo County Women’s Bar Association. Her involvement extends to past memberships with Leadership Edinburg, Edinburg Junior League, Hidalgo County Cotillion, and a former board position with the McAllen Association of the Performing Arts. She has also played an active role as a member of the Edinburg Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and served as the co-chair of Leadership Edinburg from 2012 to 2013. In addition, she contributes as a board member of the St. Mary’s University Law Alumni Board.

Ms. Canales is admitted to practice law in Texas. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Service and a Certificate of Achievement in Latin American Studies from Baylor University in 1984. During her time at Baylor, Ms. Canales studied multiple foreign languages, including Russian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Her Juris Doctorate was obtained in 1988 from St. Mary’s University School of Law.

Michael Cano provides critical client service and support for Linebarger’s offices in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas.

Mr. Cano grew up in Pharr, Texas, and graduated from P.S.J.A. North High School in 1993. While attending the University of Texas Pan-American, he joined the firm’s Edinburg office as a runner. After obtaining his Bachelor of Business Administration in Management, Mr. Cano moved to Dallas, Texas, where he continued working for the firm. In 2001, Mr. Cano moved to Houston, Texas, to attend law school at the University of Houston Law Center.

After graduating from law school in 2004, Mr. Cano joined the O’Quinn Law Firm as an associate attorney. In 2006, Mr. Cano returned to the Rio Grande Valley to manage the O’Quinn Law Firm’s South Texas office. After Mr. O’Quinn’s untimely passing, Mr. Cano returned to Linebarger in 2010.

In addition to being a member in several professional associations and working with many local charities, Mr. Cano proudly serves as a founding board member of the Pharr- San Juan- Alamo ISD Education Foundation and the South Texas ISD Education Foundation. He proudly serves as a board member of the East Coast Migrant Headstart Project, which provides early childhood educational services to children of farmworking families across 13 states. Mr. Cano served for many years as the past Vice-Chairman of the Hidalgo County Regional Mobility Authority.

Jose Padilla has a strong background in tax and appellate law and is responsible for prosecuting suits filed on behalf of the El Paso Consolidated Tax Office, Hudspeth County, and Culberson County. He also serves on the firm’s Litigation and Legal Standards Sub-committee and will ensure that all collection activities are compliant with all federal, state and local laws and regulations.

Mr. Padilla graduated from Bowie High School in El Paso and received a Bachelor of Arts degree in History/Political Science from Baylor University in 1997. He received his Juris Doctorate in 2001 from Texas Tech University.

After obtaining his law degree, Mr. Padilla spent two years with the El Paso County District Attorney’s Office in the Appellate Division. During this time, he wrote appellate briefs to the 8th District Court of Appeals and legal memoranda on current developments in criminal law and procedure. Mr. Padilla joined Linebarger in 2003. He represents our clients throughout the State of Texas in various courts of appeals and before the Texas Supreme Court. He is also licensed to practice law in the States of New Mexico and California, and in Federal Court for the Western District of Texas.

Mario Perez practices in the area of delinquent tax collection and has appeared in State District Courts in Tarrant, Denton, Johnson, Hardeman, Parker, Grayson, Cooke, and Polk counties. Mr. Perez is a member of the Tarrant County Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association of Tarrant County.

Mr. Perez holds a Bachelor of Arts in political science from the University of Texas at Arlington and a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. He was licensed by the Supreme Court of Texas in 2003 and is additionally licensed by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas. He received license to practice before the United States Supreme Court in 2009.

Mr. Perez has remained heavily involved in community, charitable, and political organizations. Mr. Perez serves on the Board of Trustees of My Health My Resources (MHMR) of Tarrant County and previously served as the Chairman of the Board for Common Cause Texas, a watchdog organization focused on open and accountable government. Mr. Perez was twice elected, in 1996 and 2004, as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He remains active with civil rights organizations such as the United Hispanic Council of Tarrant County.

Elva Galvan litigates cases involving delinquent ad valorem taxes from the firm’s Corpus Christi office.

Ms. Galvan was born in Corpus Christi and attended Del Mar College, obtaining her Associate in Arts summa cum laude in 1982. She also received a Bachelor of Arts in Government with honors in 1985 from the University of Texas at Austin. Ms. Galvan was admitted to the Texas Bar in 1994 after receiving her Doctor of Jurisprudence from the University of Texas at Austin. Later that year, she was admitted to practice before the United States District Court, Southern District of Texas.

Before joining Linebarger, Ms. Galvan was an Associate Attorney with a general practice law firm in Corpus Christi, handling family law cases. She then set up her private practice. Ms. Galvan gained further litigation experience, first as a Criminal Prosecutor for the Nueces County Attorney’s Office and later as the Assistant Chief of Administrative Services. In this capacity, Ms. Galvan advised county officials in areas of government and employment law. She also served as in-house counsel for the Nueces County Hospital District.