About Julia
Dispute Resolution Specialist • Legal Consultant • Strategic Advisor
For more than 23 years, Julia served as in-house counsel at Mary Kay Inc., retiring from her position as Chief Legal Officer & Corporate Secretary in 2023. Julia was responsible for the company’s worldwide legal, risk management, corporate governance, compliance, public affairs, records management, corporate/crisis communications, and corporate social responsibility functions. She also served as the company’s Chief Privacy Officer.
Before launching Simon Dispute Resolution LLC, Julia was a partner at Lynn Pinker Hurst & Schwegmann in Dallas, where she balanced her growing dispute-resolution practice with representing clients in high-stakes litigation.
Before her tenure at Mary Kay, Julia was an associate and partner at Locke Liddell & Sapp in Dallas, specializing in commercial litigation and employment law. She began her legal career as an employment lawyer at McGlinchey, Stafford, Nealy & Lang in New Orleans.
Julia earned a bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University and a law degree from The University of Texas School of Law. She received her certification to serve as a mediator from South Texas College of Law.
She is on the Board of the Center for American and International Law, where she currently serves as Vice Chair. She also serves on the boards of the University of Texas School of Law Foundation, the Dallas Association of Women Lawyers Foundation, the SMU Tower Center, the Lone Star Justice Alliance, and the UT Southwestern President’s Advisory Board. She was previously a board member of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation and the National Association of Women Lawyers. She also serves as an adjunct professor for the Corporate Counsel Externship Program at the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law.
Julia is recognized as one of the Top 500 Business Leaders in Dallas-Fort Worth by D CEO magazine. She received the Robert H. Dedman Award for Law & Ethics from the Texas General Counsel Forum. She was spotlighted by Business Insider as one of the most influential businesswomen in the United States and listed as one of the most powerful executives in corporate America by Black Enterprise. She has been recognized many times for her work in advancing diversity and inclusion in the law.
She is a frequent speaker on topics such as leadership, building legal teams and compliance programs, ethics, litigation strategy and risk assessment.
Julia brings tenacity and creativity to help resolve complex issues.
Why Choose Simon Dispute Resolution?
Julia is uniquely qualified to help parties resolve legal disputes. Her effectiveness results from her ability to connect with and relate to all stakeholders. She has been in every seat at the table over the course of her career and brings natural curiosity, active listening, thorough preparation and innovative thinking to help resolve complex matters.
Seasoned Litigator
She is a seasoned trial lawyer, with experience in front of juries, judges, and arbitrators. Julia is able to quickly and intelligently assess cases, making her a highly sought-after trial consultant and strategist. Julia is a trusted advisor and negotiator who has successfully guided clients and dispute stakeholders through challenging legal and regulatory issues for more than 30 years.
Dispute Resolution Specialist
Julia has participated in hundreds of mediations and settlement negotiations using her deep knowledge of business and human behavior to reach consensus. An advocate of early dispute resolution, she successfully resolved dozens of matters at the initial demand stage, alleviating the need for costly litigation.
Vast Experience
Julia has handled a wide range of cases including Intellectual Property; Employment; Independent contractor and franchise agreements; Partnership dissolution; Non- competes and non-solicitation; International and domestic contract disputes; Defamation; Consumer Protection; Fraud; Premises liability; Privacy and data breach litigation.