Deborah C. Trejo

deborah.trejo@kempsmith.com512.320.5466/512.320.5431

Email: deborah.trejo@kempsmith.com
Telephone: 512.320.5466 / Fax: 512.320.5431

Overview
Credentials
Community
Honors

Deborah C. Trejo is the chair of the firm's Public and Environmental Law Department, and a member of the Trial Department, and focuses on representing governmental entities and private clients in administrative matters and in trial and appellate proceedings before state and federal courts. Ms. Trejo specializes in groundwater issues, open government, regulatory takings, endangered species, elections, water quality, constitutional issues, enforcement, permitting and litigation.

Ms. Trejo is a frequent author and speaker and has consistently been selected for inclusion by Best Lawyers in America in the area of Administrative/Regulatory and Environmental Law and was named a Texas Super Lawyer and Top Attorney by Austin Monthly in Government and Administrative Law.

Prior to joining Kemp Smith, Ms. Trejo worked on the Texas-Mexico border as an Assistant District Attorney for Cameron County, Texas, where she was involved in extensive litigation in state courts. During law school, Ms. Trejo held clerkships in the law firm of Clifford Chance in London, the Texas Office of the Attorney General in Austin, TX, and El Centro Legal Campesino in New Mexico and served as an attorney in the Tulane Environmental Law Clinic representing clients in state trial and appellate proceedings and before state and federal administrative agencies. She was also part of a special Tulane delegation to Havana where she worked with members of Cuba’s Ministry of Science, Technology, and the Environment to translate Cuba’s Law No. 81 on the Environment.

PRACTICE AREAS

Credentials

EDUCATION

Tulane University Law School, J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, Certificate in Environmental Law, Environmental Law Clinic, McCarthy Environmental Law Award for the Outstanding Student in Environmental Law, 1998
Southern Oregon State College, Teaching Certification, 1993
Reed College, B.A., 1991

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

State Bar of Texas - Environmental and Natural Resources Law Section
Austin Bar Association
Travis County Women Lawyers Association
Hispanic Bar Association of Austin
Texas Water Conservation Association Water Laws Committee
Texas Women Lawyers
Barbara Jordan American Inn of Court

BAR & COURT ADMISSIONS

Texas, 1998
U.S. District Court, Western District of Texas
U.S. District Court, Northern District of Texas
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
U.S. Supreme Court

Community

Professional & Civic Involvement

Ms. Trejo is the author of several publications and a frequent speaker on environmental and water law, including a chapter on groundwater conservation districts and subsidence districts in the State Bar of Texas’ Essentials of Texas Water Resources.
Ms. Trejo is a member of the Barbara Jordan Inn of Court and serves on the board of 22Q Texas, Inc., a statewide organization she founded to raise awareness of 22q11.2 deletion syndrome, the second most common genetic abnormality. She also volunteers with The New Philanthropists on the Legacy Leadership Circle, the Austin ISD Special Education Family Advisory Council, the Coalition for Special Education Equity in Austin ISD, the Coalition for Bilingual Education Equity in Austin, the Parent Teacher Student Association of Austin High School, the Down Syndrome Association of Central Texas and the Texas Parent to Parent Network. Ms. Trejo was a member of Leadership Austin’s 2008 Essential Class.

Honors

Austin Monthly Top Attorney in Government and Administrative Law
Austin Young Lawyers’ Association Pro Bono Challenge Winner
Best Lawyers in America in Administrative/Regulatory and Environmental Law
Save Barton Creek Association Teamwork Award
Recognized City of Austin Community Volunteer during Winter Story Uri
BSA Capital Area Council Armadillo District Norm Hummell Award