GPSolo Nominating Committee Report

The American Bar Association (ABA) Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division’s 2024–2025 Nominating Committee consisted of the following members: Chair Jennifer A. Rymell, John S. Austin, James M. Durant III, Laura Hedge, and G. Rawson Stevens. The Committee met through a hybrid format in October 2024. The Committee was charged with nominating candidates for the offices of Division Secretary and five candidates to serve as Council Members-at-Large. Special efforts were taken to ensure each candidate’s interview was conducted in a professional manner, identical in scope and objective.

Each candidate for Division Secretary and Division Council Member-at-Large was allotted ten minutes for his or her interview. During the respective interviews, each candidate was afforded an opportunity to share any information the candidate wanted the Nominating Committee members to consider and ask questions. In addition, Nominating Committee members were given the opportunity to make whatever inquiry they deemed appropriate of the candidates. At the conclusion of the interviews, the Nominating Committee considered all the applicants. After extensive deliberations, the members of the Nominating Committee voted on each position and, in accordance with Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division Bylaws, submitted the following slate of nominated candidates for Division Secretary and Division Council Members-at-Large for the Bar Year beginning at the 2025 ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto, Canada.

Division Secretary

H. Nicole Werkmeister

Werkmeister, of Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a solo practitioner with a freelance civil litigation practice focusing on civil rights law. She received her undergraduate degree from Colby College and her juris doctor from Boston College Law School. In New Mexico, she served as president of the New Mexico Defense Lawyers Association, president of the State Bar of New Mexico Young Lawyers Division, president of the New Mexico State Bar Foundation, and a member of the State Bar of New Mexico Board of Bar Commissioners and the New Mexico Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism. Additionally, Werkmeister has been extremely active in the ABA, especially in the GPSolo Division. She has received appointments to the ABA Standing Committee on Membership, the ABA Presidential Decennial Task Force, and the ABA Presidential Task Force to Combat Antisemitism. In the GPSolo Division, Werkmeister has served as a member of the Division’s Nominations, Member Benefits, Bylaws, Corporate Sponsors, Finance, and Leadership Training Committees and as Membership Director. In her capacity as Membership Director, Werkmeister was instrumental in establishing the Automatic Enrollment Program, which provides that ABA members who identify themselves as solos or small firm or general practitioners be automatically enrolled as Division members. Notably, she has also planned and moderated a program of the Activate Diversity Series and worked with the Division’s Book Publications Board in authoring the book A Freelance Lawyer’s Guide to Financial Success. In addition to her bar association activities, Werkmeister is also very involved in community service. She has served as president of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Albuquerque, vice president of the Albuquerque ABQ BioPark, president of the Rape Crisis Center of Central New Mexico, and a member of the Albuquerque Mayoral Commission on the Status of Women. Werkmeister’s devotion to the bar was recognized when she received the State Bar of New Mexico Outstanding Young Lawyer of the Year Award, the Center for Civic Values Outstanding Attorney Award, and the State Bar of New Mexico Outstanding Program and Outstanding Service Awards.

Council Members-at-Large

Melanie Bragg

Bragg, of Houston, Texas, is a solo practitioner with a general civil practice in the areas of probate and family law along with a mediation practice in Harris Central Appraisal District (HCAD) matters, personal injury, and commercial disputes. She also serves as a special commissioner for eminent domain cases. Bragg received her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Texas and her juris doctor from the University of Houston College of Law. She has been extremely active in bar associations at the state, local, and national levels. Bragg is the former president of the Houston Young Lawyers Association and served as a director of the Texas Young Lawyers Association. She was appointed to the Texas Bar Foundation Board of Trustees, where she is also a Sustaining Life Fellow, and she is the Houston Bar Association Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. Bragg has served in numerous leadership positions in the GPSolo Division since 2011, including positions on the Division Council, as GPSolo Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates, and as Division Chair during the 2018–2019 Bar Year. She also received the Division’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2022. Bragg has a passion for writing and serves as the chair of the GPSolo Book Publications Board. Further, she is a published author of the books Defining Moments: Insights into the Lawyer’s Soul, Crosstown Park (an Alex Stockton legal thriller), and HIPAA for the General Practitioner. Bragg is also a frequent speaker on mindfulness and wellness for lawyers.

Anthony Ciolli

Ciolli, of St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, primarily serves as the special assistant to Chief Justice Rhys S. Hodge of the Supreme Court of the U.S. Virgin Islands. He has an appellate and judicial administration practice. In addition, he is a part-time faculty member for the St. Mary’s University School of Law, where he teaches Advanced Constitutional Law: United States Territories and State and Legal Institution classes. Ciolli has received a bachelor’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Cornell University, a juris doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, an ALM in Government from Harvard University, and an Executive LLM in Taxation from New York University. Ciolli has been extremely active in a variety of bar associations. He began his involvement with the ABA in the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), where, in addition to serving on several committees, he was a member of the YLD Council. Ciolli has also served on the Council of the ABA Judicial Division, is the state captain for the U.S. Virgin Islands for ABA Day in Washington, D.C., and is an accreditation site evaluator for the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admission to the Bar. Ciolli is a current member of the ABA House of Delegates and holds an ABA presidential appointment to the Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws. Additionally, Ciolli is a former president of the Virgin Islands Bar Association, and during this time, he served on the Council for the National Conference of Bar Presidents.

Travis Cushman

Cushman, of Great Falls, Montana, is a small firm practitioner who has a varied practice in the areas of insurance defense, business litigation, construction law, personal injury law, and foster care mediation. He received his bachelor’s degree in business administration with honors from the University of Montana and his juris doctor from the University of Montana Alexander Blewett III School of Law. Cushman has been active in bar and professional associations at the state, local, and national levels. He has served in various leadership positions in the Cascade County Bar Association and has been involved at the state level with the Montana Court Improvement Program, the Montana Bench Bar Referral Program, and the Montana Defense Trial Lawyers Association. Cushman was also the Montana recipient of the prestigious Judge Robert P. Goff Pro Bono Award. He began his involvement with the ABA through the ABA YLD. He served as YLD District Representative for the Montana Region and was also a member of the YLD Council. Cushman has been an active member of the GPSolo Division for a decade. He has served on several Division committees over the years and is currently a member of the Division’s Awards and Bylaws Committees, as well as the Membership Board.

Kerline Jean-Louis

Jean-Louis, of Boston, Massachusetts, is a small firm practitioner focusing on intellectual property law, particularly in trademark, counseling, search, clearance prosecution, and enforcement matters. She is the author of the article “Jack Daniels v. VIP Products: Expressive Works, the First Amendment and the Interest in Protecting Consumers Against Confusion in the Marketplace.” She received her bachelor’s degree from Boston College and her juris doctor from Northeastern University School of Law. During law school, Jean-Louis served as co-chair of the Kemet Chapter of the Black Law Students Association, and she is a member of both the Boston Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. She is active in the ABA, especially in the GPSolo Division. Jean-Louis is vice chair of the ABA Intellectual Property Law Section’s Pro Bono Committee and has also worked with the Section’s Trademark Committee in connection with its U.S. States Patent and Trademark Office Examination Pendency Initiative. In the GPSolo Division, Jean-Louis has been selected as a Fellow to the Division’s Diversity Fellows Program and has been a subcommittee member responsible for assisting with the planning of programs for the Division’s Activate Diversity Series. In addition, she has served on the GPSolo Chair-Elect Planning Leadership Training Team and on the Bylaws and the 2024 Fall Leadership Meeting Host Committees.

Kristina N. “Kristi” Kastl

Kastl, of Dallas, Texas, is a small firm practitioner specializing in personal injury trial law. She received her bachelor’s degree with honors from the University of Texas at El Paso and her juris doctor from Texas Tech University School of Law. Kastl has been active in bar associations and is a frequent CLE speaker at trial lawyer organizations. She has spoken on the topics “Prepping a Client for Trial,” “Trying a Case from A to Z,” and “Trying Your First Trucking Case.” She served as president of the Dallas Bar Association, which has a membership of more than 11,500 lawyers; president of the Dallas Women Lawyers Association and Texas Women Lawyers; and president and caucus chair of the American Association for Justice Women Trial Lawyers Caucus. During her career, Kastl has been honored for her outstanding contributions to the legal profession by receiving the Texas Women Lawyers Pathfinders Award, the Texas Tech Distinguished Alumni Award, and the American Association for Justice Women Trial Lawyers Caucus Marie Lambert Award, which honors a person who represents women trial lawyers well through actions and deeds. She is also consistently recognized as a top Texas trial lawyer by being named a Texas Super Lawyer since 2012, one of D Magazine’s Best Lawyers, and a National Trial Lawyer of the Year since 2018. Currently, Kastl serves the GPSolo Division on the Awards, Corporate Sponsors, and Meetings Committees. She also serves on the Programs Board, as co-chair of the Litigation Committee, and as vice chair of the Women’s Initiative Network (WIN).