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The City of Port Arthur released job experience information on the four applicants for the city attorney position.

 

Roxann Cotroneo

Cotroneo has 29 years of municipal law experience and is currently with the Law Office of Roxann Pais Cotroneo where she is legal counsel for various cities, including their officials and employees, since 2013. Prior to this, she was the City Attorney for the City of Harlingen, TX, the Executive Assistant City Attorney – Special Projects for the City of Dallas, TX, the Special Assistant United States Attorney, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) and Anti-Gang Crime Initiative, and Executive Assistant City Attorney – Chief of Community Prosecution and Community Courts for the City of Dallas.

Cotroneo has a Doctor of Jurisprudence from St. Mary’s School of Law in San Antonio, TX, and a bachelor’s degree in government from the University of Texas at Austin, TX. She completed the 32^nd Program of Instruction for Lawyers at Harvard Law School in Cambridge, MA. She was admitted to the State Bar of Texas in 1995 and is a certified instructor with the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education.

 

William (Kent) McIlyar 

McIlyar has more than three decades of experience in legal counsel for local governments and most recently has served as the Senior Assistant City Attorney (ACA-3) for the City of Corpus Christi, TX since 2017. Prior to this, he was a contract attorney for various municipal law firms, City Attorney for the City of Paris, TX, Senior Assistant City Attorney III for the City of Plano, and the Assistant City Attorney – Litigation Division for the City of Dallas, TX.

McIlyar has a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Oklahoma City University School of Law in Oklahoma City, OK, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Oklahoma in Norman, OK. He is licensed with the State Bar of Texas, certified in Municipal Law from the Texas City Attorneys Association/Texas Municipal League, and is a member of the International City Attorneys Association.

 

Samer Shobassy

Shobassy has more than 18 years of post-graduate legal experience and is currently a Senior Associate Attorney for Hyde Kelley, LLP. Before this, he was General Counsel for Advanced Pain Care, Assistant General Counsel III, Litigation Staff Attorney V, and IV for the Texas Medical Board. Samer was an Attorney-at-Law for Shobassy Law from 2007 to 2016 and was the Assistant City Attorney II for Port Arthur from 2010 to 2015.

Shobassy has a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law in Dallas, TX, an M.D. from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, TX, and a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry/mathematics from the Southern Methodist University in Dallas, TX. He is also a member of the Texas State Bar Association and the Texas City Attorneys Association.

 

Quentin Price 

Price has served as the Assistant District Attorney – Civil Division for Jefferson County, TX since 2017. Before this, he was the First Assistant City Attorney for the City of Beaumont, TX from 2009-2016. He was a Senior Partner for Barton, Price, McElroy, & Townsend in Orange, TX, and a Civil Defense Associate for Strong, Pipkin, Nelson, & Bissell in Beaumont, TX.

Price has a Doctor of Jurisprudence from the Texas Tech School of Law in Lubbock, TX, a master’s degree in business administration from Texas Tech University, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the Lubbock Christian College in Texas. He’s been a Texas State Bar member since 1991 and is licensed to practice in all state courts in the State of Texas.