Biography

Ms. Portela is Senior Counsel in the Houston office specializing in mediation, training and executive-level employment counseling. She is the founding partner of the office, and formerly served as its managing partner.

Ms. Portela is a director of Bowne & Co., Inc. (BNE-NYSE); vice-chair of the Board of Directors of the University of St. Thomas in Houston; and a director of Houston Grand Opera. She is a past Governor of the College of Labor and Employment Lawyers, where she was elected a founding fellow in 1996. She was one of the founders of, and served as special counsel to, the Texas Employment Law Council from 1984 to 1986.

In 1992, she was named one of the nation’s best employment litigators by the National Law Journal.  Ms. Portela lectures extensively and has published numerous articles including “Let’s Make A Deal”  Texas Lawyer, November 17, 1997; and “Mediating Employment Disputes,” Just Resolutions, American Bar Association Section of Alternative Dispute Resolution, October, 1999.  She also co-authored the chapter “Employment and Labor Disputes” in the book Alternative Dispute Resolution: The Litigator’s Handbook, published by the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section in 2000. 

Her past government service includes: the Illinois Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission (1993 to 1995); the Commission on Workforce Quality and Labor Market Efficiency (1988 to 1990); the Texas Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission (1984 to 1986); and the Civil Rights Reviewing Authority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (1981 to 1983).

A native of Havana, Cuba, Ms. Portela came to the United States in 1961 and is completely bilingual in Spanish and English.

Education

J.D., Northwestern University School of Law (1976)
B.A., Loyola University of Chicago, magna cum laude (1973)

Admissions

• Texas
• Illinois