Associated Counsel of America (ACA) was founded by Rob Rowland, a former managing partner in a major law firm and a leader in the legal profession for over twenty-five years.

Mr. Rowland, is a licensed attorney who until forming ACA was in continuous private practice as a trial and appellate lawyer for over 20 years.  He holds a B.S. degree from Texas A&M University and a J.D. degree (1972, with honors) from George Washington University. Following graduation from law school, Mr. Rowland served for a year as a law clerk to the Honorable John R. Brown, Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (1973-74). After this clerkship, Mr. Rowland began his practice as a trial and appellate lawyer at Vinson & Elkins, one of the largest and most prominent law firms in Houston, as well as in the nation.

In 1981, Mr. Rowland left Vinson & Elkins and became one of the senior partners at Susman, Godfrey & McGowan, now Susman Godfrey, where he practiced as a trial and appellate lawyer for almost eight years. Susman Godfrey is one of America's leading and most successful litigation boutiques and, though being based in Texas (Houston and Dallas), has a practice which is national in scope.  In 1989, Mr. Rowland left Susman Godfrey to open a Houston office for Johnson & Gibbs, later Johnson & Wortley, at the time the largest law firm in Dallas and one of the largest in Texas.  As managing partner of the Houston office of Johnson & Gibbs from 1989 through 1991, Mr. Rowland successfully built the firm's presence in Houston from one to over thirty attorneys.

In the latter part of 1991, due in part to the decline in the economic climate in Dallas which adversely affected Dallas law firms, Mr. Rowland left Johnson & Gibbs to join a prominent Houston-based statewide law firm, Hutcheson & Grundy, where he served as a senior trial and appellate lawyer.  During Mr. Rowland's many years of legal practice, he had extensive involvement in hiring and staffing of partners, associates and support staff, and in managing and staffing many litigation and other large legal projects for clients. He is also intimately familiar with (and has been published on) the concept of "partnering" between outside and in-house counsel in the cost-efficient handling of major legal matters.

 
Katharine G. Crain, J.D.

Katharine G. Crain attended Vassar College (B.A. cum laude, 1969) and graduated from the University of Houston’s Bates College of Law (J.D., summa cum laude, 1978).  While in law school, Ms. Crain was an Editor of Houston Law Review during 1977-78, and was inducted into Order of the Barons.  Following law school, she clerked for a year as a Briefing Attorney for the 14th Court of Civil Appeals of the State of Texas.  After Ms. Crain left the court, she spent five years practicing law in the Business, Real Estate and Finance Section of the prestigious law firm of Vinson & Elkins, and then was appointed Vice President and General Counsel of Kettle Restaurants, Inc., a restaurant chain which operated and franchised restaurants in 16 states.  She held the top legal position at Kettle Restaurants for 16 years, after which she spent a period handling some family business matters while performing work on a contract basis for selected corporate legal departments.  Since joining ACA, drawing heavily on her direct experience both with a large firm and in-house, Katharine Crain has been actively involved in recruiting and placement of direct hire attorneys for law firms and corporations throughout the greater Houston metropolitan area as well as the rest of the nation. 

Kathy D. Horner, J.D.

Kathy D. Horner is a licensed attorney who formerly practiced law as a litigator and litigation manager for almost 14 years both with private law firms and in-house with a corporate legal department.  At ACA, she specializes in the recruiting and placement of direct hire attorneys throughout the greater Houston metropolitan area as well as the rest of the nation. Ms. Horner attended Texas A&M University (B.S., 1973, M.S., 1975) and received her law degree from the University of Houston (J.D., 1990).