Dara G. Hegar

Dara serves as The Association of Former Students' 2022 Chair of the Board. Born and raised in the Houston area, she received her bachelor’s degree in political science with honors from Texas A&M University in 1995. She received her master’s degree in international relations and her law degree from St. Mary’s University, where she served as Associate Editor of the Law Review-Journal in 1998. During her time at Texas A&M, Dara served as a member of SCONA, studied abroad in France, participated in a cooperative education program with the Walt Disney Corporation, and was a scholar in the James Earl Rudder Normandy Program. Upon completing law school, she served as a briefing attorney to the Honorable Richard H. Edelman at the Fourteenth Court of Appeals for the State of Texas. In 1999, Dara joined The Lanier Law Firm, P.C. where she is currently the Managing Attorney for the firm’s offices in Houston, Los Angeles, and New York. She has represented clients in each of the firm’s practice areas and has focused on trial coordination in complex litigation matters. Dara has represented clients and Fortune 500 companies from across the nation. While her proficiency spans across all of the firm’s practice areas, her specialty has been managing complex litigations and providing specific insight at trial that has resulted in many significant verdicts and settlements over the past 22 years. Dara has been named a “Rising Star” in the legal community eight times by Texas Monthly, receiving the honor each year from 2006 through 2013. She was also named a “Top 100 Trial Lawyer” in 2013 by The National Trial Lawyers. Furthermore, she was honored to be included in U.S. News and World Report’s 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022 editions of The Best Lawyers in America and named a “Super Lawyer” by Thomson Reuters from 2018-2020. In addition to serving on the Board of Directors for The Association of Former Students, she is a member of the Houston Bar Association, the State Bar of Texas, and the Texas Senate Ladies Club. Dara and her husband, The Honorable Glenn Hegar ’93, are Endowed Century Club members.