Biography
Kristen Wheeler is an attorney in the Houston office of Cokinos | Young. Her practice primarily focuses on construction law and commercial litigation, representing residential, commercial, and industrial construction clients. She also regularly navigates employment related disputes, safeguarding the rights of both employers and employees in cases involving non-competition and trade secret issues, wrongful termination, retaliation, and discrimination.
Kristen received her J.D. from the University of Houston Law Center in 2022. While in law school, she served on the executive boards for the UH Law Center’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Team and the International Law Society. She also worked as a judicial intern for U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein, Jr. and for former Judge Gregg Costa for the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. Additionally, she interned with the Texas Attorney General’s office in the Consumer Protection Division.
Prior to law school, Kristen was a 4th grade ESL teacher in Spring Branch ISD for two years while serving as a Teach for America Corps member.
Education
- University of Houston Law Center – J.D., 2022
– Houston Journal of Health Law & Policy
– Alternative Dispute Resolution Team, Executive Board
– International Law Society, Executive Board - Texas A&M University – B.A., Political Science, 2017
Speaking Engagements & Presentations
- HR Houston General Meeting: Texas’s Enhanced Sexual Harassment Laws: Nearly One Year Later
Publications
- An Adequate Shift from Inpatient Care or a Kick to the Curb: The Need to Shift Hospitals’ Discharge Criteria from Hospital-Focused to Patient-Driven, HOUS. J. HEALTH L. & POL’Y 1 (2023).
Judicial Experience
- Judicial Intern to the Honorable Ewing Werlein, Jr., U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas
- Judicial Intern to the Former Judge Gregg Costa, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Admissions
- State Bar of Texas
- United States District Court: Southern District of Texas
- United States Courts of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit
Community Involvement
- Bellaire Ducks Unlimited – Present Chairman
- Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo: World Championship Bar-B-Que Contest – Contestant Supervisor
- St. Thomas’ Episcopal Young Alumni Board