Only two lawyers in Southeast Texas are both Board Certified in Criminal Law and Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Texas; Ryan Gertz is one of them. Focused on defending serious state and federal criminal charges, Ryan routinely tries complex cases and has met with great success.

Toby F. Nash is a native of Beaumont, Texas who began his legal career at Germer in 2005. He graduated magna cum laude from Lamar University with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Accounting in 2002. Toby graduated in the top two percent of his Texas Tech Law School class, receiving his Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, summa cum laude. While in law school, he served as Comment Editor on the Texas Tech Law Review and was the recipient of the Lamar University/Texas Tech University School of Law Presidential Scholarship. Toby was initiated into the Order of the Coif and the legal honor societies of Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Delta Phi. In November 2005 he was admitted to the State Bar of Texas and is admitted to practice before Texas state courts and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. Toby is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Jefferson County Bar Association, Jefferson County Young Lawyers Association, National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel, and Texas Association of Defense Counsel. Toby practices in the areas of Appellate Law, Class Action, Civil Litigation, Commercial Litigation, Family Law, Maritime Law, Personal Injury Defense, Rail Transportation/Railroad, and Transportation and Trucking Litigation.

Valerie is Southeast Texas born and raised and is a proud alumni of All Saints Episcopal School (c/o 2000), West Brook High School (c/o 2004), Rice University (c/o 2008), and Tulane University Law School School (c/o 2014). Before law school, she spent one year teaching English in rural France. She subsequently served two years as a Teach For America Corps Member in Northern California, where she taught seventh grade English as part of Teach For America’s mission to make excellent education equitable for all children and fought for an uncompromising belief in every child. Valerie’s advocacy skills also carry into her volunteer efforts in the Southeast Texas community, where she has served on the Boards of Directors of the Junior League of Beaumont, the Michelle M. Mehaffy Inn of Court, the Jefferson County Young Lawyers Association, and the Foundation for Southeast Texas.

Kelli B. Smith earned her Doctor of Jurisprudence degree, with honors, from the University of Texas School of Law in 1998. While attending law school, she was a Teaching Quizmaster, an associate editor of the Texas Journal of Women and The Law, and excelled in Moot Court competitions. She has been with Germer since 1998 and has extensive experience handling appeals in state and federal courts, including more than 100 reported and unreported opinions. Kelli is admitted to practice before Texas courts, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States. Kelli is a member of the State Bar of Texas, Jefferson County Bar Association, Jefferson County Bar Journal Editorial Committee, Texas Association of Defense Counsel, Michelle Mehaffy American Inns of Court, the Appellate Section of the State Bar of Texas, and the Bar Association of the Fifth Federal Circuit. Kelli’s experience is in appellate practice and general civil litigation, including products liability, insurance defense, professional malpractice defense, and class and complex litigation.