Gail Kikawa McConnell was born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, and moved to Texas in 1984 to work for Continental Airlines in financial planning. She fell in love with wide open spaces and a Texan ("McConnell"), and has lived happily in the Houston area ever since. Gail received her BBA and MBA from UH (University of Hawaii), and earned her J.D. at UH (University of Houston) in 1992. After law school, she served as a briefing attorney at the First Court of Appeals serving Justices Mirabal, Price, Jones, and Hedges. While at the court, she co-authored a seminar paper, "Appeals from a Summary Judgment," with Justice Hedges. She left the court for an appellate attorney position at the Montgomery County District Attorney's Office, where she served a year in a trial court before becoming "Chief" of the appellate section, a position she has enjoyed and held since. Gail is co-editor with Alan Curry of the State's Appellate Manual, now in its third edition, published by TDCAA; and co-compiler of the Jury Charge Bank available on the TDCAA website (www.tdcaa.com).