Alum Profile: Chris

Christian A. Garza
Plan II Honors & Government
Class of 1998
Senior Counsel, Enterprise Products Partners

Christian (Chris) A. Garza is a proud Longhorn and Plan II alum. He credits the mentorship and guidance obtained during his Plan II education for his career accomplishments. His Plan II Philosophy Class with Professor Kane and Freshman Plan II Literature class with Professor Twombly were life changing. Chris is always happy to speak with current (or prospective) students about how the Plan II Program prepared him for a legal career.

As a professional, Chris has served as either General Counsel or Senior Counsel at several of America’s leading corporations. Currently, he is Senior Counsel with Enterprise Products Partners (NYSE:EPD) in Houston, Texas. Enterprise is one of North America’s top providers of midstream energy services. Prior to his ten-year career as in-house counsel, Chris practiced at the international law firm of King & Spalding LLP in Houston. He is also a board member of the Houston Bar Foundation.

In recognition of his legal work, Chris has received many awards, including the Houston Business Journal’s Best Corporate Counsel - Up and Comer Award, the Hispanic National Bar Association’s Top Lawyers Under Forty Award, and the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas’s Top Male Lawyer Under Forty Award. He has been profiled in Hispanic Executive Magazine, Texas Lawyer, and Vanguard Law Magazine. Most recently, Chris was included in the Top 100 Corporate Counsel Rising Stars in the United States and the General Counsel Power List. In 2016, the Team managed by Chris was named the Texas Legal Department of the Year for Corporate Compliance.

Always mindful of the community, Chris has served on the Board of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston, the National Hispanic Bar Association (Region President), the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston (President), and Good Shepherd Episcopal Church. He is extremely proud of his service on the Hispanic Bar Association of Houston, where under his leadership, more local students received scholarships than ever before. Many of these students were the first in their family to attend either college or law school.

Named a Dean’s Distinguished Graduate from the College of Liberal Arts, Chris received his B.A. in Plan II and Government, with High Honors, in 1998. He graduated from Yale Law School in 2001, where he served as Notes Editor of the Yale Law Journal. After law school graduation, Chris clerked for the Chief Judge of the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. 
Raised in San Antonio, Chris is married with four children. Chris travels back to Austin as many times as his schedule permits. He looks forward to the day that he can send (at least) one of his children off to the Forty Acres to begin life as a Longhorn!