Gretchen Hoffman

Biography

Gretchen McCord is an attorney licensed by the State of Texas and a Certified Information Privacy Professional practicing privacy and copyright law, having recently opened her own practice after practicing in law firms for almost nine years. She provides consulting and legal advice, as well as training, in the areas of privacy and copyright law, and specializes in assisting libraries, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations in transitioning into the digital world. Prior to establishing her own practice, Gretchen spent six years at the international law firm of Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. and over two years at the prestigious intellectual property boutique of Wong, Cabello, Lutsch, Rutherford, & Bruculerri, LLC.



Before attending law school, Gretchen practiced as an academic librarian for six years, first as a reference librarian at the University of Texas at San Antonio Library and then leading the library instruction program at the University of Houston Libraries. After becoming increasingly interested in and concerned with legal issues surrounding the Internet and digital information, she decided to attend law school at the University of Texas School of Law.



Gretchen received her B.A. from Rice University and M.S.I.S. from the University of North Texas. She received her J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law in 2001 and is licensed to practice law in the State of Texas. While in law school, Gretchen served as Chief Articles Editor of the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Texas Journal of Women and the Law. During law school, she interned for the Texas Supreme Court and the Senate Jurisprudence Committee of the Texas Legislature and worked for the Texas Library Association as a legislative assistant.



Gretchen currently serves on the City of Austin Library Commission. She served as President of the Texas Library Association in 2005-2006 and is still active in TLA. She is also an alumna of both the Snowbird Leadership Institute and the TALL Texans Leadership Institute. She is past-chair of the Texas Intellectual Property Law Journal Copyright Committee.



Gretchen is an adjunct professor at the University of Texas School of Information, where she teaches the course "Legal Issues for Information Professionals." During both her library and legal careers, Gretchen has written and spoken extensively on copyright and privacy issues of concern to educators and librarians, and related issues.

Degrees

J.D. The University of Texas School of Law; May 2001
M.S.I.S. University of North Texas, School of Library and Information Sciences; August 1992
B.A. Rice University; Psychology and Sociology; May 1991

Areas Of Specialization

Legal Informatics