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Slater Elza’s approach to legal representation is centered around understanding his clients’ needs and solving their problems. Different circumstances and different clients call for creative solutions that match the uniqueness of each situation. As a litigator, Slater has tried over 150 matters through verdict in state courts, federal courts and arbitrations.
Slater Elza’s practice focuses on representing businesses and governmental entities in litigation and general matters. As a litigator, Slater has tried over 150 matters through verdict in state courts, federal courts and arbitrations. He has handled significant litigation in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia and Pennsylvania for clients. Understanding his clients is very important to Slater as he considers himself more than traditional legal counsel – he solves problems. Slater believes in a team approach that places the best Underwood attorneys for any matter on the case.
Slater’s clients include numerous Texas municipalities, multiple healthcare providers, an international agricultural corporation and various regional and nationally recognized insurance companies. Slater regularly handles medical malpractice cases and administrative law matters for medical professionals, hospital districts and hospitals.
Slater is a Past-President for the Texas Association of Defense Counsel, a statewide organization of personal injury defense, civil trial and commercial litigation attorneys, and is a former treasurer and director for the Amarillo Area Bar Association. Slater serves on the Litigation Council for the Litigation Section of the State Bar of Texas and currently serves as the elected President for the Texas City Attorneys Association. He was recently elected to serve a three-year term as The Texas State Representative for Defense Research Institute (“DRI”).
Slater also is a selected/invited member of The Association of Defense Trial Attorneys (“ADTA”), The International Association of Defense Counsel (“IADC”) and The Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (“FDCC”). Slater regularly speaks around the State on litigation and local government issues.
Texas Association of Defense Counsel, Past President, 2021
Texas City Attorney’s Association, Executive Vice President, 2023; elected board member since 2015
Defense Research Institute (DRI) – Texas State Representative 2021-2023; Governmental Liability Committee and School and Education Law Committee
Texas Municipal League, Associate Member, 2003-Present
Texas Municipal League Legislative Committee on Utilities and Transportation, 2016 – 2018
Amarillo Bar Association,1997-Present; 2003-2004 Sec./Treas.; 2010-2012 Executive Committee
Texas Supreme Court, Unauthorized Practice of Law Committee Sub-Committee Chairman, 2012-2015
Litigation Council, State Bar of Texas, 2018-present
Association of Defense Trial Attorneys, 2017-present
International Association of Defense Counsel, 2021 – present
Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel, 2021 – present
Handling Employee Complaints, Responding to Charges, and Preparing for Litigation, Underwood Employment Law Seminar, Amarillo, Texas (2024)
The Role of The Paralegal in Presenting Properly Prepared Corporate Representative Witnesses, Texas Paralegal Journal, Summer (2022)
Current Trends in City Charters, TCAA Annual Meeting, Galveston, Texas (2022)
Effective Strategies for Expert Witness Discovery and Depositions, Texas State Bar Advanced Evidence and Discovery, San Antonio (2022)
Effective Strategies for Expert Witness Discovery and Depositions, Texas State Bar Advanced Evidence and Discovery, San Antonio (2022)
Understanding The 5th Amendment in The Context of Civil Litigation, Best of Litigation Update 2022: A Collection of The Top-Rated Presentations, Virtual (2022) Litigation Update, San Antonio, Texas (2022)
Strategies For Winning the Expert Witness Battle, TADC Spring Meeting, Ashville, North Carolina (2022)
The 5th Amendment and Civil Litigation, Montgomery County, Texas Bar Association, Conroe, Texas (2022)
The Fundamentals of the Texas Torts Claim Act, TCAA Riley Fletcher Basic Municipal Law Seminar, Austin, Texas (2022)
Understanding The 5th Amendment in The Context of Civil Litigation, State Bar Litigation Update, San Antonio, Texas (2022)
Collaborating on Economic Development at The Local, Regional and State Level, High Ground of Texas Annual Meeting, Amarillo, Texas (2021)
Different Perspectives of The Corporate Representative Witness Deposition, Texas State Bar Advanced Personal Injury, Houston, Texas (2021)
The 2021 Texas Legislative Update, Texas Association of Defense Counsel Annual Meeting, Memphis, Tennessee (2021)
Ethics and Obligations in Drafting Third-Party Opinion Letters, TCAA Annual Meeting, Austin, Texas (2021)
Texas Legislative Update – 2021, Texas Association of Defense Counsel Summer Meeting, Jackson Hole, Wyoming (2021)
Different Perspectives of The Corporate Representative Witness Deposition, Texas State Bar Advanced Personal Injury, San Antonio, Texas (2021)
Preparing Your Corporate Representative Witness for Deposition, TADC West Texas Seminar, Ruidoso, NM (2021)
A (Premature) Look at the 2021 Legislative Session, TADC Regional Meeting, El Paso, Texas (2021)
Notary Public – Some Things You Might Have Forgotten, TMC Regional Meeting, Canyon, Texas (2021)
Preparing your 30(b)(6) Witness for Deposition, Texas State Bar Litigation Council’s News from The Bar (2021)
Understanding Millennial Jurors and Young Judges, Lunch and Learn, Michigan Defense Trial Counsel, Virtual (2021)
Evidentiary Value and Limitations on Corporate Representative Witnesses, Texas State Bar Advanced Evidence and Discovery, Virtual (2021)
Identifying Criminal Issues in Civil Cases, State Bar Advanced Paralegal Course, Virtual (2020)
Employers’ Frequently Asked COVID-19 Questions, Underwood Municipal Seminar, Virtual (2020)
The Ethics of a City Attorney: Dealing with Adverse and Rogue Council Members, TCAA Fall Conference, Virtual (2020)
Best Practices for Governing Your City, Underwood Municipal Seminar, Virtual (2020)
The Role of The Paralegal in Document Preservation and Litigation Holds, Texas Paralegal Journal, Summer (2020)
Trying Cases with Millennial Jurors and Young Judges, TADC West Texas-New Mexico Seminar, Ruidoso, New Mexico (2020)
What You Don’t Say Can Be Held Against You, Texas State Bar Advanced Personal Injury Course, Houston, Dallas and San Antonio (2020)
Change a Life – Yours and Theirs, Texas State Bar Litigation Council’s News from The Bar, February (2020)
Document Preservation and Litigation Holds, IADC Transportation Committee Newsletter, February (2020)
Where Civil Meets Criminal Law; Texas State Bar Litigation Update, Austin, Texas (2020)
The Fundamentals of the Texas Torts Claim Act, TCAA Riley Fletcher Basic Municipal Law Seminar, Austin, Texas (2020)
Jumping the Shark – Litigation Holds; TADC Summer Meeting, Maui, Hawaii (2019)
Best Practices – Preservation Letters and Litigation Holds in Texas and New Mexico, TADC West Texas-New Mexico Seminar, Ruidoso, New Mexico (2019)
Your City’s Legal Counsel: Working with Your Lawyers, TML 2019 Annual Conference, San Antonio, Texas (2019)
2019 Legislative Update; GFOAT Quarterly Meeting, Canyon, Texas (2019)
Employment Law: Staying on The Right Path, Bailey County Business Council, Muleshoe, Texas (2018)
Your City’s Legal Counsel: Working with Your Lawyers, TML 2018 Annual Conference, Ft. Worth, Texas (2018)
Ethics of Paralegal Interactions with Clients, Witnesses, and Experts, InReach Continuing Education Solutions Webinar (2018)
Don’t Mess Up the Criminal Case – Successfully Navigating Parallel Proceedings, TADC West Texas-New Mexico Seminar, Ruidoso, New Mexico (2018)
Civility in Litigation: A Discussion on Professionalism, TADC Annual Meeting, Santa Fe, New Mexico (2018)
How Far Can You Go In Preparing a Witness?, TADC Deposition Boot Camp, Lubbock, Texas (2018)
Economic Development – Working With Your City Administration, High Ground of Texas, Spring 2018 Meeting – Plainview, Texas (2018)
Surviving Code Enforcement, Underwood Municipal Seminar, Lubbock and Amarillo, Texas (2018)
Sexual Harassment, Back to Basics, Underwood Municipal Seminar, Lubbock, Texas (2018)
Developing Your Agenda and Open Meetings Pitfalls, Underwood Municipal Seminar, Lubbock and Amarillo, Texas (2018)
TADC Trial Academy, Faculty, Ft. Worth, Texas (2018)
An Introduction to the Texas Tort Claims Act and Immunities, TCAA Riley Fletcher Basic Municipal Law Seminar, Dallas, Texas (2018)
Slater and his wife Shanna also manage their family ranch, where they raise black angus and longhorn cattle. They are active in the Cheyenne, Oklahoma First Methodist Church where Slater serves on the Church Council and as a liturgist. They have one son, Sterling, who is a country music singer-songwriter in College Station Texas. Slater and Shanna have a long history of volunteer work in their community.
State Bar of Texas, 1997
State Bar of Oklahoma, 2021
U.S. Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit
U. S. District Court, Northern, Eastern, Southern, and Western District of Texas
J.D., Texas Tech University School of Law, 1997
B.S., Texas Tech University, with honors, 1993
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