Ray Bonilla
Partner
Overview
Ray Bonilla is an education attorney in Holland & Knight's Austin office. Mr. Bonilla focuses his practice on representing educational institutions.
Mr. Bonilla has 20 years of experience managing the legal affairs of large, complex organizations in challenging, public-facing regulatory environments. He is experienced in leading a variety of sensitive and complex legal matters, including issues relating to governance, litigation management, regulatory compliance, employment matters, student affairs, construction and real estate, international activities and athletics in a higher education environment. He also has significant experience advising board members and senior executives on sensitive governance issues.
In addition, Mr. Bonilla has a significant background in managing major commercial transactions, including complicated life sciences transactions and public-private real estate development agreements.
Before joining Holland & Knight, Mr. Bonilla served as general counsel and chief legal officer of the Texas A&M University System. He brings additional experience as general counsel of the Texas Comptroller's Office, where he served as the primary legal advisor to the Comptroller of Public Accounts, a statewide elected official who served as the Chief Financial Officer and Chief Tax Administrator for the State of Texas. He also worked in private practice for various law firms in Texas.
Representative Experience
- Led the Office of General Counsel for the Texas A&M University System for 14 years in providing legal services to 11 universities and eight state agencies in the system; the system has an annual budget of over $8 billion, with more than 170,000 students and approximately 30,000 employees
- Managed all legal issues for the Texas A&M University System, including those relating to governance, litigation management, regulatory compliance, faculty and student affairs, research compliance, construction and real estate, international activities and Division I athletics
- Regularly provided legal advice to the board of regents, chancellor, vice chancellors, university presidents, agency CEOs and other executives across the Texas A&M University System
- Led investigations into, and facilitated resolution of, various high-profile compliance matters involving executive and faculty misconduct, Title IX, research compliance and National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) compliance
- Represented the Texas A&M University System as a member of the board of Triad National Security LLC relating to management and operation of Los Alamos National Laboratory
- Served as business and legal lead on certain public-private partnership projects, including development of the TMC3 Collaborative Research Building in the Texas Medical Center in Houston
- Responsible for managing a multimillion-dollar budget and a team of 28 attorneys and 26 professional staff, including staff in the System Ethics and Compliance Office and the System Environmental Health & Safety Office
- Responsible for the selection and management of all external law firm relationships
- Represented numerous cities, counties, school districts and other governmental entities across the state of Texas
- Advised the governing boards and chief executives of governmental entities on governance matters, public finance issues, election, ethics and open government issues
- Served as the primary legal advisor to the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts, a statewide elected official who served as the chief financial officer and chief tax administrator for the State of Texas
- Supervised a team of 20 attorneys and related administrative staff for the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts
- Chaired the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts' tax policy committee charged with implementation of legislative changes, development of tax regulations and the resolution of major tax questions and controversies
- Key legal and policy advisor on signature agency initiatives such as the creation of the Texas Tomorrow Fund to allow Texans to prepay college tuition and fees, consolidation of the State Treasurer's Office into the Comptroller's Office for more efficient operations and implementation of the Lone Star Card system to replace food stamps and paper checks for delivery of benefits to low-income Texans
Credentials
- The University of Texas School of Law, J.D., with honors
- The University of Texas at Austin, B.B.A., Accounting, with honors
- Texas
- St. David's Foundation, Board Member, 2008-Present; Chair, 2021-2023
- St. David's Healthcare, Board Member, January 2018-Present; Board Chair, 2024-Present
- Outstanding General Counsel for a Non-Profit or Government Agency, Texas General Counsel Forum, 2015