BRIAN YARBROUGH
Brian Garrett Yarbrough has over two decades of experience representing clients before the Texas Legislature and the executive branch of state government. He is a recognized and respected advocate with relationships spanning the political spectrum and a track record of successful advocacy across a wide range of business issues and concerns. These include, but are not limited to, energy, financial services, transportation, telecommunications, automobile manufacturing and rental, alcoholic beverage regulation, occupational licensing, property and health insurance, tort reform, workers compensation, municipal law, education, and healthcare.
Mr. Yarbrough’s scope of practice includes client representation before numerous state administrative agencies. He also advises clients on legal and compliance issues in the areas of ethics, campaign finance, and political action committees.
A native of New Braunfels, Texas, Mr. Yarbrough attended the University of Texas at Austin as a Terry Foundation Scholar, earning a Bachelor of Arts from the Plan II Honors Program in 1992 and a Juris Doctor from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1997. Mr. Yarbrough is married to Wendy Wagner Yarbrough, a native of San Antonio. They have three children, Garrett, Wyatt, and Lily. Mr. Yarbrough is active in civic and charitable activities in Texas and the local community. He is a member of Covenant Presbyterian Church and serves on the boards of Rodeo Austin and the Nancy and Howard Terry Foundation.
JANIECE Williams
Janiece Williams joined the firm as a policy analyst and legislative affairs consultant in 2013. Prior to joining the firm, Mrs. Williams served in the Texas Legislature on the staff of the Senate Finance Committee under Senator Tommy Williams. In that role, she was the primary budget analyst for Article III of the state budget (K-12 and higher education funding). She began her legislative service with the office of Senator Robert Deuell in 2009. Over the course of three sessions as a legislative aide, she gained extensive contacts and subject matter experience, focusing on education, finance, economic development, business and commerce, healthcare, and veteran affairs.
Mrs. Williams is a native of Fredericksburg, Texas. She earned her bachelor’s degree from Texas A&M University in 2006 and completed a Master of Public Administration at Texas State University in 2016.
Ashley Morgan
Ashley Morgan brings to the firm a wealth of experience gained over fifteen years of distinguished private and public service dedicated to legislative, administrative, and environmental law and policy. Mrs. Morgan joined Erben & Yarbrough in 2018 after serving as Deputy Legislative Director for Governor Greg Abbott. Prior to her service on Governor Abbott’s legislative affairs team during the 2015 and 2017 legislative sessions, Mrs. Morgan gained broad knowledge and experience working in numerous agencies and legislative offices.
Mrs. Morgan served as Division Chief of the Office of the Attorney General’s Public Information and Assistance Division from 2012 to 2014, as Special Counsel to former Texas Railroad Commissioner Buddy Garcia in 2012 and as his Special Counsel at the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality from 2010 to 2012. She formerly served in Governor Perry's Appointments Office and his Lieutenant Governor's Office.
Mrs. Morgan graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in communications and political science from Stephen F. Austin State University in 1998 and obtained a Juris Doctor degree from The University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 2007.
RANDY ERBEN
Retired founder
OF COUNSEl
Randy Erben opened the Law Offices of Randall H. Erben in January 1993. (The firm became Erben & Yarbrough in 2006.) Throughout a distinguished 35-year career, Mr. Erben has moved seamlessly between the private and public sectors, most recently serving in Governor Greg Abbott’s administration. In private practice, Mr. Erben consults on legal and ethical matters related to campaign finance, lobby filings, and financial disclosures, and he also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Texas at Austin School of Law.
Mr. Erben has received an AV rating from the national Martindale-Hubbell Rating System, the highest rating given for legal expertise and professional reputation. The publication The Best Lawyers in America named Mr. Erben as 2011 Austin Government Relations Lawyer of the Year and listed Mr. Erben in its 2007-2014 editions as one of Texas’ best attorneys in the practice area of Government Relations Law. In addition, U.S. News & World Report included Erben & Yarbrough in its 2010-2014 editions of “The Best Law Firms” in the area of Government Relations Practice.
Prior to opening his law firm, Mr. Erben served as a senior official at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development beginning in 1991, as director of the Texas Office of State-Federal Relations in Texas Governor Bill Clements’s administration in 1990, and as Assistant Secretary of State in the Office of the Texas Secretary of State from 1987 to 1989. He began his career as an associate at Foster, Lewis, Langley, Gardner & Banack in San Antonio, Texas before becoming Partner in 1986.
Mr. Erben is a 1981 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin School of Law and a 1978 graduate of Princeton University. He is married to Amy Heydenreich Erben, and they have two daughters, Christian and Emma. They are members of Covenant Presbyterian Church, where Mr. Erben is an ordained deacon, and they are active in civic and charitable activities.