Our Attorneys

Jeffrey S. Kelly

Jeff Kelly is our firm partner and fearless leader. He was admitted to the Texas Bar in 2004. He pursued law at John Marshall School of Law in Chicago, Illinois after first earning a B.B.A. in Business Administration from the University of Missouri. He was a thought-leader of his class and was also distinguished as summa cum laude. He not only received a Juris Doctorate degree, but also an LLM (Masters of Law).

Mr. Kelly has had an inspiring success story before becoming a top real estate lawyer. Earlier in his career, he was the Chief Financial Officer of a custom home company in Kansas City, Missouri. After only a few years, Kelly had turned the company from a mom-and-pop shop into one of Kansas’s most prominent home service providers.
His journey into the legal field started when he began representing the company in litigations and arbitrations cases. Kelly proved to be quite talented. He achieved a 100% success rate and reduced the legal expenses for the company by 60%. Kelly couldn’t ignore his desire to build on that success and decided to move into the legal field. His diverse abilities and dedication put him a step ahead of other lawyers in Austin legal matters.

In Jeff’s free time, he is a private pilot and loves to travel throughout the world. He also enjoys boating, skiing and spending time with his family.

Greg Siemankowski

Greg has over a decade of business litigation and trial experience as a commercial litigator, most recently as a bankruptcy attorney helping businesses successfully navigate through Chapter 11 restructuring. He returned to litigation after serving for three years as a judge with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, presiding over contested utility cases. Prior to that Greg was a commercial litigator for 7 years, both with his own firm and others, and served as General Counsel and CEO for an Austin-based construction contractor, working with closely with company management, vendors and customers. A second career lawyer, Greg also brings a decade of finance experience from work as an investment advisor and with an institutional bond trading firm.

Greg is a past recipient of the State Bar of Texas Legal Professionalism Award. He has presented professional legal education seminars for sections of the Bar Association.  In Law School, Greg was elected as the President of the Law Student Division of the State Bar of Texas, representing all law students in the State before the Bar. As an undergraduate, he was one of two Americans to be selected to study international conflict resolution in Montreux, Switzerland.

In his spare time, Greg is a hockey player and high school hockey coach. Greg was also a rower in college and following his rowing career he led 8 crews to national championships as the head coach at Cal-Davis, The University of Massachusetts, and of the US men’s Olympic development heavyweight rowing team.

Anna Hart

Anna Hart is an experienced litigation attorney with over nine years of practice. Prior to going to law school, Ms. Hart graduated from The University of Texas with a Bachelor of Science; she was on the Dean’s list and Honor’s Society. Her passion for law continued and she completed law school at Texas Tech as Cum Laude in 2014. Since graduating, Ms. Hart has gained comprehensive knowledge of the litigation process, civil procedure, and case management. She has handled all aspects of the litigation process, from initial case assessment to trial. Her ability to analyze complex legal issues and identify key arguments has proven successful throughout her career. In her spare time, she likes to be outdoors, listen to live music, and spend time with her family.

Chris Cummings

Chris has over a decade of litigation experience in the State of Texas, which has led him to state and federal jury trials. Over the years, he has honed his skills in crafting strong arguments and presenting them to a judge and jury – but he maintains personable communication skills that help him to negotiate on behalf of his clients needs. He strives to achieve the best results for his clients he wants his clients to be proud to have him as their attorney.

Before arriving in Texas Chris grew up in West Virginia, where he played college baseball at Marshall University. Sometimes he tells people that he was raised in a courtroom, as his dad is a retired prosecutor, district judge, and living legal encyclopedia. After law school, he ran away to New York to get immediate courtroom experience in the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office where he second-chaired high profile trials. Chris enjoys playing guitar, running, and going to concerts around town. Although he enjoys the rush of litigation and seeks the satisfied client, his favorite job is being a husband, dad, and dog dad.

Amy Friday

Amy Friday is a litigation attorney with over twenty years of experience in general civil litigation, construction defect, premises liability, products liability and personal injury defense.  She has successfully defended many catastrophic injury, wrongful death and negligence cases involving significant exposure in both Texas state and federal court.  Amy attended Texas A&M University and received her Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance in 1999 and immediately attended law school at Baylor University, where she received her law degree in 2002.

Amy’s approach to litigation focuses on efficient and cost-effective resolutions to cases through early settlement or dispositive motions.  Her ability to obtain results sets her apart from her peers.  She has a comprehensive understanding of all phases of the litigation process and uses her extensive knowledge and experience to help her clients obtain the best resolution of their contested litigation.  In her free time, Amy enjoys spending time with her husband and two children, spending time outdoors and playing tennis.

Avery Leissner

Avery is our Litigation Assistant who works closely with KLG’s legal staff by organizing evidence, reviewing discovery, and preparing motions. Prior to joining KLG, Avery worked as a Litigation Assistant in a criminal law firm. She graduated with Honors from Texas A&M University and pursuing a law degree in the near future.

Melissa Ritter

Department Head

Melissa Ritter is the head of the paralegal team and has over 6 years of experience in law. She has worked across many law areas, but her specialty and love is real estate. Prior to her Paralegal career, she worked in property management helping a variety of clients. She really enjoys working closely with clients to achieve their goals and solve their problems

Melissa grew up in Mason, a quintessential small town in the hill country (doesn’t even have a stop light); she loves the fact that Kelly Legal Group has that same small town feel when working with clients. In her spare time, she enjoys spending time with her family, and her many fur babies.

Adriana Mendez-Aria

Adriana is a Licensed Mexican Attorney that worked as a prosecutor in Guadalajara, Mexico.  When she moved to Austin, she worked in the Legal Department at the Mexican Consulate.  While working at the Consulate, Adriana pursued her Paralegal Certificate.  Adriana has worked in the legal field for several years while running a small real estate business.  Adriana has 2 boys and enjoys advocating for special needs.

Karla Ford

Legal Assistant

Karla has spent her entire career in customer service in a variety of industries including food retail, hospitality, and automotive. She brings her passion for helping people to Kelly Legal Group by working with a diverse group of clients to better understand their goal for a case. Her positive attitude and calm manner allows her to connect with both new and existing clients.  She is a local Austinite and loves to work out and hike whenever she has time. She is also fluent in Spanish.

Katherine Camaren

Legal Paralegal

Katherine is a litigation paralegal that works with our legal staff to ensure success for each and every case. Prior to joining KLG, Katherine worked in personal injury, family and criminal law in Tennessee and Texas. She graduated from the University of Memphis in 2017 and enjoys spending her spare time hiking.

Pam Parma

Senior Vice President

Pam Parma is our SVP that works with both external clients and internal staff to ensure success for all of KLG’s valued clients. She is also in charge of all processes and HR at the firm.  Prior to joining KLG, Pam worked as a software executive by helping Fortune 500 clients develop their leaders and top talent. Pam received her undergraduate degree from Texas A&M University and spends her spare time boating, skiing and playing pickleball.

Joseph Germanos

Office Manager

Joseph is seasoned executive with extensive background in IT, accounting, and finance. He holds a Master’s Degree in Business Administration with emphasis in Management and Finance from the Lebanese University, and a Computer Science Degree as System Analyst from Francel College in Beirut -Lebanon.

Prior to Joining the company, Joseph managed GS1 Lebanon, a Global Non-for-Profit Organization. He has worked in international banking for over 10 years and more than 20 years in tech companies as ERP, CRM Systems Implementations in Lebanon and the USA. In his spare time, he loves music, boating and traveling the world. His dream is to become a private pilot one day. He is also fluent in French and Arabic.

Boxer – Charlie Brown

Charlie! He is responsible for giving affection and enticing smiles from all staff and visitors in exchange for pets and treats.