Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson on Nov. 8 appointed Haynes and Boone, LLP Managing Partner Tim Powers as the city’s new Ethics Reform Czar, tasked with overhauling Dallas’s ethics code and establishing safeguards to ensure ethical behavior in city government.
“Tim Powers has an exceptionally brilliant legal mind,” Mayor Johnson said in a statement announcing the appointment. “He is well-qualified and uniquely suited to lead our much-needed efforts to rewrite our ethics rules and he brings with him a record of success both here in Dallas and around the world.”
Powers will form an advisory group to revise the city’s ethics code, Chapter 12-A, and make any other related proposals necessary to establish ethical best practices. The mayor has asked the group to finish its work by the end of April and turn over the proposals to the Dallas City Council. As the Ethics Reform Czar, Powers will make the ultimate decision on the ethical recommendations put before the City Council, the mayor said.
“Dallas must strive to create a culture of ethical behavior and compliance,” Mayor Johnson said. “We must be able to show our residents, the people of this great city, that they can rely on those of us who they’ve entrusted with great responsibilities.”
Powers said that he is “honored that Mayor Johnson has asked me to help our city improve its ethics code.”
“The City of Dallas deserves an ethics system that works — one that is based on best practices, is built upon a strong legal foundation and is designed to work for Dallas now and into the future,” Powers said. “This effort is important and critical to our city, and I am excited to start.”
In addition to his widely recognized and diverse work in the legal profession, Powers has served in senior leadership roles and on the board of directors of the World Affairs Council of Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas Regional Chamber, Dallas Committee on Foreign Relations, YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, American Heart Association — Dallas Division, Japan America Society of Dallas/Fort Worth, Southern Methodist University Tate Lecture Series, Dallas Breakfast Group and Crossroads Community Services. He also serves as a trustee of The First United Methodist Church — Dallas.
Haynes and Boone, LLP is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., London, Mexico City and Shanghai, providing a full spectrum of legal services in energy, technology, financial services and private equity. With more than 575 lawyers, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest U.S.-based firms by The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and The Lawyer. It also ranks among the nation’s most recommended law firms by general counsel, according to BTI Consulting Group’s “Most Recommended Law Firms 2019” report.
The following publications reported on the appointment: