by Andy Jones

It is my honor to select Candace Groth as the May DAYL One to Watch!

Candace serves the DAYL and the Dallas legal community with her analytical abilities, her commitment to service, and her intelligence. Candance is a brilliant transactional lawyer who cares deeply for her community. DAYL is stronger, smarter, and more impactful because of Candace.

Candace graduated from Hamline University School of Law in 2014 in the top 5% of her class, with Certificates in Business Law and Arbitration Law. Candace took not one, but two bar exams after law school, Minnesota and Texas, conquering both. After law school, Candace served as a Law Clerk for U.S. Magistrate Judge Christine A. Nowak in the Eastern District of Texas. Candace practiced with Virtus Law, PLLC for six years in Minneapolis, MN and then in Dallas, Texas. At Virtus Law, PLLC, Candace provided outside general counsel services for a wide variety of businesses, and advised technology and other privately held businesses during mergers and acquisitions transactions. In 2021, Candace took her talents to Vela Wood, P.C. where she focuses her practice on advising business start-ups and negotiating and structuring cross-border transactions. An intelligent deal-maker of the highest caliber, Candace is the person the DAYL counts on to get the job done.

Candace serves the DAYL as co-chair of the Freedom Run, a truly monumental task, and as co-chair of the Women’s Mentoring Circles Committee. In both roles, Candace takes on the meticulous tasks, including contracts, that others might shy away from. From securing permits and writing COVID-19 Liability Waivers for the Freedom Run, to forming just the right Mentoring Circle, Candace cares about the details and knows how important they are to a successful event.

Candace also believes strongly in raising up the next generation of lawyers and serving the Dallas legal community. Outside of her work with the Women’s Mentoring Circles, Candace is also an active member of the DAYL Foundation Scholarship Committee and Grant Committee. As of member of these committees, Candace has helped give thousands of dollars to deserving legal service organizations and law students. Lives are changed because of Candace.

Outside of Dallas, Candace also serves as a council member and former chair of the Civil Liberties and Civil Rights Section of the State Bar of Texas. Additionally, she was a contributing author for the Texas Business Organizations Manual. Candace regularly presents CLEs on topics ranging from mergers and acquisitions and data privacy to the First Amendment and social media. Candance’s academic works have been published in the Hamline Law Review, the Macalester College Review, and the University of Texas Journal on Civil Liberties and Civil Rights.

Every day, Candace close deals with her analytical skills, shapes the law with her intelligence, and serves her community with the DAYL. Thank you, Candace, for all you do.