 He also advised the buy side on the $1.3 billion privatization of Telkom South Africa, at the time the largest privatization in Africa.Ellis chairs the board of directors for the Innocence Project and co-chairs the National Conference of State Legislatures Task Force on International Relations.He also serves on the National Conference of State Legislatures Executive Committee, the LBJ Foundation board of trustees, the University of Texas School of Law Foundation board of trustees, and the Council on Foreign Relations.