Father’s Day is creeping up, and for anyone in Houston who wants to support a fatherhood-focused nonprofit, consider attending CoolxDad’s fundraising brunch on Saturday, June 15.
The pre-Father’s Day, adults-only celebration at The Alta Arts studio will help CoolxDad raise funds to hire a development director and establish a program facility at its new headquarters, which are currently under construction. (Tickets and more details can be found here.)
CoolxDad’s founder is Kevin Barnett, an entrepreneur who was raised in Brooklyn, New York, by a single mother. Growing up, Barnett was occasionally in contact with his dad, but he did not get to see him as much as he would have liked, according to Barnett’s bio on the CoolxDad website.
Inspired by his own experiences (including starting a family of his own) and by major events during the Covid-19 pandemic — the Black Lives Matter movement and the murder of George Floyd — Barnett founded CoolxDad in 2020 with the vision of reducing stigmas surrounding fathers of color while building a community of fathers striving to build a better world for their children and serve their communities.
According to data on the nonprofit’s website, more than 18.3 million children in the U.S. live in a home without the physical presence of a father, and 50 percent of that population is either African American or Latinx. Data supports that children of fatherless homes are significantly more likely to live in poverty and struggle with substance abuse, physical and emotional health issues, academic achievement, criminal activities and teen pregnancy.
“I decided to make CoolxDad a vehicle of love to encourage fathers who are in absentia to be present with their offspring, and to bring father figures who are parenting their children even closer to their flock at home,” Barnett said in his bio.
In light of its new headquarters, slated to open this fall, CoolxDad currently seeks to raise $150,000. CoolxDad’s new home will be at East River, a 150-acre, multiphase, mixed-use real estate development project that broke ground in 2021. Located in Houston’s Fifth Ward, East River seeks to transform the stretch of the Buffalo Bayou east of downtown Houston into a new economic center. CoolxDad’s new space will feature programming and office areas and a retail storefront that will sell CoolxDad merchandise while serving as a hub for ongoing programming, art installations and creative space.
The project is personal for Pillsbury real estate partner Adam Weaver, a relatively new dad who led CoolxDad’s lease negotiations pro bono with Midway, the developer and landlord.
“I was fortunate enough that my best friend from college also had his first child around the same time as me, and he and I would bounce ideas off each other and try to answer life’s tough questions together,” Weaver said. “CoolxDad is providing that platform and that community — one that I immediately wanted to be a part of.”
In the following Q&A, Weaver discusses why he is passionate about CoolxDad’s mission, provides details on the pro bono work that went into this project and doles out advice for how more transactional lawyers can get involved with pro bono without having to — gasp! — set foot in eviction court, immigration court or any courtroom for that matter.
Plus, below the Q&A: details of a recent 5K benefiting those affected by sickle cell disease that was sponsored by a Dallas law firm, another firm operating in Dallas that just became NAMWOLF certified and June dates for the Dallas Bar Association’s LegalLine E-Line Clinic.
Texas Lawbook: How did you get connected with this organization and this pro bono matter? And have you ever been involved with CoolxDad before?
Adam Weaver: I got involved through a mutual friend when looking to get more involved in the Houston community. As a (relatively) new father, the CoolxDad mission spoke to me, and the founder, Kevin, and I hit it off immediately. I had attended a few CoolxDad panel discussions including one focused on balancing work and family life and knew that I had to get involved. When discussing with Kevin, I learned about CoolxDad’s goal of creating a community and the need for a central hub and headquarters. I jumped at the opportunity to help bring his dream of a collaborative CoolxDad space to life.
Lawbook: What made you want to take on this pro bono project on?
Weaver: One of the things I love most about practicing real estate law is how tangible it is. As real estate attorneys, we get front row seats to watch incredible development and projects come to life. With that in mind, and an understanding of how important place-making is, I was excited to help CoolxDad and its already impactful community create a tangible space to come together and uplift one another and provide crucial resources and opportunities to its members.
Lawbook: Why was this matter personally meaningful to you?
Weaver: Most new parents joke that after only a couple of days, they are sent home from the hospital and there is no “baby manual.” Along those same lines, there is no “father manual.” Instead, fathers rely on their personal experience (some good and some bad) as to what a father “should” be and try their best to apply that understanding to their journey through parenthood. CoolxDad was born out of impromptu personal conversations between fathers during the Covid-19 pandemic.
I was fortunate enough that my best friend from college also had his first child around the same time as me, and he and I would bounce ideas off each other and try to answer life’s tough questions together. CoolxDad is providing that platform and that community — one that I immediately wanted to be a part of. By getting different voices, backgrounds, careers and cultures all in a room sharing the common thread of fatherhood, it provides a space for those members to learn and grow and ultimately, become better fathers.
Lawbook: What did you find to be the most interesting part of this deal, and did this lease negotiation mirror any trends you’re currently seeing in the commercial real estate market?
Weaver: The lease negotiation was very interesting because it highlighted the trend of experiential real estate/retail with a focus on community building. Midway has been a great development partner, and it has really put its money where its mouth is in terms of giving back to the community. Midway highlights the East River development as a “repurposed place with a deep purpose,” and CoolxDad’s new headquarters will be the communal focal point for the development. While the space will contain a retail storefront, it will be an interactive space for tenants, including art installations, community initiatives and other educational programming. As tenants are looking for more socially conscious spaces and developments, Midway is leading the way by spotlighting a nonprofit organization and has plans to actively engage tenants and create an authentic community at East River.
Lawbook: What do you like the most about CoolxDad’s new headquarters, and how do you think this space will help them better carry out their mission?
Weaver: I was immediately impressed by the energy this organization has, which is most easily seen when the members get together at in-person events. Whether it is wellness runs through Houston, tending the CoolxDad community garden or organizing gift drives, holiday family photos or other community outreach events, CoolxDad is most effective when it comes together as a collective. The new CoolxDad space will immediately and exponentially increase CoolxDad’s impact on the community and the number of people directly benefitted by its resources. The space will be regularly filled with programs and events for its members and will also be used as a catalyst to grow the overall CoolxDad community — within and beyond Houston.
Lawbook: When it comes to choosing pro bono work, some lawyers prefer to stay in their wheelhouse while others prefer to branch out and try something different. For those in the former category who are real estate/transactional lawyers, where do you recommend they look beyond legal clinics to find more transactional pro bono opportunities?
Weaver: I think leasing is a great opportunity for real estate attorneys to get involved with pro bono clients. A lot of nonprofit organizations do not have the upfront funds to have outside counsel review their leases, which, unfortunately, can lead to problems down the road where the client may be stuck in an unfavorable position. These types of projects can be handled relatively quickly but have a lasting and meaningful impact on those nonprofit tenants. As attorneys get involved in their community and as organizations they support grow and expand, those attorneys should keep an eye out for these types of opportunities.
Lawbook: How many hours and dollars did your firm spend on this project?
Weaver: The Pillsbury team will spend in excess of 50 pro bono hours (partner and associate) on the lease negotiations, construction contracts, and development of the space to get this project from the [letter of intent] stage through ribbon cutting later this year.
Lawbook: I see you recently made partner. Congrats! What is the crediting system like at your firm for pro bono hours? Do associates get any billable credit for pro bono work, and if so, how much per year?
Weaver: Pillsbury prides itself on pro bono advocacy and encourages partners and associates to get involved in pro bono matters. All attorneys have the ability to apply up to 300 pro bono hours as creditable each year. And in even larger matters, the firm has provided billable credit in excess of 300 hours. Not only do these pro bono engagements provide necessary legal services to a critical group of clients, but it also provides junior associates with opportunities to take on larger responsibilities for matters and manage client relationships. It is an incredible program and one that I am proud to say has been in existence since I was a summer associate back in 2013.
More public service news
— Every Wednesday this June, volunteer lawyers with the Dallas Bar Association will answer legal questions for free between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. via the DBA’s LegalLine E-Clinic. Anyone in need of pro bono legal advice will get up to 15 minutes on the phone with the volunteer attorney, who will call them at an unknown number. To get advice through the LegalLine, visit this link to sign up.
— The National Association of Minority & Women Owned Law Firms (NAMWOLF) has named Hilgers Graben a woman-owned law firm. The firm, which focuses on commercial litigation and discovery counsel and has a Dallas office, says this certification makes it the largest NAMWOLF-certified, women-owned law firm in the country. NAMWOLF is a nonprofit trade association that seeks to promote diversity in the legal profession by fostering successful relationships among preeminent minority and women-owned law firms, along with private and public entities. Firm certification into NAMWOLF is decided after a detailed vetting process that involves independent research based on a range of criteria.
“Our firm has broken the traditional mold for elite firms, creating a home for its attorneys to have long-lasting careers, which has powered our dynamic growth and our diversity,” name partner and firm owner Heather Hilgers said in a statement. “We are excited to be certified by NAMWOLF, which plays a vital role in building relationships among diverse, thriving law firms.”
— On June 1, 1-800-TruckWreck, an affiliate of Witherite Law Group, served as the primary sponsor of Kier’s Hope’s Sixth Annual 5K Run and Fun Walk raising funds for those impacted by sickle cell disease. The firm donated $15,000 to the Kier’s Hope Foundation as part of its sponsorship.
Sickle cell anemia is a common inherited blood disorder that inhibits the ability of hemoglobin in red blood cells to carry oxygen, leading to pain and other serious complications like infection, acute chest syndrome and stroke. The disease affects more than 100,000 Americans — a majority of whom are African American or identify as Black.
“As healthcare professionals work to create and approve new medications and therapies for sickle cell, we will continue to partner with Kier’s Hope Foundation to do what we can to ensure the best quality of life for those impacted,” Witherite Law owner Amy Witherite said in a statement.
Other sponsors of the 5K, which took place at the Margaret Hunt-Hill Bridge in Dallas, included The Steve Harvey Morning Show, Trinity Groves, Carter Blood Bank, Smile Time Dentistry and D. Herbs. Kier’s Hope was founded in 2018 by Steve Harvey Morning Show co-host and comedian Kier “Junior” Spates, who was diagnosed with sickle cell disease at age 7.