Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury
In this edition of P.S., the Texas Bar Foundation distributes more than $1 million in fall grants, and the Texas Access to Justice Commission recognizes a St. Mary’s law student and Texas Tech Law for pro bono excellence. Plus, the Dallas Trial Lawyers Association honors the Sommerman team behind a $21.3 million First Amendment verdict, and Akin's Steven Schulman takes home a national pro bono leadership award.
As the son of a construction worker who bounced between the Rio Grande Valley and Chicago, Abel Martinez saw firsthand how ZIP codes dictate opportunity. Today, as H-E-B’s group vice president of partner relations, risk solutions and government affairs, he uses his platform to ensure young attorneys get a seat at the table. For his decades of mentorship and leadership, Martinez is the winner of the 2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion, presented by the Association of Corporate Counsel’s San Antonio Chapter and The Texas Lawbook.
Texas Lawbook: What are the biggest challenges today regarding inclusion in the legal profession? Abel Martinez: One of the biggest challenges is turning good intentions into meaningful opportunities. Recruiting talented
Texas Lawbook: What do you think of mandatory pro bono programs at law firms and corporate legal departments? Michael Danforth: It may broaden exposure to pro bono needs and opportunities,
Raised by a military family that trusted USAA, Michael Danforth has spent 18 years as an attorney there and countless afternoons at San Antonio Legal Services Association clinics helping veterans with housing, family and benefits problems. As SALSA’s board vice president, he helped keep the group open through a 2025 funding crisis. He is the 2026 San Antonio Corporate Counsel Award winner for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service.
A team of Baker Botts lawyers recently secured a pro bono victory in a federal copyright and trademark dispute involving two quinceañera dress businesses, with a Houston federal judge ordering that the plaintiff take nothing against the firm’s clients.
In this edition of P.S., we bring to you an exclusive Q&A with the first staff attorney hired under the new statewide Rural Justice Initiative, backed with $26.7 million from the Texas Supreme Court.
When Jackson Walker partner Robert L. Soza Jr. accepts the prestigious C. Lee Cusenbary Ethical Life and Leadership Award on Oct. 29, he’ll be thinking of two people who won’t be there to celebrate with him — his father, a small-town pharmacist from far West Texas who died in August, and his brother, an Odessa lawyer known for providing free legal services to those in need, who died in 2023.
Growing up in his father’s Alpine pharmacy, Soza learned lessons about trust, compassion and service that would shape his decades-long legal career. Today, the San Antonio lawyer has built a distinguished litigation practice while devoting much of his time to expanding access to justice, including helping establish the San Antonio Legal Services Association.
For Soza, this year’s recognition is as much a tribute to his family’s legacy as it is to his own accomplishments. “Any ethical life I’ve managed to live, I learned from them first,” he said.
In a 42-page opinion authored by Justice Dabney Bassel, the three-justice panel partially revived a lawsuit against California-based Global Legal Law Firm and partner James C. Huber. The court ruled that Huber’s pro hac vice admission in a Texas commercial dispute subjected him to Texas personal jurisdiction after he allegedly demanded that a witness withdraw sworn testimony.
October brings a national spotlight to pro bono service, with legal organizations across the country celebrating attorneys who volunteer their time to help those who cannot afford legal representation.
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