The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

Avatar photo

Natalie Posgate

Natalie Posgate covers pro bono work, public service and diversity within the Texas legal community.

Natalie Posgate

Natalie Posgate covers pro bono work, public service and diversity within the Texas legal community.

Natalie joined The Texas Lawbook in 2012 as a founding staff member shortly after receiving her Bachelor of Arts in journalism from Southern Methodist University. While at SMU, Natalie and SMU-classmate-turned-Lawbook-colleague Brooks Igo published “Sweeping Rape Under the Rug,” an award-winning investigative piece about SMU’s handling of on-campus sexual assaults. Later that year, Natalie and Brooks published a follow-up piece that broke the news of the first grand jury indictment in decades of an SMU student involving an alleged on-campus sexual assault. She began her reporting career in college as an intern for The Dallas Morning News’ breaking news desk, and before that, interned for Texas Highways magazine.

In the early days of The Lawbook, Natalie served as a general assignment reporter and covered everything from lawsuits to Texas law schools to mergers and acquisitions to legal industry trends. Before launching The Lawbook’s pro bono, public service and diversity beat, Natalie served as senior litigation writer. She has covered numerous high-profile trials gavel-to-gavel, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s 2013 insider trading case against Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank star Mark Cuban and a 2018 products liability trial that rendered a $242 million jury verdict against Toyota Motor Corp.

In 2021, Natalie profiled former East Texas federal prosecutor Joshua Russ, who went on the record for the first time with Posgate about resigning and filing a whistleblower complaint against the Department of Justice for its alleged political interference in a civil case Russ was leading against Walmart for its role in the opioid crisis. The piece is cited in a chapter of “Servants of the Damned,” a book released in September 2022 by New York Times journalist and bestselling author David Enrich.

Through The Lawbook’s content partnerships, Natalie’s work has regularly reappeared in the Houston Chronicle, Dallas Business Journal and The Dallas Morning News.

Natalie lives in East Dallas with her husband David and German Shorthaired Pointer rescue Stella. She is an avid runner, reader, hiker and coffee drinker.

P.S. —  An Award with Donated Winnings, A Pro Bono Award, A Pledge to Diversify Renewable Energy

This week’s P.S. column features a Houston in-house lawyer who has joined the board of a national renewable energy-focused nonprofit, a nomination period that has opened for in-house lawyers dedicated to pro bono work benefiting legal aid organizations and an award recently received by Vinson & Elkins’ head of pro bono.

Other legal departments mentioned in this edition include CenterPoint, Chevron, Pattern Energy, ExxonMobil and Toyota North America.

Natalie Posgate

P.S. — A Veteran’s Gala; April DVAP Clinic Dates; Leadership Changes at The Center, ABA

This week’s edition of P.S. features a woman lawyer’s rise in the ranks of the ABA’s litigation section, details on the Texas Access to Justice Commission’s upcoming annual gala benefiting low-income veterans (including how many dollars away it is from hitting its fundraising goal), an impending leadership change at UT Law’s Center for Women in Law and the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s April legal clinic dates.

Firms and corporate legal departments mentioned this week include AT&T, CenterPoint Energy, Greenberg Traurig, Halliburton, H-E-B, Kirkland, Locke Lord, Toyota, V&E, Shell, Jones Day, Baker Botts, Vistra, Winston & Strawn, Xeris Pharmaceuticals, Norton Rose Fulbright, Stewart Law Group, Bank of America, DLA Piper, Citibank, Haynes Boone, Baylor Scott and White and Foley.

Natalie Posgate

P.S. — People’s Law School, Fat Checks from Washington, Relief for Ranchers

This week's edition of P.S. features a disaster relief fund offering financial aid to ranchers affected by the Panhandle wildfires, Congressional funding news for civil legal aid in Texas, an upcoming legal knowledge education event for the public at a Central Texas law school and the Texas Bar Foundation’s recipient choice for its annual public service and legal ethics-oriented award. 

Natalie Posgate

P.S. — Birdies, Aces and Honey Baked Hams 

This week’s edition of P.S. features information on the Houston Bar Foundation’s new chair, an Easter-themed food giveaway sponsored by Witherite Law Group, a tennis clinic and exhibition match that hosted underserved youth in Austin and sponsorship opportunities for the Dallas Bar Association’s upcoming annual golf tournament.

Photo courtesy of Daniel McEnrue

Natalie Posgate

P.S. — A Wildfire Call to Action, A 6-Figure Grant for Pro Se Litigants, A Theater’s 40th Birthday

This edition of P.S. features disaster legal aid efforts underway for the Panhandle wildfire, an upcoming gala celebrating the 40th birthday of one of Dallas' most established performance art nonprofits, news of two significant grants secured by the Houston Bar Foundation and Texas Young Lawyers Association, and March legal clinic dates hosted by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program.

Natalie Posgate

Three Courts, Two Eviction Actions and One 11-Hour Move: How Four V&E Associates Kept a Pro Bono Client Off the Streets

It took six months, 177 pro bono hours, $167,000 of their firm’s resources, a U-Haul and an 11-hour move for a team of four Vinson & Elkins associates to secure a favorable resolution for their 74-year-old client who was facing eviction, but they never gave up. The V&E team recently spoke with The Lawbook about what made this case unusual from typical landlord-tenant disputes, why this pro bono matter was important to them and how the many twists and turns of the case mirrored some of their billable commercial litigation work.

“It took me days to figure out what the law on this was,” said Josh Jilovec, one of the lawyers on the case. “To expect a tenant to prepare a legitimate case in defense … it’s just a tall task.”

Natalie Posgate

P.S. — Women’s Advocacy Honorees Revealed, A Discussion on Homelessness 

This upcoming Tuesday, Feb. 27, St. Mary’s University will host a panel of policymakers and experts as they discuss how the community can help people experiencing homelessness. More than 3,155 people in Bexar County experienced homelessness during the 2023 point-in-time count, according to nonprofit Close to Home San Antonio.

Firms and nonprofits mentioned in this week's column include Akin, Boeing, Carter Arnett, SBA, Figari & Davenport, Nexstar Media Group. Frazier Revitalization, Haven for Hope, Close to Home San Antonio, the DBA and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas.

Natalie Posgate

An Attorney Lended, A Public Service Election, An Award Nomination Open

This week’s edition of P.S. features two president-elect candidates for an upcoming election for the State Bar of Texas’ public service arm, background on an associate who Weil is lending to a Dallas-area legal aid organization for two months to provide full-time pro bono legal services and nomination information for Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas upcoming Builders of Justice awards. 

Natalie Posgate

Chris Luna Starts New Chapter at SPCA, Fetches Pro Bono Help from Jones Day

After nearly two decades at T-Mobile, prominent telecom legal executive Chris Luna has retired and returned to public service, which he had vowed to do after serving as a Dallas City Council member in the 1990s. The Lawbook recently spoke with Luna about his priorities leading the SPCA of Texas and with Jones Day partner Joe Van Asten, the new pro bono counsel Luna has retained.

Natalie Posgate

© Copyright 2025 The Texas Lawbook
The content on this website is protected under federal Copyright laws. Any use without the consent of The Texas Lawbook is prohibited.