In the first quarter of 2024, Baker Hughes launched a global legal and compliance diversity, inclusion and belonging counsel with the mission of infusing those values into the legal department through internal and external engagement. Led by Ivett Hughes in Houston, a regional team of lawyers and staff partnered with Houston Volunteer Lawyers to represent four clients — roughly one pro bono case per five lawyers. They blew past their goal by 500 percent. The Houston Association of Corporate Counsel and The Texas Lawbook have selected Hughes and Baker Hughes as its 2025 Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service award recipient.
P.S. — Hispanic Law Foundation’s ‘Thank You’ is ‘Deeper Than It’s Ever Been,’ President Says at Scholarship Luncheon
The Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation celebrated its annual Amanecer luncheon, awarding scholarships, internships, and bar study grants to 14 Hispanic law students amid new fundraising challenges resulting from President Trump’s scrutiny of diversity initiatives. Foundation President Andrés Correa expressed deep gratitude to sponsors for their continued support despite donor hesitations. In related legal community news, the San Antonio Legal Services Association recently honored Haynes Boone lawyers for pro bono work supporting a child in a bankruptcy case; former U.S. Attorney Leigha Simonton joined the Texas Council on Family Violence board; and the Houston Bar Association named award winners ahead of its annual dinner, marking leadership transitions and community service achievements.
First CEO of San Antonio Legal Services Association Steps Down from Non-profit, Board Initiates Search
Sarah Dingivan, the founding CEO and Executive Director of the San Antonio Legal Services Association otherwise known as SALSA, is stepping down after leading the nonprofit since 2019. SALSA’s Managing Attorney Robert Mihara will serve as interim executive director while a search for her successor is underway. A former Air Force JAG, Dingivan guided the organization through challenges including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Uvalde school shooting and a recent funding crisis.

Appeals Court Upholds Part of Verdict for Fired Southwest Flight Attendant, Tosses Religious Training Order
Southwest Airlines won partial relief from a jury verdict in a case involving the firing of a flight attendant over antiabortion messages she sent to her union president. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled Thursday that while the airline violated Charlene Carter’s right to religious expression, it did not break federal laws banning religious discrimination in the workplace. The court also struck down U.S. District Court Judge Brantley Starr’s order requiring three of the airline’s attorneys to attend religious liberty training with a Christian legal group.
Susman Godfrey: President Trump Executive Order is ‘Unconstitutional — Full Stop’
A lawyer for the U.S. Justice Department told a federal judge Thursday that President Donald Trump was legally exercising his executive authority by prohibiting lawyers with the Houston-based law firm Susman Godfrey from entering federal buildings or representing clients who had contracts with the federal government and suspending their security clearances. U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan of Washington, D.C., repeatedly asked U.S. Deputy Associate Attorney General Richard Lawson to provide evidence supporting the president’s April 9 executive order condemning Susman Godfrey for racial discrimination in their hiring practices and for “spearheading efforts to weaponize the American legal system and degrading the quality of American elections.”

P.S. — Champions of Justice Gala Shatters Record, Remembering Fallen Heroes and Dallas to Kyiv: One Lawyer’s Solidarity with Ukraine
In this week’s edition of P.S., the 2025 Champions of Justice Gala shattered previous fundraising records by collecting over $1 million to support legal aid for veterans, with AT&T’s David McAtee and Halliburton’s Van Beckwith co-chairing the event and receiving widespread support from the legal community. Keynote speaker Bryan Stevenson highlighted the importance of access to justice, while Texas lawyers Rebecca Flanigan and Fred Krasny were honored for their dedication to legal aid. Meanwhile, Dallas attorney Rogge Dunn raised over $100,000 at a dinner with Gen. David Petraeus to support Ukrainian mental health efforts and plans to attend the Kyiv Security Forum. In a separate initiative, Carry the Load launched its annual Memorial May campaign to honor fallen heroes, with longtime legal support from Sidley Austin’s Aaron Rigby, a U.S. Navy veteran and founding supporter of the nonprofit.

Texas Lawbook 50 — Susman Godfrey Scores ‘Second Best Year Ever’ in 2024
Even as Susman Godfrey is engaged in a monumental federal court fight with President Donald Trump that threatens the law firm’s very existence, the Houston-based litigation powerhouse reported 2024 revenues and profits that are once again the envy of their competitors. The firm’s revenues last year were down from its record-smashing numbers of 2023, but it was still Susman Godfrey’s second-best year in its 44-year history.
57 Texas Law Students Sign Amicus Brief for Susman Godfrey
The amicus briefs in the case of Susman Godfrey v. Executive Office of the President continue to stack up. On Tuesday, 1,129 law students and 51 law school student organizations filed a brief claiming that President Donald Trump’s April 9 executive order against Susman Godfrey “will cause enduring damage to the legal profession and amici as America’s future lawyers.” Fifty-seven law students from all 10 of the law schools in Texas signed the amicus brief, as did three Texas law student groups.

P.S. — Prison Conditions, Death Penalty Cases Are ‘Projects of Compassion’ to These Pro Brono AT&T Lawyers
Jamal Wilson, an inmate at Alabama’s St. Clair Correctional Facility, survived a brutal stabbing in 2019 that left him with a fractured skull. Fearing for his life, Wilson, represented pro bono by in-house lawyers from AT&T and Foley Lardner, filed a lawsuit in 2021 alleging the prison’s failure to protect inmates from rampant violence, poor security, and mismanagement — violations of the Eighth Amendment. The Department of Justice investigated, and a settlement was reached in 2024, with Wilson set for transfer to a safer facility. Tragically, before the agreement was implemented and just months before being eligible for parole, Wilson was beaten to death. His case was among 10 prison condition cases and two death penalty appeals handled pro bono by AT&T’s lawyers, who worked with officials at Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative and its executive director, Bryan Stevenson.
P.S. — Women’s Champions Honored, Auction Items Sought, First Amendment Lawyer Recognized
Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas has announced its Women’s Advocacy Awards recipients who will be honored at its annual reception June 11 at the Arts District Mansion in Dallas. That and more, including details on the Hispanic Bar Association’s Houston Annual Gala, in this edition of P.S.
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