This week’s edition of P.S. features the unveiling of Porter Hedges’ new 1L diversity fellow, a fundraising development from the Texas Access to Justice Commission and State Bar of Texas that will benefit low-income Texas veterans, a leadership change at the Houston Bar Association and the launch of a public service website focused on “adulting.”
Q&A: Adel Sander
In this Q&A, Adel Sander discusses what she considers when hiring outside counsel, what it is about her job that gets her out of bed, how diversity became front and center for her and what diversity and inclusion initiatives law firms can be doing to create change.
Ascend’s Adel Sander Ensures Women are ‘Not Just a Pretty Face at the Counsel Table’
Adel Sander has been driven to succeed and advocate for others from the time she could talk to present day as director and deputy general counsel at Ascend Performance Materials. As a 2-year-old growing up in Baku, Azerbaijan, she pointed out to her mom that her dad in fact did split some of the domestic labor by going to the market every week. As an in-house lawyer, she bats for women and diverse professionals every day, whether it’s a new mom needing a part-time schedule, a female outside lawyer up for partner, a father who wants to spend more time with his newborn or a job applicant shunned by other employers because of their criminal history.
“I really, really like to push people into being promoted to the next level and to give people opportunity,” she said. “At one point or another, someone gave me an opportunity, so I like to return the favor.”
Sander is one of three finalists for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston chapter and The Texas Lawbook’s 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. This is her story.
P.S. — Houston Lawyers Rock Out for Charity, May Pro Bono Clinics, UNT Law Celebrates 10 Years
This edition of P.S. features May dates for pro bono legal clinics in Dallas, fundraising goals for a public service and a diversity-oriented law school’s upcoming 10th anniversary, and the fundraising outcome of a recent Houston concert that featured a battle of lawyer-formed bands.
Firms mentioned in this week’s P.S. include Goldman Sachs, Prudential, Cooper & Scully, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Bradley, Weil, Haynes Boone, Akin, Godzina Law, Greenberg Traurig, Latham, Sidley, Baker O’Brien, Gibbs & Bruns, IST Management, Vinson & Elkins, Consilio, Jones Walker, Powerhouse Copy, Walker Eisenbraun, Weaver, Secretariat, Shell, Enterprise Products, the Harris County Law Library, Sommerman McCaffity, Carter Arnett, Stewart Law Group, Susman Godfrey, Locke Lord and Toyota.
P.S. — An ABA Award, A 7-Figure Gift, A Pro Bono Grade of 100
This week’s edition of P.S. includes information on a sizable donation received by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, a group of Asian Pacific Interest Section lawyers receiving awards — including for efforts related to diversity and inclusion and pro bono work — at an annual conference, a prestigious ABA award that will honor a lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright and details on a law firm’s achievement of 100 percent pro bono participation among its attorneys.
Firms mentioned in this edition include Kelly Hart, Bell Nunnally, Jackson Walker, BakerHostetler, Husch Blackwell, Equinix, Vela Wood, Sheppard Mullin, Haynes Boone, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Sidley Austin, Gannett and Norton Rose Fulbright.
P.S. — A Legal Line, A New DRC Board Member, A CLE-Accredited Criminal Justice Talk
This edition of P.S. features a Barnes & Thornburg lawyer who joined an esteemed board of key business leaders in Dallas; an upcoming CLE that includes a conversation with a corporate lawyer turned criminal justice reformer who founded three nonprofits, achieved clemency for seven pro bono clients, did a TED Talk and wrote a memoir about her experience growing up with her mother behind bars; and upcoming dates in April when those in need of free legal services can receive pro bono legal advice by phone.
Other firms and corporate legal departments featured this week include Carrington Coleman, Southwest Airlines, Locke Lord, Haynes Boone, Jones Day, Match Group and Winstead.
Texas Lawbook Foundation Annual Report
The legal community in Texas is facing some huge issues in 2024 that require significant thought, in-depth research, strong leadership and an open discussion. There is the immigrant crisis on the border and how state, local and federal governments and the courts are handling it — or not handling it. Diversity and inclusion efforts have never been more important, more complicated or more controversial. Legal aid for the poor is at a critical stage, as veterans, single mothers, tenants and the elderly face significant perils without the assistance of lawyers. The need for a full-time reporter and writer covering pro bono, public service and diversity in the Texas legal profession has never been greater.
Cruel & Unusual Punishment: The Tale of 2 Prisoner Rights Pro Bono Wins
Within the same week, two separate teams of associates from Haynes Boone prevailed in two pro bono cases that protect the Eighth Amendment rights of an extremely sleep-deprived inmate whose health has suffered and an intellectually disabled inmate on death row. The Lawbook spoke to one lawyer on each team to learn more about the cases, how their firm got them and what the outcomes mean on a micro and macro level.
On the Shoulders of Giants
In this guest essay, Sidley Austin associate Maegan Quejada discusses times she’s been underestimated and othered as well as times she’s been supported and believed in, how her formative years shaped her to be the attorney she is today and the impact of who you spend most of your time with.
Following the Path Mapped by Chance
In this essay, Chamblee Ryan partner Reagan Boyce discusses how she went from being a witness in a case for her former employer to entering a career in the law, the lessons she’s learned along the way and the obstacles she’s faced as a female litigator.