The Texas Lawbook

Free Speech, Due Process and Trial by Jury

Pro Bono/Public Service/D&I

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.

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.

The Myth of Work-Life Balance

In this essay, Winston & Strawn partner LeElle Slifer makes the argument for why work-life balance is a fallacy and provides an alternative perspective for working mothers to consider.

“The problem doesn’t lie with how much we have to do but rather with how we frame the problem itself,” Slifer writes. “Time to dispense with that masochistic construct of ‘balance.’ Instead, we strive for excellence in our personal pursuits just as we do in our careers, expanding our ambitions rather than balancing them. I want to be as good of a wife and mother as I am a lawyer, so life gets slotted in right alongside work.”

The Gender Pay Gap: Strategies for Avoiding and Addressing Pay Inequity in the Workplace

As we commemorate Women’s History Month, one issue that is top of mind for many employers is the increased focus on the gender pay gap, writes Mariah Berry, a senior associate at Muskat Devine. In this article, the management-side labor and employment attorney presents four effective strategies employers can utilize to reduce their risk in the evolving legal landscape of pay equity laws.

Inspired Long Before I Became a Lawyer

In this personal essay, Jackson Walker healthcare partner Mary Emma Ackels Karam revisits small but impactful scenes of her own personal family history and reflects on how one family member — her mother — was instrumental in shaping Karam into the wife, mother, lawyer and mentor to other women that she is today.

Pictured: Karam (far left) circa 1987 with her parents, Isabel and Lawrence Ackels, and nine siblings.

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