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© 2018 The Texas Lawbook.
By Mark Curriden
(June 4) – One by one, young women and men of color stood as their names were called. Brenda Balli. Maria Zavala. Kevin Hernandez. Kimberly Rosales. Maria Alonzo. Ruth Rivera-Arriaga.
In all, 21 names of aspiring lawyers were announced to receive financial aid and scholarships from the Dallas Hispanic Law Foundation.
“These young people are the future of the legal profession and we are trying to arm them with some of the tools they need to be successful,” said Chris Luna, who is managing counsel at T-Mobile and a leader of DHLF.The Texas Lawbook is proud to be a sponsor of the DHLF’s annual Amanecer Luncheon, which has raised more than $400,000 in scholarships for low-income Latino students headed to law school.
“Being a hospitality manager at a hotel is nice, but being a partner at Weil Gotshal pays much better.”
— Rep. Jason Villalba
This year’s program was co-chaired by CEC Entertainment Chief Legal Office Rudy Rodriguez and Vistra Energy General Counsel Stephanie Zapata Moore.
Dallas Regional Chamber senior vice president Priscilla Camacho, who is a lawyer, interviewed Texas Legislators Victoria Neave and Jason Villalba about the important issues facing the state in the year ahead, including the lack of minorities in the legal profession.
Neave and Villalba agree that the No. 1 priority is education.
“It is important that we educate our children about the economic advantages of law school,” Villalba said. “Being a hospitality manager at a hotel is nice, but being a partner at Weil Gotshal pays much better, I assure you. We need parents and teachers who aggressively push their children toward post-graduate education.”
Luna points out that 40 percent of the Dallas population is Hispanic, but Hispanics make up only 5 percent of the lawyers practicing in the city.
Since 2006, the DHLF has awarded scholarships to more than 100 talented and hard-working students throughout Texas. With legal education costs continuing to rise, these scholarships can be the difference between whether a student can focus on school and complete her education, rather than taking time away from studying in order to work.
In addition, the DHLF has awarded more than two-dozen bar study grants since 2013. These grants have a significant impact on the likelihood of a student passing the bar and being in a position to begin his career successfully.
Finally, the DHLF has developed a judicial internship program that pays a stipend to young Hispanic students to work for local members of the judiciary.
“First, this program introduces Hispanic law students to the judiciary, where they are given opportunities to observe and learn from our judges,” said Vinson & Elkins patner Manuel Berrelez, a DHLF board member and chair of the foundation’s Scholarship Selection Committee. “This not only improves their skills but also gives them the confidence needed to pursue other career opportunities.”
Here are the DHLF financial recipients for 2018:
2018 Scholarship
Gregory Reeves (Stanford Law School)
Maria Zavala (University of Texas School of Law
Luis Ardilla (UNT Dallas College of Law)
Brenda Balli (SMU Dedman School of Law)
Edith Solis (University of Texas School of Law)
Juan Solis (Baylor Law School)
Kevin Hernandez (Texas A&M University School of Law)
Joseph Lopez (SMU Dedman School of Law)
Heather Penning (South Texas College of Law)
Kimberly Rosales (UNT Dallas College of Law)
2018 Bar Study Grants
Maria Alonso (SMU Dedman School of Law)
Ruby Boone (Texas Tech School of Law)
Felipe Flores (UNT Dallas College of Law)
Ruth Rivera-Arriaga (University of Houston Law Center)
Claudia Segura Yousef (UNT Dallas College of Law)
2018 Judicial Interns
Luis Ardila (UNT Dallas College of Law) with State District Judge Maricela Moore.
Wesley Salazar (Texas A&M University School of Law) with State District Judge David Lopez.
Michael Sheeter (Texas A&M University School of Law) with Dallas County Criminal Court Judge Roberto Cañas.
Manuel Lopez (Texas Tech University School of Law) with State District Judge Dale Tillery.
Maythe Tellez (UNT Dallas College of Law) with U.S. Magistrate Judge Irma Ramirez.
Xanthe Munoz (UNT Dallas College of Law) with State District Judge Hector Garza.
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