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Houston Bar Gives Thanks, Raises $878K for Pro Bono

November 26, 2020 Mark Curriden

For a couple weeks, Baker Botts partner Bill Kroger, Blank Rome partner Susan Bickley and Vinson & Elkins partner Chris Popov worked their phones. They called colleagues and clients, law firm leaders and neighbors.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the financial impact it has had on Texas, the need for legal services for the poor and disadvantaged is soaring.

At the same time, the Houston Bar Association and Houston Volunteer Lawyers program were unable to host their annual Harvest Party, which is a seven-decade-old event that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars annually for legal aid efforts in metro Houston.

Kroger, who is HBA president, and other Houston Bar leaders took action. They created the Harvest Celebration and asked lawyers and clients to step forward with donations.

The result: They raised more than $878,000 – the most ever and significantly more than the $650,000 from last year’s in-person event.

“We were really worried that because we could not have the Harvest event this year that we would not have these important funds for the Houston Voluntary Lawyers program,” Kroger told The Texas Lawbook in a Thanksgiving morning interview. “We had nothing to offer people. We just hoped that people would step up.”

And they did.

Baker Botts, Bracewell, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Vinson & Elkins and Williams Hart Boundas Easterby contributed $35,000 each. Locke Lord and Norton Rose Fulbright stepped forward with donations of $30,000.

Several additional law firms – including Baker Hostetler, Akin Gump, Chamberlain Hrdlicka, Hicks Thomas, King & Spalding, Morgan Lewis, Yetter Coleman, Abraham Watkins, AZA, Foley Lardner, Gibbs & Bruns, Haynes and Boone, Kirkland & Ellis, McKool Smith, Pillsbury and Quinn Emanuel – made contributions ranging from $3,000 to $13,000.

Large corporations, including Chevron, CenterPoint Energy, LyondellBasell, Conoco Phillips, Frost Bank, Energy Transfer and Service Corporation International, made donations.

And several individuals and couples also open their wallets. Kroger himself gave $25,000. Dee and Phil Sellers contributed $20,000. Michael Darden and Hillary Holmes of Gibson Dunn and Mindy and Joshua Davidson contributed $10,000. Texas Supreme Court Judge Jane Bland and her husband, Doug Bland, who is a partner at V&E, gave $5,000.

“The lawyers in Houston have stepped up and this is a sign that the lawyers in this community are waking up and recognizing the needs that exist here,” Kroger said. “We had so many law firms step up – some that had never given before. One lawyer donated $10,000 to recognize his wife who died this year.”

The Texas Lawbook gives its deep expression of thanks to those who donated and we would like you to know that it is not too late to contribute. Just visit hba.org. There is a link to the donations page.

Now, here is the full list of the lawyers, firms, corporate legal departments and organizations who financially supported this year’s initiative:

$35,000             

Baker Botts L.L.P.

Bracewell LLP

Hunton Andrews Kurth LLP

Vinson & Elkins LLP

Williams Hart Boundas Easterby LLP

$30,000             

Locke Lord LLP

Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

$25,000             

Elizabeth and Bill Kroger

$20,000             

Dee and Phil Sellers

$15,000             

Chevron Corporation

$13,000             

Baker Hostetler LLP

$10,000             

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP

CenterPoint Energy, Inc.

Chamberlain Hrdlicka

Mindy and Joshua Davidson

Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP/Michael P. Darden and Hillary H. Holmes

The Weldon Granger Family

HBA Litigation Section

Hicks Thomas LLP

J. Dahr Jamail

King & Spalding LLP

LyondellBasell Industries

Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP

$9,000 

HBA Bench Bar Conference Committee

$8,000 

Yetter Coleman LLP 

$7,500 

Blank Rome LLP

$5,500 

Nikki & Benny Agosto, Jr.

$5,000 

Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner

Ahmad, Zavitsanos, Anaipakos, Alavi & Mensing

Jane and Doug Bland

Conoco Phillips

Dentons US LLP

Michael Donaldson/EOG Resources, Inc.

Eversheds Sutherland US LLP

Foley & Lardner LLP

Harry and Antje Gee

Gibbs & Bruns LLP

Haynes and Boone, LLP

HBA Alternative Dispute Resolution Section

HBA Oil Gas & Mineral Law Section

HBA Real Estate Law Section

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

McKool Smith LLP

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP

Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan/Karl Stern

Service Corporation International

Ann Stern

Susman Godfrey

Thompson & Knight Foundation

Weil Gotshal & Manges 

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Winston & Strawn LLP

$3,000

HBA Corporate Counsel Section

Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom, L.L.P.

$2,500

Arnold & Porter LLP

Baker & McKenzie LLP

Baker Wotring LLP

Berg & Androphy

Susan Bickley and Bob Scott

Bissinger, Oshman & Williams LLP

The Buck Family Fund

Burford Perry, LLP

Cokinos I Young

Hon. Rabeea Sultan Collier

Wendy and Alistair Dawson

Dobrowski Larkin & Stafford

Emma Doineau

Energy Transfer, L.P.

Fogler, Brar, O’Neil and Gray LLP

Polly and Stephen Fohn

Frost Bank

Germer PLLC

Melanie Gray and Mark Wawro

Gray Reed & McGraw LLP

Hagans Montgomery Hagans

David and Tammie Harrell

Jim S. Hart

HBA Federal Practice Section

HBA Juvenile Law Section

Hogan Lovells US LLP

Houston Lawyer Referral Service, Inc.

Jackson Walker

Jenkins & Kamin, LLP

Kane Russell Coleman Logan PC

Daniella D. Landers

Latham & Watkins LLP

Massey Law Firm PLLC

Mayer Brown LLP

Audrey Momanaee and Jeffrey Levett

Greg and Jennifer Moore

Munsch Hardt Kopf & Harr, P.C.

Nathan Sommers Jacobs, A Professional Corporation

Jeff Paine and Brandon Holcomb/Goldman Sachs

Chris and Annsley Popov

Porter Hedges LLP

Reynolds Frizzell LLP

Jason M. and Megan Ryan

Shearman & Sterling

Shipley Snell Montgomery LLP

Shook Hardy & Bacon L.L.P.

Sidley Austin LLP

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

South Texas College of Law Houston

Tindall England PC

Vorys, Sater, Seymour and Pease LLP

Winstead PC

Travis Wofford and Dr. Lisa Wofford

Wright Close & Barger, LLP

$1,600 

HBA Mergers & Acquisitions Section

$1,500 

Bill Book

Stewart and Lynn Gagnon

Diana and Hon. Mike Gomez

Rusty Hardin & Associates, LLP

HBAA Charitable Fund, Inc.

Jim Hurd and Cisselon Nichols Hurd

Neil and Dana Kelly

Hon. David and Pamela Medina

W. Michael and Laurie D. Moreland

Hon. Frank Rynd

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

Smyser, Kaplan & Veselka, L.L.P.

Taylor, Book, Allen & Morris, LLP

Hilary Tyson

Sandy and Greg Ulmer

$1,200 

Dudley and Judy Oldham

Tesha Peeples

$1,100 

Hughes Ellzey, LLP

Shannon, Martin, Finkelstein, Alvarado & Dunn, P.C.

Ware, Jackson, Lee, O’Neill, Smith & Barrow, LLP

West Mermis

$1,000 

Barry Abrams

Allegiance Bank

Anonymous Donor

Scott and Hon. Nancy Atlas

Brent and Christy Benoit

Keri Brown

Hon. Christina Bryan and Mr. Trey Peacock

Byman & Associates, PLLC

Anne Chandler

Collin J. Cox

Cozen O’Connor

Amy Catherine Dinn

John and Annette Eldridge

The Fealy Law Firm, PC

George and Reagan Fibbe

Kerry Anne Galvin

Roland Garcia

Craig and Penny Glidden

John Goodgame

Gregor Wynne Arney, PLLC

HBA Appellate Practice Section

HBA Bankruptcy Section

HBA Commercial & Consumer Law Section

HBA Construction Law Section

HBA Criminal Law and Procedure Section

HBA Labor and Employment Law Section

HBA Taxation Section

Judge Joseph “Tad” Halbach

Lauren and Warren Harris

Jennifer A. and Gregory M. Hasley

Hon. Kristen Hawkins

Lindsey and Greg Heath

Linda and Tracy Hester

Hicks Davis Wynn, P.C.

Yvonne Y. Ho and Allen S. Rice

The Hoerster Mediation Firm

Jennifer and Richard Hogan

Houston Young Lawyers Association

Monica Hwang

Kevin and Francyne Jacobs

Johnson DeLuca Kurisky & Gould PC

The Christine and Rob Johnson Family Fund

Jones Day

Frank G. Jones

Hugh Rice Kelly

Kirby, Mathews & Walrath, PLLC

KoonsFuller Houston

Christine and Craig LaFollette

Chanler Langham

James Lewis Leader

Jose R. Lopez II

Peter Lowy & Gabriela Boersner

Gina Lucero and Terry G. Fry

Hon. Erin Lunceford and Mike Lunceford

Diana E. Marshall

Guy and Carolyn Matthews

Ginnie and Tim McConn

Cassie McGarvey

McKinney Taylor P.C.

Hon. Margaret Garner Mirabal

Ginni and Richard Mithoff

Hon. Daryl L. Moore

William D. Morris

Michael Neel

Michele N. O’Brien

Robert Painter

Charlie Parker

Judge Fredericka Phillips

Colin and Sangita Pogge

Carol and John Porter

Mitch and Shannon Reid

Barbara K. Runge

Judith Sadler

Beuna and James B. Sales

Travis and Sandy Sales

Hon. Ravi K. Sandill

Alyssa Schindler

Lionel M. Schooler

Schulman, Lopez, Hoffer & Adelstein, LLP

Denise and John Scofield

Seyfarth

Shortt & Nguyen, P.C.

Judge Chuck Silverman

Nicole and David Singer

Sponsel Miller Greenberg PLLC/Roger Greenberg

Squire Patton Boggs

Stacy & Baker, P.C.

John and Pam Strasburger

Travis Torrence and Heath LaPray

University of Houston Law Center

Roy and Dominique Varner

Willie and Ingrid Wood

Ytterberg Deery Knull, LLP

Janie and Daniel Zilkha

Additional Donors

John Adkins

Shaheryar Ahmed

Amaro Law Firm

Anonymous Donors

Bolivar C. Andrews

Anna M. Archer

Michael Bell

Levi J. Benton

In honor of Blank Rome LLP

Terri Boles

Kristen Bollinger

Bragg Law PC

Kate and Mike Brem

Dean Joan R. M. Bullock

Nicole Soussan Caplan

Christie Cardon

Brian Q. Carmichael

Angeles Garcia Cassin

Seth J. Chandler

Alison Chen

Grant Cohen

Hon. Julie Countiss

Ronnye and Chip Cowell

Hon. Jason Cox

Stephen D. Davis/Akin Gump

Rachel Delgado

Bonnie and Otway B. Denny, Jr.

Hon. Grant Dorfman

Jennifer Walker Elrod

Eva and Judge Mike Engelhart

Brian Faulkner and Jacqueline Macha

Patrick M. Flynn, P.C.

Charles C. Foster

Lisa Garrett

Hon. Tanya Garrison

The Christian A. and Janet G. Garza Family

Bradley D. Gray

Liza A. Greene

David T. Harvin

HBA Animal Law Section

HBA Environmental Law Section

HBA Health Law Section

HBA Law Practice Management Section

HBA Probate, Trusts & Estate Section 

HBA Probate, Trusts & Estate Section in honor of Stephanie Donaho

HBA Taxation Section

HBA Social Security Section

Lisa Hearn

Richard Heaton

Anthony E. Hilbert

Judge James Horwitz

Catherine North Hounfodji

Justice Rebeca Huddle

Kate Huggins

Ruth A. Hughes-Deaton

Patrick Hurley

Veronica F. Jacobs

Camille C. Jenman

Penny Johnson

Bill Lamb

Tiffany C.  Larsen

Louie and Maggie Layrisson

James R. Leahy

Elizabeth and Russell Lewis

Ronald C. Lewis

David T. Lopez

Maria Lowry

Cynthia Mabry

Melissa and Thomas McCaffrey

MacIntyre, McCulloch & Stanfield LLP

Tara and William McElhiney

Meghan Dawson McElvy

Kathlyn Hendrix Mickan

Allison Standish Miller

Hon. Beau A. Miller

Steven L. Miller, Jr.

Paul Monsour

Amber Morrison

Donna Moye

E. Munoz

Liam O’Rourke and Alexandra Caritis

Nick Petree

Michael Phillips

Thomas R. Phillips

Beth and Tommy Proctor

Elizabeth Ray

Susan and Barrett Reasoner

Emery Gullickson Richards/Blank Rome LLP

Jennifer Richardson

Roger Rider and Nancy Huston

Nikki Roberts and Krisa Benskin

Anna Robshaw/Greenberg Traurig LLP

Christian Ryholt

Judge Robert Schaffer

Kevin Schott

Julie Seifert

Hon. Susan S. Soussan

Hon. Charles Spain and John Adcock

Kendall Valenti Speer

Hon. Barbara Stalder

Jocelyn Tau

Roxanne Tizravesh

Jennifer Tomsen

Cara Vasquez

Tony L. Visage

Hon. Dale Wainwright

Hon. Clinton Chip Wells

Richard F. Whiteley

Hon. Ken Wise

Nikki Wise

Margaret Wittenmyer

Russell Taft Wong

Gary L. Wood

Wyly & Cook, PLLC

Paul Yale

Andrew Yeh

Krisina Zuniga

Mark Curriden

Mark Curriden is a lawyer/journalist and founder of The Texas Lawbook. In addition, he is a contributing legal correspondent for The Dallas Morning News.

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