In the mid-1990s, looking for “something to do in between other things,” a young Sam Prince took a job with the Dallas branch of legal services. Coming from a fundraising gig at the University of Dallas where he’d honed his development skills, the Buffalo, N.Y., native thought he would learn a few things about the legal nonprofit field and then move on to his next adventure.
Twenty-eight years later, Prince is still adventuring with legal services (now Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas) where he’s raised more than $50 million for needy Texans.
“Originally, I didn’t mean it to be a long-term obligation,” Prince says. “But the longer I was there, the more I got into it. Every day is different … from contacting people, database work, organizing people and activities, creating a successful campaign involves managing a lot of different parts and keeps it interesting.”
Born and raised in Buffalo, Prince attended public schools and graduated from the University of Buffalo.
“My father passed away in 1994 in the house in North Buffalo he bought in 1950,” Prince recalls. “He owned an independent wholesale/retail produce market until 1966. He then became a chemical salesman until his retirement in 1992.”
Prince left the snowy winters behind in 1978 when he accepted his first fundraising job in Phoenix. Discovering he had a knack for convincing people to give money to worthy causes, he’s never looked back.
Jonathan Vickery, who served as executive director for legal aid back then and now works with the Texas Access to Justice Commission, hired Prince all those years ago as the first ever development director for legal aid.
“It’s not easy being the first fundraiser for an organization. It’s a tribute to Sam’s perseverance and dedication that he stuck with it, creating the largest legal aid fundraiser in the state,” Vickery says.
Vickery started with legal services as an attorney on the front lines and rose through the ranks to lead the organization. He remembers Prince working with the Dallas Bar Association to create the joint fundraiser that now generates over a million dollars a year for equal access to justice.
“It was always important to me to find the funds to sustain the work,” Vickery says. “Sam has brought the skill and longevity to see it through. Others across the state look to him as a leader.”
As the first development director, there was no system in place for Prince to follow. He had to craft engaging fundraisers from scratch. Still, he managed to raise around $300,000 in that first year. He’s come a long way since then, raising over $1.6 million in 2023 and $1.4 million in 2024 (not counting the $4.6 million in 2024 government grants).
“It took a while to get lawyers feeling responsible to support the cause,” Prince remembers. “We worked to put them in touch with client experiences and with pro bono lawyers, which helped to bring them into the fold.”
Texas pro bono icon Rebecca Greenan, who served as assistant dean of student affairs at UNT Dallas College of Law and as director of the public service program at SMU Dedman School of Law, worked closely with Prince over the years and is especially proud of his work to sustain the Women’s Advocacy Awards, which is celebrating its 25th year in 2025.
“We wanted to raise money for a dedicated attorney to work on family violence cases,” Greenan remembers. Along with Sally Crawford of Jones Day, Greenan, Prince, Vickery and other volunteers decided to create the event when funding from other sources dried up. “The idea was birthed out of necessity, and Sam has kept it going, so that the Women’s Advocacy Awards are now part of our tradition.”
Prince came up with the idea of involving businesspeople because he felt domestic violence was a problem that plagued a wide range of women and impacted the companies they work for, their families and the community in general, Crawford remembers.
“I don’t know anyone who is more passionate about helping women who are victims of domestic violence,” she said. “He really amazes me sometimes.”
The award honors attorneys each year who go above and beyond to help women and children in need, while the funds sustain free legal services for victims of family violence.
Teresa Peters, the first Legal Aid attorney funded by the awards, still works in the Dallas LANWT office representing indigent clients in family law matters.
“One of my first cases was representing trafficking victims who were rescued from a factory in Samoa,” she remembers. “I had 20 clients who were trafficked from Vietnam into the U.S. by way of the factory and then brought to Dallas. We had to collaborate with various agencies and interpreters to help them.”
Peters went on to help hundreds of victims obtain protective orders, divorces and custody orders — an impact young Prince could only dream of when he arrived on the scene. During his quarter century tenure, Prince has witnessed an evolution in pro bono services.
“In recent years, I’ve seen much more interest in pro bono from younger attorneys, and more organizations become involved in volunteering,” he says. “Going forward, I hope we find a way to get outside of the legal community. The more we can address legal issues, the fewer social problems we have. Educating the community is a long, slow crawl, but we’re working on it.”
Always modest about his accomplishments, Prince attributes his success to the volunteers aiding his efforts.
“The most important people in the room are always the volunteers,” he says. “They use their influence and relationships. No matter how much tech we have, it doesn’t take the place of one person reaching out to another. People only respond to other people.”
Prince gives credit to LANWT’s leadership as well.
“My best day on the job was the day Maria Thomas-Jones became CEO in 2016,” he said. “We are now a much more effective and efficient organization with much better communication internally.”
While Prince sings the praises of others, his supporters credit his fierce dedication to the nonprofit. Alicia Hernandez, executive director of the Dallas Bar Association, was working with legal services when Prince started the fundraising arm.
“I always felt that when he came to legal services he really found his passion,” she said. “He is fully engaged in the mission and 100 percent believes in it. He enjoys the people, staff and volunteers. He’s been a really good advocate.”
Influence from prominent members of the judiciary also helped Prince’s work by bringing awareness to the benefits of pro bono service.
“Justice [Nathan] Hecht raised the flag for the need of individual and social support of legal access to justice,” Prince says. “Justice [Sandra Day] O’Connor once said that when law clerks come back to visit, they say pro bono reminds them of why they became lawyers in the first place.”
“You can tell by the look on the face of an attorney who’s just handled a pro bono case, how satisfying the experience was,” he says. “Helping someone who thought the world was coming to an end and would not have otherwise received any help, it is extremely gratifying for the attorney and of course for the client.”
For more information on the Women’s Advocacy Awards, click here.