In this edition of P.S., civil rights organization LatinoJustice PRLDEF has honored Sidley Austin Management Committee Chair Yvette Ostolaza with a 2026 “Latina Trailblazer” award. The Dallas-based lawyer is the first Latina to lead a global corporate law firm.
Representing a former Houston police officer on a pro bono basis, Rusty Hardin and John MacVane of Rusty Hardin & Associates secured a unanimous victory before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a lawsuit stemming from the high-profile 2019 Harding Street raid.
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld recently announced the winners of its annual firmwide Bruce McLean Pro Bono Awards. Counsel of the Year went to Dallas litigator Madison Gafford, who logged 847 hours on pro bono matters last year.
The El Paso County Attorney’s office is among the recipients of the American Bar Association Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division’s 2026 public service awards, earning recognition for using innovative civil litigation to combat crime and human trafficking while protecting vulnerable residents.
And the Dallas Women Lawyers Association Foundation has awarded its 2026 Outreach Grants to seven North Texas nonprofits whose work advances access to justice, supports survivors of violence and exploitation, and empowers women, children, and families throughout the region.
Dallas Counsel Honored with Akin Gump Pro Bono Award
Madison Gafford, a litigation counsel in Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld’s Dallas office, has been recognized for her outstanding pro bono work with the firm’s Bruce McLean Pro Bono Award for Counsel of the Year.
Presented annually, the award is one of 10 firmwide pro bono honors given to lawyers and business service professionals who demonstrate exceptional commitment to pro bono service. Gafford was the lone Texas honoree this year.
Gafford devoted 847 hours to pro bono matters last year, according to the firm. Among her recent successes, she secured asylum for a Syrian refugee who had witnessed atrocities committed under the regime of former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
She also recently presented her first oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in a constitutional challenge involving Texas restrictions on who may officiate weddings. In the case, Gafford represented the nonprofit secular advocacy group Center for Inquiry Inc. in its challenge to a Texas law limiting who may officiate marriages to religious leaders and judges.
In addition to her pro bono practice, Gafford recently completed a secondment with the Dallas County district attorney’s office.
She is a graduate of SMU Dedman School of Law.
Sidley’s Yvette Ostolaza Named Latina Trailblazer
Sidley Austin Management Committee Chair Yvette Ostolaza has been recognized as a 2026 “Latina Trailblazer” by the civil rights organization LatinoJustice PRLDEF.
Ostolaza, who is based in Dallas, was honored last month during the nonprofit’s Annual Latina Trailblazers Breakfast in New York. Established in 2010 to celebrate the legacy of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, the event recognizes Latina leaders who have advanced justice and equity in their respective industries.
Ostolaza, the daughter of Cuban immigrants, is also a member of the firm’s executive committee and is one of the country’s leading business litigators and crisis managers. In 2022, she became the first Latina to lead a global corporate law firm.
In April, The Texas Lawbook profiled Ostolaza’s rise from an immigrant neighborhood in Miami to Sidley leadership.
Rusty Hardin and John MacVane Win Pro Bono Appeal for Officer in Harding Street Raid Case
Rusty Hardin and John MacVane of Rusty Hardin & Associates successfully represented former Houston Police Officer Felipe Gallegos on a pro bono basis in a multiyear civil rights lawsuit stemming from the 2019 Harding Street raid, securing a unanimous victory before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
In a June 29 opinion, the Fifth Circuit reversed a federal district court’s denial of summary judgment and held that Gallegos did not violate the constitutional rights of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas during the deadly raid. The appellate court concluded that Gallegos acted as an “objectively reasonable officer during a tense, uncertain, and rapidly evolving gunfight.”
The Harding Street raid drew national attention after investigators determined that the Houston police officer who obtained the no-knock warrant, Gerald Goines, had fabricated information to justify the operation. Tuttle and Nicholas were killed during the raid, and several officers were wounded. The Fifth Circuit noted that the incident was a tragedy but found that there was no evidence that Gallegos knew the warrant was based on false information.
ABA Honors El Paso County Attorney’s Office with Public Service Award
The El Paso County Attorney’s office is among the recipients of the American Bar Association Government and Public Sector Lawyers Division’s 2026 public service awards, earning recognition for using innovative civil litigation to combat crime and human trafficking while protecting vulnerable residents.
The office received the division’s 2026 Hodson Award, which recognizes an outstanding government or public sector law office. According to the ABA, the office worked alongside El Paso’s police and fire departments to successfully use civil statutes to shut down a county hotel that had become a center for criminal activity and human trafficking.
While pursuing the legal action, the office also partnered with local nonprofit organizations to relocate elderly residents, children and people with disabilities to emergency shelters and rapid rehousing programs. The ABA said the effort reduced demands on municipal resources, improved public safety downtown and paved the way for the property’s redevelopment.
Dallas Women Lawyers Association Awards Outreach Grants to Seven North Texas Nonprofits
The Dallas Women Lawyers Association Foundation has awarded its 2026 Outreach Grants to seven North Texas nonprofits whose work advances access to justice, supports survivors of violence and exploitation, and empowers women, children and families throughout the region.
This year’s grant recipients are New Friends New Life, the Young Women’s Preparatory Network, the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas, Genesis Women’s Shelter & Support, Shiloh Place McKinney, the Conference on Crimes Against Women and POETIC.
The annual Outreach Grant program supports organizations focused on advocacy, education, empowerment and legal access. This year’s recipients provide services that range from legal representation for survivors of abuse and assistance to domestic violence survivors to educational opportunities for young women, support for single mothers and trauma-informed programming for youth affected by abuse, exploitation and human trafficking.