In this week’s edition of P.S., we spotlight legal initiatives to expand access to justice, as well as one firm’s community service work expanding kids’ access to playgrounds.
The American Bar Association’s Giving Day on Oct. 23 will focus on its South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project, which assisted 30,000 immigrants and asylum seekers last year, while also marking the National Celebration of Pro Bono Week. In Atlanta, the ABA is honoring San Antonio Bar Association’s Nina Hudson with its annual Cindy A. Raisch Award for her work creating SALawHelp.org, a hub connecting residents to legal sources. In Dallas, Bar Foundation Chair Gabe Vazquez and his wife Claudine donated $10,000 to the Sarah T. Hughes Scholarship, and Sidley Austin teamed up with Vanguard and KABOOM! to build a new playground for Cosmos Montessori School. Also in Dallas, JAMS and the Dallas County Dispute Resolution Center offered free mediation services in observance of Conflict Resolution Day.
ABA Giving Day to ProBar
The American Bar Association’s Giving Day is Oct. 23, and the organization has spotlighted its South Texas Pro Bono Asylum Representation Project as one of the featured initiatives to support.
The project, commonly referred to as ProBAR, helped 30,000 immigrants and asylum seekers navigate the U.S. legal system last year.
The Giving Day campaign aims to fundraise $5,000 for ProBAR, and online donations are currently being accepted here.
ProBAR is among about 50 ABA programs featured in this year’s Giving Day. More information may be found here.
The ABA is also observing National Celebration of Pro Bono Oct. 19-25, and it has compiled a list of CLEs and other events taking place in Texas. Details are available here.
San Antonio’s Nina Hudson Awarded
San Antonio Bar Association Community Outreach Manager Nina Hudson is set to receive the American Bar Association’s 2025 Cindy A. Raisch Award at a luncheon today at The Westin Peachtree Plaza in Atlanta.
The award recognizes public service-oriented lawyer referral and information programs that advance access to justice for moderate income individuals. It is named for a former directing attorney at the Los Angeles County Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Service and chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Lawyer Referral Service. A “dynamic, inspirational leader in the LRS community,” Raisch died of cancer in 1994 at the age of 37.
The award is being given during the 2025 National Lawyer Referral Workshop, a part of the ABA Forum on Building Access to Justice for All.
Hudson won the award in the subcategory of “Major program innovation or development, or development of a new program concept” for her work on the San Antonio Bar Association’s SALawHelp.org program. SALawHelp.org ensures that San Antonio residents can find the legal help they need in one place. The website and its accompanying e-newsletter with 20,000 subscribers provide information based on the public’s needs, including the Lawyer Referral Service as well as pro bono offerings and information on self-representation all on one page.
“Because of Ms. Hudson’s innovation and her passion for true public access to justice, the San Antonio Bar has made finding legal help much easier for thousands of San Antonians,” Bridget Schuster, of the King County Bar Association, said in an announcement. Schuster nominated Hudson for the award.
SALawHelp.org was recently recognized by the State Bar of Texas with its Stars of the Bar Award and also was awarded the 2025 LexisNexis Community & Outreach Award by the National Association of Bar Professionals.
“I thrive at the intersection of legal services, community connection and strategic outreach – helping individuals navigate the legal system and access the help they said,” Hudson said.
Dallas Bar Foundation Chair Donates to Sarah T. Hughes Scholarship
Dallas Bar Foundation Chair Gabe Vazquez, and his wife Claudine, recently made a $10,000 donation to the Sarah T. Hughes Scholarship, which funds law school students’ education at SMU Dedman School of Law, UNT Dallas College of Law and Texas A&M University School of Law.
“As a past Hughes Scholar, I personally benefitted from the generosity of the Foundation, and my family is deeply grateful to have to opportunity to give and support others,” Vazquez told The Texas Lawbook.
Earlier this year, the Foundation paused the prestigious Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarship amid uncertainty and potential fundraising challenges since President Donald Trump’s administration has issued various executive orders regarding diversity initiatives.
The Foundation resumed the scholarship, but dropped “diversity” from the title and removed references to minority individuals from its application materials. The application, instead, focuses on overcoming hardships.
Vazquez, a 2002 recipient of the scholarship, said the current application still reflects the scholarship’s purpose — honoring “resiliency and determination and overcoming hardship, which has always been the case.”
The scholarship is named for the first woman state district judge in Texas, who is best known for administering the oath of office to Lyndon B. Johnson aboard Air Force One following President John F. Kennedy’s assassination. It was established in 1981 with the goal of diversifying the local bar to better reflect the Dallas population.
“When this year began, I very much looked forward to the opportunity to be a steward of the Foundation and continue its mission to create cycles of success through scholarships, student clerkships and programs that inspire and improve our legal community in Dallas,” Vazquez said. “When we made the decision as a Board to pause our programs to further assess them, I was most concerned with the loss of that opportunity to make a positive impact this year. However, as a Foundation, we thoughtfully made the decision to evolve the Sarah T. Hughes Scholarship and I’m most proud of our ability to continue to support people through the scholarship.”
Sidley Austin Constructs Dallas Playground
More than 50 volunteers from Sidley Austin’s Dallas office and Vanguard partnered with the nonprofit KABOOM! on Thursday to build a new playground at Cosmos Montessori School in East Dallas.
The playground, designed using drawings submitted by Cosmos students, was completed as part of Sidley’s Social Responsibility program with funding from the Sidley Austin Foundation. The project marks the firm’s fourth playground build with KABOOM!
JAMS, Dallas County Dispute Resolution Center Offer Free Mediation Services for Conflict Resolution Day
In recognition of Conflict Resolution Day, alternative dispute resolution services provider JAMS partnered with the Dallas County Dispute Resolution Center on Thursday to offer free mediation services.
The collaboration provided pro bono mediation to 30 parties in consumer and personal injury disputes that had been referred by county judges.
Expanding access to mediations strengthens both the justice system and community relations, JAMS vice president of operations Jonathan Moss said.
“We are proud to partner with the DCDRC to make mediation more accessible to Dallas community members — helping individuals move beyond conflict and find constructive solutions.”
Othel Bursey, alternative dispute resolution coordinator for the Dispute Resolution Center, said the joint effort reflects the center’s mission to make affordable dispute resolution services more widely available.
“Mediation should always be the tool of first resort and not the last one,” Bursey said. “Together, we look forward to increasing access to justice and helping individuals reach meaningful, timely outcomes.”