This week’s edition of P.S. features new lawyer board members of a Dallas nonprofit focused on supporting survivors of family violence, an announcement from a Dallas firm about two associates selected for diversity and inclusion-focused leadership programs with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and a legal aid organization’s upcoming trivia night that supports a charitable cause.
The Latest
— On April 21, Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas will hold its 2024 Virtual Trivia Night. The fourth-annual event will raise funds to support LANWT’s mission of ensuring equal access to justice for low-income residents of North and West Texas. Team sizes range from four to 10 people, and any trivia-inclined individuals or groups of less than four will be combined with others to form a larger team. Individual tickets run at $25 per person. For more pricing, sponsorship and prizing information (including a wine pull), visit here.
When: Sunday, April 21, from 6 p.m. to 9:30 p.m.
Where: Virtual — join from your office, home or best thinking place
Why: A significant portion of our state’s population cannot afford civil legal services. LANWT’s cause works to promote equal access to justice
To register: https://give.lanwt.org/checkout/29637
Questions? Call LANWT’s director of development, Sam Prince: (817) 339-5334 or email events@lanwt.org
— Dallas nonprofit The Family Place recently announced seven new members on its 2024 board of directors — two of them being lawyers. The lawyers in the newcomer group are:
- Lauren E. Black, the deputy administrator of Bureau B of the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office. In that role, Black oversees multiple divisions, including appellate, misdemeanor, grand jury/intake, restorative justice and mental health, and the newly created vehicular crimes unit that she was instrumental in establishing in 2022; and
- Family attorney Katie Samler, who specializes in complex divorce cases and adoptions at GoransonBain Ausley.
The Family Place was created in 1978 to empower survivors of family violence by providing safe housing, counseling and skills that create independence while building community engagement and advocating for social change to stop family violence.
— Two Bell Nunnally associates, Kimberly Cruz and Troy “T.J.” Hales, have been selected for two separate 2024 leadership programs with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD). Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 400 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. This year marks Bell Nunnally’s seventh to participate in the program.
Cruz, who specializes in mergers and acquisitions and commercial real estate, will participate in LCLD’s Pathfinder Program. LCLD developed this program to identify, train and advance the next generation of leaders in the legal profession. The seven-month program trains diverse, high-performing, early-career attorneys on foundational leadership and relationship building.
Hales, who practices a broad array of commercial litigation, will participate in LCLD’s Fellows Program, which prepares diverse, high-potential, mid-career attorneys with professional and personal development opportunities, leadership training and relationship-building resources, including access to LCLD’s managing partners and general counsel members.
“We are honored that T.J. and Kim will be representing Bell Nunnally as members of the 2024 LCLD leadership programs,” Bell Nunnally managing partner Christopher Trowbridge said. “This underscores the firm’s active engagement in advancing diversity and inclusion within the legal industry. We take great pride in our LCLD membership, as the organization serves as a key platform in fostering diversity and inclusion in the legal industry.”