This week’s edition of P.S. features a Houston law firm’s six-figure award to a nonprofit dedicated to fair debt collection and responsible lending practices, May dates (and sponsor information) for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s free legal clinics, the upcoming launch of the state’s first virtual court kiosk and an update on a Houston Bar Foundation-affiliated pro bono award previously reported on that involves a group of six first-year associates.
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The Latest Charitable Happenings
— In a previous column, I mentioned the “Heart of Pro Bono Award” that Hillary Holmes and Gibson Dunn accepted at the Houston Bar Foundation’s annual luncheon Feb. 9. Accepting the award with Holmes was ‘The Pro Bono Squad,’ which I didn’t know at the time was a nickname for a group of six first-year associates who handled 20 percent of all 2022 pro bono work completed by lawyers in Gibson Dunn’s Houston office. They are: Ezra Brown, Kyle Clendenon, Iris Hill Crabtree, Mason Gauch, To Nhu Huynh and Hayden Theis. Within six months of being licensed, these attorneys collectively devoted 694.33 hours to 26 pro bono projects, averaging 115.7 hours per attorney.
The Heart of Pro Bono Award was established last year to posthumously recognize the late Zenobia Harris Bivens, who was managing partner of Frost Brown Todd’s Houston office and known for her commitment to diversity and serving her community. During the Houston Bar’s 2022 Harvest Peer-to-Peer Campaign, which ran from Oct. 24 to Nov. 14, the Squad volunteered to take on five Houston Volunteer Lawyer cases and opened four new pro bono matters at the firm — going through the firm’s new matter intake process for the first time as a result. Under the leadership of Holmes, who serves as a board member of HBF and as co-partner in charge of Gibson Dunn’s Houston office, firm attorneys accepted nearly 60 pro bono cases in 2022.
— On Monday, the Texas Legal Services Center and Texas Access to Justice Foundation will celebrate the opening of one of the state’s first virtual court kiosks (and the first to open in Austin) at a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Little Walnut Creek branch of the Austin Library. The kiosk launch is part of the Virtual Court Access Project, a statewide pilot project aiming to improve low-income Texans’ ability to obtain free legal services through deploying accessible, physical virtual court kiosks to communities. The TAJF-funded kiosks can be used to attend an online court hearing, get free legal help or find legal information and resources. Kiosks are also available in San Antonio, Brownwood, Harlingen, Longview, Richmond, Weatherford and Eagle Pass. (For more information on the kiosks, including how to reserve one, visit here).
The ribbon cutting ceremony will include remarks from Texas Supreme Court Justice/TAJF liaison Brett Busby and Texas Legal Services Center Executive Director Karen Miller.
— Texas Appleseed has received a $240,500 cy pres award from Rusty Hardin & Associates from a settlement of a class action lawsuit the firm brought against a payday lender, alleging predatory practices. Cy pres awards are residual funds from a lawsuit that cannot, for varying reasons, be distributed to all intended parties.
The 2015 lawsuit came after Texas Appleseed submitted a criminal complaint to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other government agencies after uncovering the unlawful filings of criminal complaints by payday loan businesses to collect consumer debts. The cy pres award will support Texas Appleseed’s longstanding work toward fair debt collection and responsible lending practices.
“Texas Appleseed was an integral partner in this case and in ensuring predatory lenders are held accountable,” said Rusty Hardin & Associates partner Daniel Dutko, who handled the lawsuit. “Considering the scope and impact of Texas Appleseed’s work, they were the clear choice to receive this cy pres award.”
— Throughout the month of May, there will be 10 virtual and legal clinics free of charge to any low-income Dallasites in need of legal services. The clinics are hosted by the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program — the pro bono arm of the Dallas Bar Association — and various corporate, law school and attorney organization sponsors partnering with DVAP. All virtual clinics will run from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. All in-person clinics will start at 5 p.m. except for the veterans clinic, which begins at 1:30 p.m.
To register for a virtual clinic, visit this link.
Virtual Clinics
May 4: DVAP and DAYL Pro Bono Partners
May 5 (veterans clinic): DVAP and Bradley Arant Boult Cummings
May 11: DVAP and DLA Piper
May 18: DVAP, Haynes and Boone and SMU Dedman School of Law
May 25: DVAP and UNT Dallas College of Law
In-person Clinics
Veterans clinic: May 5 at the VA Medical Center (4500 S. Lancaster Rd., Dallas). Sponsored by DVAP, Prudential Financial Group, Goldman Sachs, Foley Lardner and Blue Cross Blue Shield
South Dallas clinic: May 9 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (2922 Martin Luther King Blvd., Dallas). Sponsored by DVAP and DBA Entrepreneurs in Community Lawyering
East Dallas clinic: May 18 at Grace United Methodist Church (4105 Junius at Haskell, Dallas). Sponsored by DVAP and DBA’s Solo Volunteers group
South Dallas clinic: May 23 at Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Center (2922 Martin Luther King Blvd., Dallas). Sponsored by DVAP and Solo Volunteers
West Dallas clinic: May 25 at the West Dallas Multi-purpose Center (2828 Fish Trap Rd., Dallas). Sponsored by DVAP and Solo Volunteers