In this edition of P.S., we highlight the Texas legal community’s impact at home and abroad. In Dallas, nearly 100 volunteers came together for the Wills for Heroes Clinic, helping police officers prepare more than 80 wills. Meanwhile, the Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center — a nonprofit organization fighting unlawful evictions — is expanding its reach to Houston. On the global stage, AZA Houston Partner Shahmeer Halepota addressed the United Nations, offering insight on Pakistan’s water crisis.
Volunteers Draft Wills for Dallas Police Officers
About a hundred volunteers in Dallas participated in the national Wills for Heroes initiative, led by Bank of America, to provide free estate planning services for local law enforcement on Sept. 11.
Lawyers, paralegals and notaries from Bank of America, Pamela Welch PLLC, the Dallas Bar Association Probate Section, Bradley Arant Bould Cummings and Haynes Boone came together to staff the clinic, held at the Dallas Police Department.
More than 80 wills were completed for Dallas police officers at the event.
Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center Expands Legal Aid to Houston
The Dallas Eviction Advocacy Center, a nonprofit founded by Holland & Knight partner Mark Melton, is expanding to Houston.
The Houston Eviction Advocacy Center is hiring a staff attorney. Applicants are asked to send their resumes and sample letters to Chief Legal Officer Stuart Campbell at stuart@dallaseac.org.
DEAC began during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, as Melton and his wife, Lauren, saw a need to defend renters from unlawful evictions. Since its official launch in January 2021, the organization has grown to about 25 employees and operates on a $2.4 million budget.
The center’s attorneys have uncovered numerous cases in which landlords bypassed legally required procedures, with some justices of the peace rubber-stamping evictions. In its first year, DEAC won 96 percent of its 853 trials. Today, its win rate is around 66 percent – a shift Melton attributes to landlords now more often adhering to proper legal process.
“Our stated goal has always been that we need to get to the place where we lose every single case, because we have trained the landlord community by beating them in court to do it right,” Melton told The Texas Lawbook earlier this year.
AZA Partner Speaks at United Nations on Pakistan Water Crisis
AZA Houston Partner Shahmeer Halepota spoke last week at the United Nations about a water crisis in Pakistan and the legal ramifications and rights established under an international water rights treaty.
Drawing on his extensive background in international law, Halepota was asked to address how the decades-old Indus Waters Treaty could be preserved and modernized amid geopolitical tensions. The 1960 treaty between Pakistan, India and the World Bank governs water-sharing rights and the development of hydroelectric projects in the region.
He made his remarks as part of a five-person panel. In his presentation, Halepota urged the World Bank to play a more prominent role, proposed that the International Court of Justice issue an advisory opinion on India’s declared suspension of its obligations and advocated for the integration of modern arbitration procedures.
The panel discussion was titled “Indus Waters Treaty & Pakistan’s Water Crisis: Challenges and the Way Forward.”
LANWT Surpasses Fundraising Goal
Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas far exceeded its fundraising goal during this year’s Communities Foundation of Texas’ annual Day of Giving campaign, the nonprofit announced in a “thank you” to donors.
LANWT received more than $75,000 — up from its goal of $20,000.
Partially funded by the Texas Access to Justice Foundation, LANWT provides pro bono civil legal services to low-income Texans in 114 counties.
“As one of several thousand nonprofits that participated in the annual event, Legal Aid appreciates those who gave in support of the critical work that we do every day on behalf of low-income Texans,” LANWT wrote in an email. “Thank you for helping us help others.”
The Day of Giving campaign closed Thursday.