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Haynes Boone Pro Bono Team Secures Tax Relief for Dallas Habitat Homeowner

A Dallas homeowner who is prohibited from selling her Habitat for Humanity home for more than $160,000 was twice taxed based on appraisals valuing the house at nearly double that amount. Haynes Boone lawyers handling the matter pro bono recently secured an agreed judgment requiring the Dallas Central Appraisal District to recognize the home’s deed restriction when determining its taxable value, ending a dispute the attorneys say threatened to undermine the purpose of affordable home ownership programs. 

Krista Torralva

P.S. — Yetter Coleman Represents Professors in Challenge to Texas A&M Teaching Policy 

In this edition of P.S., the J.L. Turner Legal Association in Dallas and the San Antonio Bar Foundation recently announced the honorees for their annual award ceremonies. Among those being recognized are prominent criminal defense lawyer Cheryl Wattley and U.S. District Judge Fred Biery, whose sharply worded ruling condemning the Trump administration’s immigration tactics drew national attention earlier this year. 

We also cover the Houston Bar Foundation, which is providing $30,000 in scholarships across Houston’s three law schools to support students pursuing careers in public interest law and public service. In addition, the foundation has opened applications for the second year of its Community Grants Program, which awarded $100,000 to 15 community projects during its inaugural funding cycle. 

Attorneys taking on immigration matters pro bono may find a newly launched mentorship initiative from the Austin-based nonprofit VECINA especially valuable. Supported by a grant from the Texas Bar Foundation, the Texas Immigration Legal Resiliency Program offers virtual office hours where participants can seek guidance on immigration cases. We’ve got the details.  

And finally, Yetter Coleman has joined the ACLU of Texas and the national ACLU in a lawsuit challenging the Texas A&M University System Board of Regents’ restrictions on teaching about race, gender and sexuality. The Houston-based litigation boutique is handling the matter on a pro bono basis.

Krista Torralva

The Akin Partner Who Helped Change Pro Bono in Big Law

Steven Schulman has spent the past three decades helping reshape the role of pro bono work in Big Law. After building Latham & Watkins’ pro bono program, he persuaded Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld to create a full-time pro bono partnership for him. Since then, he has watched corporate firm pro bono work expand from fewer than 1 million hours nationwide in 1994 to more than 5 million annually today, a transformation that mirrors his own rise as one of the country’s leading pro bono advocates. Colleagues say Schulman, who is based in Dallas, has helped drive that growth, leveraging his role to shape not only Akin’s pro bono program but also the broader legal profession’s approach to public service. 

Krista Torralva

Trailblazing Texas Judge Ruby Kless Sondock Dies at 100  

Ruby Kless Sondock, the first woman to serve on the Texas Supreme Court in a regular session and Harris County’s first female district judge, died last week at age 100. Sondock, a 1961 graduate of the University of Houston Law Center, leaves an enduring impact on the legal profession, particularly by advancing opportunities for women in the law, the school said.

Krista Torralva

P.S. — Sidley’s Ostolaza Named Latina Trailblazer; Rusty Hardin Gets Pro Bono Win at the Fifth Circuit

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; representing a former Houston police officer on a pro bono basis, Rusty Hardin and John MacVane 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; and Akin Gump recently announced the winners of its annual firmwide Bruce McLean Pro Bono Awards.

Krista Torralva & Elle Grinnell

P.S. — Corporate Legal Chiefs Tell Congress Legal Aid Funding is a ‘Uniquely Important Priority’

General counsel and chief legal officers from 132 of America’s biggest companies — including AT&T, USAA and Oracle — are urging Congress to fully fund the Legal Services Corporation, arguing that civil legal aid strengthens economic stability for families, communities and businesses. The executives signed a May 29 letter to every member of Congress asking lawmakers to provide sufficient funding for fiscal year 2027 to LSC, the federal nonprofit that funds civil legal aid organizations nationwide. At least a dozen Texas-based legal leaders joined the effort.

Krista Torralva

P.S. — Stand with Santos Campaign Tops $600K, Jackson Walker Mobilizes 200+ Volunteers for Day of Service

In this edition of P.S., now former State Bar President Santos Vargas announced that his term’s fundraising campaign, Stand with Santos, raised more than $600,000 through pro bono commitments and direct contributions benefitting the Texas Access to Justice Foundation. During his last meeting as president, Vargas also recognized several leaders and organizations with presidential citations.

Krista Torralva

From Risk to Reckoning: How a Dallas Lawyer’s Long Fight Delivered Vindication

Dallas attorney Laura Benitez Geisler agreed to represent former police captain Terry Bevill after hearing his story. He had been fired, arrested and charged with a felony for signing an affidavit questioning whether a coworker could receive a fair trial in Wood County, putting him at odds with powerful rural officials.

Despite losing his job, health insurance and facing legal uncertainty for 16 months, Bevill said he would act the same way again because it was his duty to uphold the Constitution.

Moved by his conviction, Geisler felt a responsibility to take his case.

Mark Smith

Bar None Celebrates 40 Years of Scholarship Fundraising and Building Community in Dallas

Martha Hardwick Hofmeister was a freshly minted lawyer and new to Dallas when she joined the Dallas Bar Association because, she recalled, “I thought that’s what you were supposed to do when you’re a lawyer.”

She joined the association’s entertainment committee and had to miss a meeting. She got a letter shortly thereafter appointing her director of a new project, a show without a lot of structure, that would raise funds for the newly established Sarah T. Hughes Diversity Scholarship.

Four decades later, Hofmeister is still the director of that production. Bar None, a lawyer-written and lawyer-performed musical comedy, has raised more than $2.5 million for full-ride law school scholarships. Over the years, the cast and crew have cultivated a Bar None family that has celebrated cast members who marry and have children and have rallied together in the hard times, including the loss of teammates.

Krista Torralva

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