P.S. — From the Courtroom to the Ballroom and Awards Celebrate Excellence in Public Service

In this edition of P.S., several attorneys are among the competitors in this year’s Dancing with the Ellis County Stars benefitting TBHC Foster Care and Adoption, which places children who are removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.

Readers may remember The Texas Lawbook’s feature last year on Matt Maupin, an associate in Dykema’s San Antonio office, who rushed to join the frontline recovery efforts in the Texas Hill Country following the deadly July Fourth weekend flooding. This month, The Baylor Line is honoring Maupin with the Outstanding Young Alumni Award at its 61st Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony.

And the Houston Bar Foundation recognized law firms, legal departments and individual attorneys for their pro bono and community service during the organization’s annual luncheon, where a new chair stepped into the helm.

Houston Bar Foundation Installs New Chair, Honors Service at Annual Luncheon

Personal injury lawyer Benny Agosto Jr. was installed Tuesday as chair of the Houston Bar Foundation at the organization’s annual luncheon.

Agosto, managing partner of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner, said he plans to work with the board to broaden the foundation’s impact through expanded legal services and scholarship support.

“There is no better way to serve our community,” Agosto said.

A longtime supporter of legal education and community initiatives, Agosto has donated more than $4 million to establish The Agosto Justice Center for Leadership and Empowerment at South Texas College of Law Houston, which supports the law school’s diverse community of students, faculty, staff and alumni. He is a past president of the Houston Bar Association, the Hispanic National Bar Association and the Mexican American Bar Association of Texas Foundation, which he founded. That foundation has raised more than $750,000 in scholarships for Hispanic law students attending Houston-area law schools.

Agosto said a sense of civic responsibility was instilled in him and his wife, Nikki, at an early age.

“We come from humble families, and our parents taught us the importance of service,” Agosto said. “It is a genuine honor to serve as chair of the Houston Bar Foundation for 2026.”

Agosto succeeds Sara Keith, senior legal counsel at Shell USA. Under Keith’s leadership, the foundation awarded more than $100,000 in grants to 15 Houston-area projects addressing critical legal and community needs, raised nearly $1.1 million for Houston Volunteer Lawyers through its Harvest Party fundraiser and bolstered its long-term sustainability and community impact with an unrestricted grant from the Houston Lawyer Referral Service.

Keith will remain on the board as immediate past chair.

The foundation also presented the 2026 James B. Sales Pro Bono Leadership Award to O’Melveny partner Travis J. Sales in recognition of his outstanding leadership and commitment to access to justice. As a past Houston Bar Association president, he launched the Veteran’s Legal Initiative which served as a statewide model. He has chaired the Houston Volunteer Lawyers and is a past State Bar of Texas director.

The following additional pro bono and community service awards were also presented:

2026 Houston Volunteer Lawyers Pro Bono Award Winners:

• Chevron Corporate Law Department

• Hunton Andrews Kurth

• Porter Hedges

• DLA Piper

Attorney Jeremy Berman

Dispute Resolution Center Awards:

• The Longevity of Exemplary Service award went to June A. Mann and David Aaron DeSoto, while the Outstanding Contribution award was presented to LeRoy “Mac” Coleman.

• The Outstanding Legal Article in The Houston Lawyer award was given to Alamdar S. Hamdani and Lucy Porter for their piece “In the Crosshairs of Cybercriminals – Houston’s Infrastructure Industries Are Under Attack.”

Attorneys Compete in Dancing with the Ellis County Stars

Several lawyers will take the dance floor Saturday in support of foster children and families.

Among the competitors in this year’s Dancing with the Ellis County Stars are Carrington Coleman Partner Cathy Altman and her husband Dan Altman, senior counsel at Oncor Electric Delivery, and Hardesty Law Office attorneys Tim Hardesty and Lindsay Harrison.

The 5th annual gala raises funds for TBHC Foster Care and Adoption, which places children who are removed from their homes due to abuse or neglect.

On one of the Altmans’ first dates while in law school, Dan took Cathy dancing at a small Kentucky bar called The Fifth Wheel.

“Drug me dancing just like this time around,” Cathy said with a chuckle in a promotional video for the event.

Over the years, Dan said he has handled Child Protective Services cases and observed children go from feeling hopeless while living in abusive homes to regaining a sense of possibility for a brighter future.

Those opportunities for hope are made possible by TBHC, Harrison said.

“We’re really excited for you all to get to watch her dance and me stand there and support TBHC, who’s been providing hope for families for 115 years,” Hardesty said in a promo.

Harrison grew up dancing and has continued the hobby, but Hardesty “can’t find rhythm if you handed it to him,” she said.

“I figure Lindsay knows how to dance, and she’s been doing it a long time, so I just have to be there as a prop and then she can dance around me and we’ll be great,” Hardesty said.

For event details, to vote for your favorite dance couple and to donate, visit the Dancing with the Ellis County Stars event website.

Dykema Attorney Honored for Hill Country Flood Response

Nonprofit organization The Baylor Line is set to honor Dykema associate Matt Maupin for his swift response to the devastating Hill Country flooding over the July Fourth weekend at its 61st Annual Hall of Fame Awards Ceremony on Feb. 28.

Maupin, a 2022 graduate of Baylor University School of Law, will receive the Outstanding Young Alumni Award, reserved for alumni under 40. Past honorees include U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit Judge Priscilla Richman.

The Texas Lawbook featured Maupin’s work on the front lines of flood recovery in Kerr County last year. Maupin and his wife, Katie, had planned to spend the holiday weekend in their hometown of Kerrville. Instead, they loaded their vehicle with a chainsaw, work gloves and other supplies and left their San Antonio home to spend days alongside emergency responders searching for the missing.

“I’m honored to receive this recognition related to the July 4, 2025 floods,” Maupin wrote in a LinkedIn post. “It was a privilege to serve alongside the extraordinary men and women from my native Kerr County and from communities across Texas and beyond who showed up without hesitation to help their neighbors. I accept this in honor and recognition of them.”