P.S. — Casino Nights, Running Tights, Calling All Trivia Brights
A fun run in Houston that benefits people with intellectual disabilities. A CLE on human trafficking. A casino night that benefits abused and neglected children. A trivia night that benefits legal aid. Natalie Posgate details them all in this week’s P.S.
P.S. — 5Ks, Housebuilding & Fair Debt Collection
A grant that will help consumer debt defendants in Texas. A 5K that helps women struggling with substance abuse. A new board appointment for the Austin Habitat for Humanity. A major Texas corporation recognizes a law firm for it diversity efforts. All in this week’s P.S. Firms featured this week include Gibson Dunn and Winstead.
‘All People Have Significance’
On the first page of the opening chapter in my book Contempt of Court: A Turn of the Century Lynching That Launched a Hundred Years of Federalism, there is this single sentence: “Ed Johnson was not a significant man, except in the sense that all people have significance.”
Johnson was a Black man who couldn’t read or write, worked two jobs to survive in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1906 who was falsely arrested for a rape he did not commit, railroaded through the criminal justice system and sentence to death – all in three weeks.
The Texas Lawbook this year created a full-time writer position to do nothing but cover pro bono and public service by lawyers in Texas. Natalie Posgate writes about corporate lawyers tackling big issues for military veterans, the homeless and those trapped in sex trafficking. She also writes about how a Texas lawyer can in just four hours dramatically change a single mom’s life for the better.
Natalie Posgate’s columns show lawyers that “all people have significance.”
P.S. — Legal Aid Grants in TX, Happy Holidays, Causes ‘For the Kids’
This week’s P.S. highlights one Houston lawyers organization’s Adopt-an-Angel program, grant money awarded to two Texas legal aid organizations and a firm celebrating an exciting pro bono milestone.
P.S. — Legal Aid Grants in TX, Happy Holidays, Causes ‘For the Kids’
This week’s P.S. highlights one Houston lawyers organization’s Adopt-an-Angel program, grant money awarded to two Texas legal aid organizations and a firm celebrating an exciting pro bono milestone.
P.S. — More Holiday Giving, Access to Justice & Freedom of Speech
This week’s P.S. features holiday giving to families in need by Dallas and Houston lawyers at Stinson and Hogan Lovells, a special holiday event for fallen veterans, a Jackson Walker lawyer who has been appointed as chairman of the board to a freedom of speech/information nonprofit and the very first access to justice summit that took place in Houston, where two local reporters were recognized.
P.S. — Two Galas, Two Donation Drives, One Huge Fundraiser
In this week’s P.S., we have the details of an inaugural ball put on by the Dallas LGBT Bar Association, updates on the Dallas Bar Association’s Equal Access to Justice Campaign and a reminder of a food drive currently being commissioned for one of Dallas’ poorest areas.
In-House & Outside Lawyers Talk Need, Best Practices at Pro Bono Summit
A group of high-ranking in-house counsel and private practice pro bono specialists swapped stories and methods for how they’ve been able to achieve pro bono engagement and keep their lawyers incentivized to give back through pro bono. Plus, the in-house lawyers discussed their positions on partnering with law firms on pro bono projects.
This Associate Logged 100 Hours of Pro Bono in the Last Year. Here’s How He Did It
As the year comes to an end, some may be reflecting on their legal practice and looking for ways to squeeze more pro bono into their life. The Texas Lawbook spoke with Stinson associate and pro bono pro Grant DuBois, who manages a pro bono misdemeanor criminal docket in his spare time and provides tips for weaving more pro bono work into the daily grind.
“Attorneys have been viewed by the general public as an undesirable group since the beginning of our profession,” DuBois says. “Many refer to us as ‘money-sucking vampires’ motivated not by client service, but by greed. One of the ways we can start to change this generalized perception is to provide pro bono services as often as we can.”
P.S. — A Couple Awards, A Memorial Fund, ‘It’s Fun to Stay at the YMCA’
In this week's P.S. column, the Human Rights Initiative of North Texas hosts its annual Stories from the HeART fundraiser and honors a group of Texas lawyers for their contributions, a memorial fund set up in the memory of the late Dallas lawyer, Clarence Brown, seeks to raise more funds to benefit students of color at the Lamplighter School, and two nonprofits announce leadership efforts by lawyers.