This week’s edition of P.S. features the unveiling of Porter Hedges’ new 1L diversity fellow, a fundraising development from the Texas Access to Justice Commission and State Bar of Texas that will benefit low-income Texas veterans, a leadership change at the Houston Bar Association and the launch of a public service website focused on “adulting.”

In this Q&A, Adel Sander discusses what she considers when hiring outside counsel, what it is about her job that gets her out of bed, how diversity became front and center for her and what diversity and inclusion initiatives law firms can be doing to create change.

Adel Sander has been driven to succeed and advocate for others from the time she could talk to present day as director and deputy general counsel at Ascend Performance Materials. As a 2-year-old growing up in Baku, Azerbaijan, she pointed out to her mom that her dad in fact did split some of the domestic labor by going to the market every week. As an in-house lawyer, she bats for women and diverse professionals every day, whether it’s a new mom needing a part-time schedule, a female outside lawyer up for partner, a father who wants to spend more time with his newborn or a job applicant shunned by other employers because of their criminal history.

“I really, really like to push people into being promoted to the next level and to give people opportunity,” she said. “At one point or another, someone gave me an opportunity, so I like to return the favor.”

Sander is one of three finalists for the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Houston chapter and The Texas Lawbook’s 2024 Houston Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Diversity and Inclusion. This is her story.

This edition of P.S. features May dates for pro bono legal clinics in Dallas, fundraising goals for a public service and a diversity-oriented law school’s upcoming 10th anniversary, and the fundraising outcome of a recent Houston concert that featured a battle of lawyer-formed bands.

This week’s edition of P.S. includes information on a sizable donation received by the Fort Worth Symphony Orchestra, a group of Asian Pacific Interest Section lawyers receiving awards — including for efforts related to diversity and inclusion and pro bono work — at an annual conference, a prestigious ABA award that will honor a lawyer at Norton Rose Fulbright and details on a law firm’s achievement of 100 percent pro bono participation among its attorneys.

Firms mentioned in this edition include Kelly Hart, Bell Nunnally, Jackson Walker, BakerHostetler, Husch Blackwell, Equinix, Vela Wood, Sheppard Mullin, Haynes Boone, Hunton Andrews Kurth, Sidley Austin, Gannett and Norton Rose Fulbright.

This edition of P.S. features a Barnes & Thornburg lawyer who joined an esteemed board of key business leaders in Dallas; an upcoming CLE that includes a conversation with a corporate lawyer turned criminal justice reformer who founded three nonprofits, achieved clemency for seven pro bono clients, did a TED Talk and wrote a memoir about her experience growing up with her mother behind bars; and upcoming dates in April when those in need of free legal services can receive pro bono legal advice by phone.

Other firms and corporate legal departments featured this week include Carrington Coleman, Southwest Airlines, Locke Lord, Haynes Boone, Jones Day, Match Group and Winstead.

This week’s P.S. column features a Houston in-house lawyer who has joined the board of a national renewable energy-focused nonprofit, a nomination period that has opened for in-house lawyers dedicated to pro bono work benefiting legal aid organizations and an award recently received by Vinson & Elkins’ head of pro bono.

Other legal departments mentioned in this edition include CenterPoint, Chevron, Pattern Energy, ExxonMobil and Toyota North America.

This week’s edition of P.S. features a woman lawyer’s rise in the ranks of the ABA’s litigation section, details on the Texas Access to Justice Commission’s upcoming annual gala benefiting low-income veterans (including how many dollars away it is from hitting its fundraising goal), an impending leadership change at UT Law’s Center for Women in Law and the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s April legal clinic dates.