The Texas Access to Justice Commission will host its annual Champions of Justice Gala to benefit legal services for low-income veterans at 6 p.m. Wednesday at the AT&T Executive Education & Conference Center in Austin. The gala will feature guest speaker Gen. Peter Pace, who served as the 16th Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of … Continue Reading
The Texas Board of Legal Specialization announced the induction of 206 attorneys and 25 paralegals into Board Certification at its annual induction ceremony Thursday. The event, held at the University of Texas’ Frank Erwin Center, was attended by more than 450 attorneys, paralegals and family members from all over the state as well as the … Continue Reading
Michael Morton, the Williamson County man who was exonerated of his wife’s murder after serving nearly 25 years behind bars, will present the keynote address at the Bar Leaders Recognition Luncheon on June 16 during the State Bar of Texas 2016 Annual Meeting.… Continue Reading
More than 500 members of Austin’s legal community turned out for the Austin Bar Foundation’s annual Gala on Saturday. The Austin Bar Foundation is the charitable arm of the Austin Bar Association. The foundation was established in 2003 to support and expand the provision of legal-related charitable and educational programs and services in Central Texas. Gala … Continue Reading
Richard Pena, 1998-1999 State Bar of Texas president, is headed home following a seven-day tour in Ireland. Pena, along with a delegation of attorneys from the U.S., has spent the past week exploring the land and meeting with leaders to learn about the area’s current politics and history, including the Northern Ireland peace process. The … Continue Reading
Joseph W. McKnight, professor emeritus of law at Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law, has been a great inspiration for scholarship and service for countless people in our profession and in other vocations. Remaining active and vital, McKnight was awarded the Honorary Alumnus Award at the school’s 28th Annual Distinguished Alumni Awards ceremony on … Continue Reading
Roy B. Ferguson and his attorney wife, Pene, started their careers in Houston, but in 1999, they moved almost 600 miles to one of the state’s least-populated regions, a place with high-desert vistas of the Davis Mountains and Big Bend where both of them have family roots. Their law office in Marfa, which they opened … Continue Reading
Twenty years ago, Paul Looney, 60, moved from Houston to the nearby town of Bellville to raise his daughter. He spent years commuting to the city every day to practice law but eventually realized there were opportunities in neighboring Hempstead, population about 5,700. Looney has been a happy and successful small-town attorney ever since. He … Continue Reading
When Natalie Cobb Koehler was a student at South Texas College of Law in Houston, she decided that she would move back home to practice law. Koehler and her family now live on an oak- and cedar-covered ranch in Cranfills Gap in Central Texas, where her kids show animals in 4H and her husband co-stars … Continue Reading
H.P. “Mike” Berkley, 65, is a solo practitioner outside Forestburg, a community near the Texas-Oklahoma border with a population of about 250. He went to Southern Methodist University School of Law and practiced in Dallas until moving to the country about 25 years ago. Berkley talks about marrying the town vet, being a content attorney … Continue Reading
Citing Benny Agosto Jr.’s role in promoting education in the Hispanic community, fighting bigotry, and encouraging diversity in the legal profession, the Anti-Defamation League recently awarded the Houston lawyer with an ADL Civil Rights Medal. Agosto, a partner in Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend in Houston, was one of six recipients to accept … Continue Reading
Last month, Shamoil T. Shipchandler, a partner in the Dallas office of Bracewell & Giuliani, received the Secretary of Homeland Security’s Meritorious Service Award (Silver Medal) for his role in exposing an illegal visa fraud operation. Shipchandler, at the time a federal prosecutor, led a team of agents and support staff from the Department of … Continue Reading
By James Boanerges When I was attending Lamar High School in Houston, a lawyer and an accountant came to campus one day to address the student body. The first speaker, famous criminal defense attorney Percy Foreman, made a huge impression with his booming voice and engaging smile. The accountant, a mild-mannered, nondescript fellow, simply could … Continue Reading
Benny Agosto Jr., a partner in the Houston office of Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Sorrels, Agosto & Friend, has been named president of the Legal Education Fund of the Hispanic National Bar Association. The Legal Education Fund promotes educational programs that expose underrepresented students and professionals to opportunities in the legal profession. Among other initiatives, the … Continue Reading
Personal injury attorney Stewart Guss likes to start his day early, when the office is quiet and no one else has made it in yet. He spends this uninterrupted time reading and responding to emails and checking the status of dozens of cases. His mission is to help people in need. With 20 years of experience in the legal profession, this 47-year-old Tomball resident knows how to get things accomplished. Here he talks about professional challenges and triumphs, distracting driving, and Atticus Finch.… Continue Reading
