The Texas Young Lawyers Association (TYLA) has received a $43,440 grant from the Texas Bar Foundation (TBF) to create the Texas Future Lawyers Alliance (TFLA). This group will be made up of 20 undergraduate aspiring lawyers attending Texas colleges and universities who will receive a year of legal training, legal networking, career guidance, and law school admissions support, according to a press release.
The 20 TFLA members will be selected based on applications they submit, as well as their descriptions of why the legal profession needs their voices and how they will use their future law degrees in service of Texas and Texans.
“As it stands today, financial and institutional barriers leave so many talented aspiring lawyers behind before they even have a chance to step into a law school classroom,” TYLA President-elect Armin Salek said in a press release. “Many of these aspiring lawyers come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds and rural backgrounds. These communities also represent the individuals who are the most likely to be impacted by the access to justice gap. TYLA can fight to ensure that the legal profession is equipped with the lived experiences to represent and serve all communities by investing earlier in the pathway to the legal profession.”
Salek will take office as TYLA president in June and will lead the implementation of the project during his tenure.
In addition to remote programming that will train them with the skills to succeed in the law school admissions process, law school, and legal careers, TFLA members will travel to an in-person legal education experience selected from options like the State Moot Court Competition, the State Bar of Texas Annual Meeting, and the National Trial Competition. This will allow them to network with TYLA members and to connect with other top law students and trial advocacy competitors. All costs of their travel, lodging, meals, and activities will be covered, according to a press release.
Once this project is successfully implemented, TYLA will use the experience to create guidance for local young lawyer associations around Texas as they look to support the aspiring lawyers in their own communities.
For more information about TYLA, go to tyla.org. For more information about the TBF, go to txbf.org.