Dallas Bar Association
by Alicia Hernandez
“Progress has been restrained at best. I think many people believe that access to justice is the right thing to do, but most attorneys still are not willing to get behind it with their time or their wallets,” added Justice Hankinson. “This is frustrating because the Dallas legal community, like the rest of the State, relies on legal aid programs to help the clients they turn away. Without more support from the legal community, those clients
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Deborah G. Hankinson
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Deborah Hankinson is a well-known, respected former justice on the Supreme Court of Texas and arbitrator, mediator, and appellate attorney. To those in the legal aid community, she is known as one of our nation’s best advocates for access to justice for the poor. Here in Dallas, she recently committed another $25,000 to the 2014 Equal Access to Justice Campaign benefitting the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP). Since 2003, she has supported the EAJ Campaign by contributing more than $241,000. Justice Hankinson’s support is not only in dollars and cents; she was a driving force behind the creation of the Texas Access to Justice Commission, which works to ensure that low-income Texans have access to justice in civil legal matters. She has also made an ongoing imprint on the development of equal access to justice in jurisdictions across the United States. She walks the walk, and talks the talk. And she is disappointed. Disappointed? “We have come a long way in Texas over the last decade, but there is so much more to be done,” said Justice Hankinson about the critical need for legal communities across the State, both large and small, to give to their legal aid programs, whether with volunteers or financial contributions. Justice Hankinson has witnessed what she sees as sluggishly slow growth in financial support from law firms and individual attorneys.
will otherwise go forward without any help at all.” The Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas have made great strides in developing pro bono programs and the access to justice campaign. Both organizations joined forces in 1997 to create DVAP and the Equal Access to Justice Campaign. DVAP has since developed into the most comprehensive pro bono program in Dallas, which has been honored nationally and has become a source of inspiration for other pro bono programs. But, it and Legal Aid alike, turn away clients because there are not enough lawyers willing to help. Likewise, the Equal Access to Justice Campaign has grown and developed over the years, but the campaign still only has 514 donors contributing the $844,900.96 to last year’s campaign. “Last year’s campaign broke records, and we are very grateful to all our donors,” said Aaron Tobin, Co-Chair of the 2014 Campaign. “But the key to growth and the future of success of the campaign is increasing our donor base with people committed to supporting the program every year. With over 15,500 attorneys in Dallas County, we can do better.” “DVAP is our pro bono program,” added Shonn Brown, Co-Chair of the Campaign. “No donations are too small. Just give; give consistently, and help keep access to justice alive.”
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Deborah G. Hankinson donates $25,000 to Legal Aid
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Focus Technology & the Law
$600,000+
$550,000
$500,000
To Give: www.dvapcampaign.org.
December 2013 Volume 38 Number 12
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HEADNOTES
Alicia Hernandez is the director of the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program and the DBA director of community services. She can be reached at ahernandez@dallasbar.org.
$450,000 $400,000 $350,000 $300,000 $250,000 $200,000 $150,000 $100,000 $50,0000
Large Firms Support Campaign The Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas kicked off their annual Equal Access to Justice Campaign benefitting the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program in September with a number of Dallas’ large firms committing major support. Please join the DBA and Legal Aid in recognizing and thanking the following for their generous gifts to the Campaign*. These firms have consistently supported the Campaign since its inception. The firms cumulative contributions are in parentheticals.
PLATINUM ($10,000)
GOLD ($5,000)
Andrews Kurth LLP ($60,000)
Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP ($74,700)
Baker Botts L.L.P. ($97,900)
Baker & McKenzie LLP ($23,550)
Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP ($80,730)
Bracewell & Giuliani LLP ($40,450.00)
Haynes and Boone Foundation ($90,500)
Carrington, Coleman, Sloman & Blumenthal, L.L.P. ($67,791)
Jackson Walker L.L.P. ($85,600)
Fish & Richardson ($15,550)
Jones Day ($128,500)
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP ($7,285)
Locke Lord L.L.P. ($115,200)
K&L Gates ($81,275)
Thompson & Knight ($114,620)
Norton Rose Fulbright LLP ($76,000)
Vinson & Elkins LLP ($64,650)
*Large firm donors as of press time.
Law firms, corporations and individuals wishing to make a pledge will be prominently recognized beginning at the $5,000 level each month through January. To donate, contact Alicia Hernandez, ahernandez@dallasbar.org. For more information about the Campaign see www.dallasbar.org/dvapcampaign. For additional donors, see page 4. The severe recession has hit poor people especially hard. More than 600,000 people in Dallas County qualify financially for DVAP’s help.
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DBA MEMBER REMINDER: Your 2014 DBA DUES STATEMENT was mailed to your office or home in October! 2014 DBA DUES must be paid by December 31, 2013 to continue receiving ALL your member benefits. Thank you for your support of the Dallas Bar Association!