Pro Bono

• 2008 Pro Bono Awards
• Pro Bono Awards Overview

Committee Members:

Kathy Boutchee - Chair
C.B. Burns
Tisha Dominguez
Valorie Glass
John Griffin
Helen Kocurek, Austin
Mishell Parreno-Taylor, Houston
Ruben Pena, Harlingen
Grace Weatherly, Denton

The Labor & Employment Law Section is committed to the goal of improving equal access to justice for all residents of this State regardless of their financial circumstances. To that end, on September 15, 1995, the Section adopted a written Pro Bono Plan.

Pursuant to the Plan a standing Pro Bono Committee was created, consisting of two members of the Section's Executive Council (who serve as the Committee's Chair and Vice Chair) and six members of the Section at large (equally divided among attorneys who represent employee and employer interests).

Each year, to implement the Plan and to endeavor to achieve its goals, the Section's Pro Bono Committee carries out the following tasks:

1. Direct grants of funds to pro bono and legal aid organizations to broaden the availability of pro bono legal services to low income or otherwise disadvantaged individuals by providing funds to meet specific service and program needs for which funding sources are otherwise unavailable;

   (Grant applications are typically mailed in February of each year to all pro bono service providers in the State as listed with Texas Lawyers Care.

2. Awards of up to five (5) scholarships to legal aid attorneys to attend Section sponsored CLE seminars;

3. Distribution of excess materials and notebooks from Section sponsored CLE seminars to legal aid clinics and other pro bono programs;

   (Pro bono programs may obtain these materials without charge on an as available basis by contacting Texas Lawyers Care at the address and telephone number indicated below.)

4. Through a questionnaire mailed biannually to all Section members, identification of those Section members who are willing to perform pro bono legal services; and

   (Responses to this questionnaire are compiled into geographically organized reports, which are then distributed by Texas Lawyers Care to pro bono programs, legal aid clinics, and charitable aid organizations throughout the State to inform them of individual Section members willing to perform pro bono services meeting their specific needs. Pro bono service providers may obtain a copy of the report for their area by contacting Texas Lawyers Care at the address and telephone number indicated below.)

5. Identification and publication of pro bono service opportunities available to Section members through the Section Newsletter and by other means.

   Texas pro bono service providers may obtain copies of the materials referred to above and other information concerning the availability of pro bono services in this State by contacting:

   Texas Lawyers Care, State Bar of Texas
   P.O. Box 12487
   Austin, Texas 78711
   Phone: 1-800-204-2222, ext. 2155 (463-1463 in Austin)
   Fax: 1-512-477-8302

LABOR AND EMPLOYMENT LAW SECTION PRO BONO PLAN