Texas Access To Justice Foundation Marks 30th Anniversary, Joins With LSC For Panel, Texas Pro Bono Service Awards

The Texas Access to Justice Foundation will kick off celebration of its 30th anniversary on Jan. 23 by hosting a panel discussion on the evolution of legal services in the state and by joining with the Legal Services Corporation (LSC) to recognize six Texas lawyers for exemplary pro bono service.

Along with LSC, the LBJ Library’s Future Forum and the State Bar of Texas are co-sponsoring the event.

Members of the distinguished panel include U.S. Congressman Pete Gallego of the 23rd District of Texas, Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice Nathan L. Hecht, and Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow. Elizabeth Christian, President of Elizabeth Christian & Associates Public Relations  and President of the LBJ Foundation Board of Directors, will moderate the panel. 

Recipients, who were nominated by LSC grantees in Texas for pro bono work done with those programs, are:

Christopher V. Bacon—Counsel at the Houston office of Vinson & Elkins who has handled a myriad of pro bono  insurance, public benefits, and discrimination cases for those affected by HIV as well as those seeking asylum.

Sally L. Crawford-- Jones Day partner and public service coordinator in Dallas who has devoted thousands of hours to pro bono representation and countless more to mentoring attorneys with their own pro bono cases.

Bruce Moseley-- attorney in private practice and the program director of Paralegal Studies at Amarillo College who  has assisted Legal Aid of Northwest Texas's Equal Justice Volunteer Program with pro se divorce and general legal clinics and worked hard to involve his paralegal students in pro bono service.

Eduardo V. Rodriguez--a managing attorney at the Brownsville office of the Malaise Law Firm who has assisted Texas RioGrande Legal Aid establish and staff bankruptcy clinics in the Rio Grande valley.

Jane S. Shin—Austin sole practitioner who regularly volunteers to represent domestic violence victims, some cases requiring her to travel outside of Travis County.  

Richard L. Tate—name partner of Tate, Moerer & King L.L.C. in Richmond, who for more than two decades has taken a wide variety of pro bono cases and has been a member of the Pro Bono College of the State Bar of Texas--which requires an annual minimum of 75 hours of pro bono service--every year since that organization's founding in 1992.  Tate currently serves as Chair of the Texas Access to Justice Foundation.

The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the 10th Floor Atrium of the LBJ Presidential Library (2313 Red River St., Austin 78705). A reception follows.

The Supreme Court of Texas created the nonprofit Texas Access to Justice Foundation in 1984 to support legal aid efforts throughout the state. Using funding from the Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts (IOLTA) Program, as well as public funding and private donations, TAJF gives millions of dollars each year to various organizations that provide basic civil legal services to low-income populations.  Since its inception, TAJF has granted more than $375 million to nonprofit organizations; helping more than 100,000 Texas families each year.   

LSC was established by the Congress in 1974 to provide equal access to justice and to ensure the delivery of high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 134 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.

Legal Services Corporation was established by the Congress in 1974 to provide equal access to justice and to ensure the delivery of high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income Americans. The Corporation currently provides funding to 134 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories.