It took six months, 177 pro bono hours, $167,000 of their firm’s resources, a U-Haul and an 11-hour move for a team of four Vinson & Elkins associates to secure a favorable resolution for their 74-year-old client who was facing eviction, but they never gave up. The V&E team recently spoke with The Lawbook about what made this case unusual from typical landlord-tenant disputes, why this pro bono matter was important to them and how the many twists and turns of the case mirrored some of their billable commercial litigation work.

“It took me days to figure out what the law on this was,” said Josh Jilovec, one of the lawyers on the case. “To expect a tenant to prepare a legitimate case in defense … it’s just a tall task.”

This week’s edition of P.S. features March dates for the Dallas Bar Association’s phone legal clinic, an event in San Antonio featuring prominent policymakers aimed at educating the public on homelessness and the revelation of LegalAid of NorthWest Texas’ honorees for its 2024 Women’s Advocacy Awards.

This week’s edition of P.S. features two president-elect candidates for an upcoming election for the State Bar of Texas’ public service arm, background on an associate who Weil is lending to a Dallas-area legal aid organization for two months to provide full-time pro bono legal services and nomination information for Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas upcoming Builders of Justice awards.

After nearly two decades at T-Mobile, prominent telecom legal executive Chris Luna has retired and returned to public service, which he had vowed to do after serving as a Dallas City Council member in the 1990s. The Lawbook recently spoke with Luna about his priorities leading the SPCA of Texas and with Jones Day partner Joe Van Asten, the new pro bono counsel Luna has retained.

This week’s edition of P.S. features new lawyer board members of a Dallas nonprofit focused on supporting survivors of family violence, an announcement from a Dallas firm about two associates selected for diversity and inclusion-focused leadership programs with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and a legal aid organization’s upcoming trivia night that supports a charitable cause.

In the first year of her law practice, Dallas associate Grace Caputo handled a significant asylum pro bono case. Her work on this matter resulted in a favorable outcome for her client and an internal pro bono award. In this sponsored Q&A, Caputo and Katten Dallas managing partner Mark Solomon tell us more.

This week’s edition of P.S. features new board leadership at the Dallas LGBT+ Bar Association, an Austin-based chief marketing officer who recently won an award from the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association, an upcoming mixer involving Dallas-area allied bar associations and the judiciary, and a group of Texas lawyers — including top-ranking lawyers at American Airlines and Energy Transfer — who were recently recognized by Legal Services Corporation for their contributions to pro bono work at the state legal aid organizations that LSC funds.

Plus: info on the North Texas charity Carrington Coleman donated thousands of diapers to last year.

This week’s edition of P.S. includes information on a Munck Wilson Mandala shareholder who has been elected to the alumni board of TSU’s Thurgood Marshall School of Law, February dates for the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program’s pro bono clinics, 2024 officers of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston and how to donate during the final days of a campaign that supports civil pro bono legal services in Dallas.

She’s handled pro bono cases for the Dallas Volunteer Attorneys Program for 20 years. She sits on the board of a very large foundation. She’s led a series of successful fundraisers, her most recent a record-breaking $1.3 million. She’s helping kids afford college at her alma mater. She saved a rescue dog named Ricky Bobby who does not have chemical burns, but does have bad skin.

Oh yeah, and her day job is general counsel of the country’s largest television station owner. But Nexstar Media Group’s Rachel Morgan has traveled down a long path to get to where she is today, hustling every step of the way.

For all of her achievements, The Texas Lawbook and the Association of Corporate Counsel’s Dallas-Fort Worth chapter have named Morgan the recipient of the 2023 DFW Corporate Counsel Award for Achievement in Pro Bono and Public Service.

The Lawbook talked with Morgan about attorney participation in pro bono, what she looks for in outside counsel, how she prefers outside firms staff her matters and the most important thing for doing pro bono well.