Dallas Hispanic Bar Association Scholarships
The Dallas Hispanic Bar Association will award a dozen Latino students attending various Texas law schools between $1,500 and $2,000 at its annual scholarship fundraising banquet to be held on September 17 at the Belo Mansion. I am deeply honored to be among the list of individuals for whom these scholarships will be named after.
Please read the August 30, 2008 Dallas Morning News article below:
Dallas Hispanic Bar Association reaches out to new generation
Dallas Morning News
08:27 AM CDT on Saturday, August 30, 2008
When he first moved to Dallas 14 years ago, Dallas lawyer Jaime Ramón remembers when a small group of Hispanic lawyers, most of them in private practice, would gather to discuss issues and concerns in their community.
Back then, it was called the Mexican American Bar Association.
Today, the group has morphed into the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association, and its members – now numbering about 300 – range from high-powered partners in corporate law firms to lawyers in private practice battling employment discrimination and civil rights cases.
"There was only a handful of us who were partners in major law firms back then," said the 54-year-old partner in K&L Gates. "Today, there's a lot of vibrancy in the organization, and there's a crop of younger people coming up who have a great commitment to their community. They don't have the barriers we did, and they're very global in their thinking."
During the past several years, as the area's demographics have shifted, the Dallas Hispanic Bar Association (www.dallashispanicbar.com) has slowly emerged as an agent for change in Dallas County.
A new generation of Hispanic lawyers has become more visibly involved in the organization's civic pursuits, such as the effort to rename Ross Avenue after farm workers advocate César Chávez. Others are content to work behind the scenes to boost the city's growing Latino economic and political clout.
On Sept. 17, many of them will gather to help a younger generation of Latino law students seeking the same path to legal and economic advancement at the group's annual scholarship fundraising banquet at the Belo Mansion.
A dozen students attending an array of Texas law schools will receive from $1,500 to $2,000 in financial awards, some of them named after well-known Hispanic benefactors or emerging civic leaders – Adelfa Callejo, Gilbert Aranza and Angel Reyes.
Much of the $130,000 raised at the annual event is being channeled into the group's scholarship foundation, with a goal of raising $1 million by 2015.
This year, the organization will give its annual La Luz Achievement Award to Regina Montoya. The Harvard law school graduate served as assistant for governmental affairs to President Clinton and recently stepped down after three years as CEO of the New America Alliance.
And Mr. Ramón, who has served as a mentor to a younger generation, will be the recipient of this year's President's Award.
"The best piece of advice I ever got was from Jaime," recalled Aaron R. Ramírez, Hispanic bar president.
He was thinking of walking away from a corporate position with the nation's largest employment law firm to go into private practice with a colleague, Maricela Siewczynski.
He called Mr. Ramón filled with questions.
"He knew I had more passion for representing people than I did a company," he said. "A corporation never really says 'thank you.' They simply write a check.
"It's far more personally rewarding for me now because I can see how individuals are being wronged. Jaime told me, 'Don't ever look back.' And I haven't."
©2008 Angel Reyes
www.ReyesLaw.com
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