LOCAL HEROES

Houston Bar Association members give nearly 40,000 hours of their time every year to serve the community through HBA programs alone. In addition, they spend just as many hours volunteering with other service organizations that benefit their communities. The lawyers profiled in this series are representative of the outstanding volunteers who confirm the Houston Bar Association’s commitment to educate, communicate and serve.



David M. Bridges
Champion of Children’s Causes

By Kristopher M. Stockberger

David M. Bridges, a solo practitioner in Houston, and his wife, Carmen Bridges, have devoted many volunteer hours to help the children of Houston and surrounding areas.
Bridges began his legal career in San Francisco in 1962 as an associate attorney with Thelen, Marrin, Johnson & Bridges—his father, Robert L. Bridges, was one of the named partners. On one of his first cases, Bridges defended the validity of a bond election that funded the creation of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District in 1964. “We prevailed in defending the bond election,” he recalls, “and B.A.R.T. became one of the first light rail metropolitan transit systems in the country.”
In 1970, he became a partner, a position he held until his retirement in 1994. During his tenure at Thelen Marrin, David was involved in the legal aspects of successfully completing the South Texas Nuclear Project for Houston Lighting and Power, now known as Reliant Energy. He also participated in defending the contractor claims arising out of the construction of the Channel Tunnel linking England and France, more commonly known as the Eurotunnel. He was the Houston office managing partner for Thelen Marrin from 1981 to 1991.
During his extensive legal career, Bridges has contributed to numerous charitable activities that focus on children and the arts. In 1991, Bridges and his wife co-chaired the first Rainbow Over the Harbor Gala for Boys & Girls Harbor, and he joined the Harbor’s board of directors. This gala continues to raise money for Boys & Girls Harbor, a charity for children with family hardship, neglect or abuse, and Bridges continues to serve as a director and secretary of the Harbor. See www.boysandgirlsharbor.org
Bridges also is involved with Joyful Toyful Fiesta, Inc., where he serves as a director and vice-president. Joyful Toyful is a 501(c)(3) charity organization that was founded by Carmen Bridges in 1989. Joyful Toyful raises cash and collects Christmas gifts for the children at Boys & Girls Harbor, Our Lady of Guadalupe School, Casa de Esperanza and Volunteer Houston. In 2003, Joyful Toyful divided $60,000 and 3,000 toys among the four charities at the annual Fiesta. The Joyful Toyful mailing list of supporters now contains more than 800 names. Bridges explains that “all of this has been done by involving like-minded people and asking them to spread the word to their friends and associates.”
Bridges’ involvement with Our Lady of Guadalupe School began in 1992, when Carmen was approached about chairing a fundraiser for the school. Since the Bridges were co-chairing the Houston Symphony Opening Night Gala that year and had plans to chair Rainbow Over the Harbor II for Boys & Girls Harbor in 1993, they committed to the school fundraiser for 1994. Their efforts for the symphony and Our Lady of Guadalupe School raised gross proceeds of $150,000 and $130,000, respectively.
Bridges advises attorneys in management positions that volunteering is a useful means of improving a law firm’s visibility in the community. But he remarks that, “More importantly, volunteering is a way of giving back something to a community that has been very good to us. My wife and I like to help children’s charities because it affords the satisfaction of knowing that what we are doing makes a difference.”



J.L. Carpenter and Tanya Garrison
Teen Court Offers Adjudication by Peers

By Paul Heyburn

Over the past year, the Houston Young Lawyers Association’s Teen Court program has administered more than 20 trials involving nearly 100 teenage volunteers, thanks in large part to J.L. Carpenter and Tanya Garrison.
Carpenter, an associate of Mills Shirley L.L.P., and Garrison, an associate of Weycer, Kaplan, Pulaski & Zuber, P.C., have co-chaired HYLA’s Teen Court Program in the Municipal Court of the Memorial Villages for the past year. Teen Court is a program in which high school students are given the opportunity to prosecute and defend their peers who have received class “C” misdemeanor tickets.
Students who have been given class “C” misdemeanor tickets by the Village police are given the opportunity to plead guilty and perform community service, rather than pay a fine and face having a citation appear on their record. The community service includes participating in other HYLA programs such as “We the Jury,” which teaches students the importance of the jury system, and “Crossing the Line,” which teaches students about juvenile law. In addition, the students must give service hours to other non-profit organizations. Depending on the offense, the ticket could either be plea-bargained or, if more serious, the case is referred to trial.
If referred to trial, high school students prosecute and defend their classmates. The counsel for the accused students receive their cases two weeks in advance and are coached by both young and seasoned lawyers from Houston and the surrounding areas. The cases are tried before a judicial panel that includes a municipal court judge and two students. The trials include opening and closing statements as well the presentation and cross-examination of witnesses. The six-person jury, which includes formerly prosecuted students, assigns a range of community service hours based on guidelines established by the court.
Carpenter and Garrison believe that the Teen Court experience provides not only valuable exposure to the legal system for students contemplating law school, but also instills a greater respect for the law. If you are interested in volunteering for Teen Court, please contact HYLA or Lisa Reed, the court coordinator for the Hedwig Village Municipal Court.



Timothy M. Donoughue
Driving Force for Special Olympics

By Brad A. Allen

For the past several years Tim Donoughue has been a driving force on the Special Olympics Texas Houston Area Development Committee, which is charged with promoting and raising funds for the charity. Although Donoughue is quick to point out that he is only one of many volunteers that support Special Olympics Texas, he is a tireless worker for the program.
Donoughue first became involved with Special Olympics Texas through the Houston Young Lawyers Association Special Olympics Committee in 1994. For the better part of a decade Donoughue worked hard to solicit donations and auction items for the annual HYLA auction benefiting Special Olympics Texas. Donoughue’s solid work on the HYLA committee lead to an invitation to join the Special Olympics Texas Houston Area Development Committee.
In just his third year on the committee Donoughue was elected vice-chairman, and in 2005 he will be the chairman. Over the years he has been involved in most of the major fundraising and promotional events for Special Olympics Texas, and he is currently spear-heading the long-range planning for the greater Houston Area Chapter. Donoughue, an intellectual property counsel for Baker Hughes Incorporated, is also intimately involved in the athletics competition.
As the current chairman of the Houston Bar Association Special Olympics Committee, Donoughue is the leader of the HBA’s efforts to recruit volunteers at Special Olympics competitions throughout the year. In 2003, the Greater Houston Area Special Olympics honor-ed Donoughue as its “Outstanding Volunteer for Fundraising.”
Volunteering and supporting so many fundraising and competitive events is a huge time commitment for Donoughue, but he looks at his dedication to Special Olympics as a blessing, not a burden. In the end, it is the athletes that keep him coming back. When asked what keeps him going, he said, “You cannot meet a more grateful and deserving group of folks. The athletes are so appreciative, and Special Olympics benefits all of us by providing an excellent outlet for persons with mental retardation. It teaches them responsibility, teamwork, commitment and good sportsmanship – all important life skills – and does so in a fun way for the athletes. Ultimately, we have better, more productive citizens out of our athletes, which really makes our efforts worthwhile.”
Special Olympics Texas’ fiscal responsibility also is very important to Donoughue. In his own words, “There are a lot of good causes out there, but Special Olympics Texas is more than just a good cause; they ensure that the athletes get maximum benefits from your time and money. It gives you the most bang for your buck. And in addition to all that, it’s fun!”
Donoughue is excited about the many good things to come. In his opinion, “Special Olympics Texas will continue to do well because it not only does a great job of helping the athletes and their families, but is a many-faceted program with something for every volunteer or benefactor. Whether your focus is donating money, time or just having fun, Special Olympics can do all that and a whole lot more.”



ExxonMobil Legal Department
Recognizing Value of Pro Bono Work

By Tara Shockley

ExxonMobil Corp.’s legal department has a history of more than 20 years of active pro bono service through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and other organizations. In 2000, ExxonMobil was nominated by the HBA and won the prestigious Pro Bono Publico Award from the American Bar Association. Three years ago, it began honoring individuals for exemplifying the volunteer spirit that has long been part of its corporate philosophy.
When Peggy Montgomery became chair of the Pro Bono Committee of ExxonMobil’s legal department three years ago, she believed that the company needed a public way to recognize and reward attorneys who made outstanding contributions to pro bono legal services. ExxonMobil established an annual awards luncheon, inviting anyone who handled a pro bono case through the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program or worked as a volunteer for the HBA’s LegalLine Program. This year, the company expanded its recognition to include individuals who handled pro bono cases through the Texas Accountants and Lawyers for the Arts (TALA). In addition to ExxonMobil volunteers, Montgomery says they invite special guests from Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and Legge Farrow Kimmitt McGrath & Brown, L.L.P., two law firms that ExxonMobil partners with to work on pro bono programs. ExxonMobil partners with Fulbright & Jaworski attorneys to do work for HVLP’s Avenue Community Development Corporation, and they partner with Legge Farrow attorneys to staff LegalLine programs.
The company gave two special awards for outstanding service. Edd Prince received the ExxonMobil Pro Bono Award for Exemplary Efforts, given to an attorney who best characterizes the company’s pro bono spirit. Montgomery says the Pro Bono Committee looks at all attorneys who have performed pro bono work during the year. Prince took on a case that began as a divorce and custody suit, with issues of spouse abuse, and eventually included a bankruptcy. The client wrote of Prince: “He put his heart and soul into helping me. He did an extraordinary job representing me.”
The ExxonMobil Tax Department established a new Tax Pro Bono Award, given collectively to a tax group that performed the most pro bono work during the past year.
ExxonMobil also recognizes attorneys for pro bono work with monetary rewards, in the form of grants to a pro bono organization. For 20 hours of pro bono work, an individual can earn a $500 grant for the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. Teams of five individuals also can earn $500 grants for 20 hours of pro bono work. At the conclusion of this year’s luncheon, ExxonMobil presented a check for $8,000 to HVLP, representing 10 individual grants and six team grants. Montgomery says that is almost double last year’s contribution of $4,500 in grants to HVLP.
In addition to recognizing volunteers at the luncheon, ExxonMobil representatives talk about volunteer opportunities available through the Pro Bono Committee and give employees the opportunity to sign up for the types of cases they would like to handle. Montgomery says the company is trying to expand its pro bono program by providing opportunities not only for attorneys, but also for accountants and other support staff in the legal department, and she believes they have been very successful doing that. About 70 attorneys now perform pro bono work through the Pro Bono Committee, about a one-third increase since the company’s first awards luncheon. HVLP reports that ExxonMobil took 40 pro bono cases last year, handling all types of cases including divorce, custody, adoptions, IRS disputes, wills, landlord/tenant disputes and bankruptcies.
The company’s pro bono spirit has even caught on with a former employee. Retired attorney Dan Boone took his first pro bono case last year. He has now volunteered to partner with other ExxonMobil attorneys on up to five family law cases, enabling the company to increase its pro bono caseload. Montgomery believes retired employees may be a good untapped resource for pro bono and would like to see the Pro Bono Committee increase its recruiting efforts in that area.



Judge Bonnie Hellums
Holistic Approach to Volunteering

By Angela L. Abney

She’s served as a dean of students at Rice University, worked with paraplegics and drug addicts, held marriage counseling sessions while practicing law, and currently helps parents who have lost custody of their children find sobriety. She’s also the presiding judge of the 247th Family District Court in Harris County. For Judge Bonnie Hellums, there is no amount of time she will not give to the community. “My personal definition of sin is having been given a gift that you do not use to benefit others.” Hellums said.
This belief in community and public service has led Judge Hellums to lead a rich and varied life. After graduating from Southern Methodist University in 1965, she attended the University of Illinois and received a Master of Education degree
in Counseling and Rehabilitation Counseling. During her time in Illinois, she worked with quadriplegics and paraplegics. Judge Hellums soon returned to Houston to work as head of women’s housing at the University of Houston, eventually going to Rice University to become the functional equivalent of the dean of students.
While at Rice, Judge Hellums acted as a student advisor, supervisor of health and psychiatric services, and taught courses in Human Sexuality and Personality Development. She also found time to train housemothers of residential women’s dorms. After 15 years at Rice, Hellums decided to engage in another adventure and attend law school.
While attending the South Texas College of Law at night, Hellums took care of her two small children, continued to work full time, and worked on obtaining a license as a professional counselor. Somehow, she found time to drive car pools and act as the candy mother for the West University Little League.
After graduating from law school and becoming licensed as a professional counselor– both in 1983 – Judge Hellums worked as a solo practitioner in Houston, practicing family law. While working as an attorney, she also used her counseling license, holding therapy sessions for patients. She continued to focus on mental health issues as well, becoming licensed as a marriage and family therapist, an alcohol and drug abuse counselor, and an advanced addiction specialist. To this today, Judge Hellums keeps all of her counseling licenses current.
In 1995, Judge Hellums became judge of the 247th Family District Court in Harris County, which fueled her penchant for community service. Indeed, despite the demanding schedule of the bench, Judge Hellums, along with her husband, ex-Oiler-turned-lawyer Carel Stith, still finds time to give to the community. According to attorney Jade Hlavinka, “The big thing about Bonnie is her heart – she truly has a heart of gold and she wants to help people.” She serves on the boards of many organizations, including Houston Works, American Leadership Forum, AIDS Foundation Houston and Theater Under the Stars, and continues to serve as an associate of Wiess College at Rice.
For many years, Judge Hellums also has been a volunteer for the HBA’s musical comedy revue, “Night Court.” In this yearly production, she lends her singing and comedic talents to support the Houston Bar Foundation, which in turn supports programs like the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program.
Judge Hellums’ latest passion, however, is Houston’s new Family Drug Court. Family Drug Court, a collaboration of judges and community organizations, helps drug addicts who have lost their children to Child Protective Services turn their lives around and, hopefully, reunite with their children. Guided by a model implemented in other cities, Judge Hellums worked tirelessly to create the Family Drug Court in Houston. She recruited Judge Leta Parks, the Harris County Attorney’s Office, the Harris County Domestic Relations Office, local treatment centers and private citizens to make Family Drug Court a reality. At lunchtime every Thursday, either Judge Hellums or Judge Parks meets with people taking part in the program, helping them work on their addictions, financial problems and education. According to Judge Hellums, “It will be a holistic approach.” She expects that 65 to 70 people will be able to take part in Family Drug Court at any one time.
In Judge Hellums’ view, every lawyer should take pro bono work and give something to the community. As a judge, she sees first-hand the great need for free legal assistance. “Lots of times people who are either battered or have other problems don’t get the representation they need because they don’t have the money, and they end up with their kids going to the wrong person, they end up settling for next to nothing out of their estate, and they are saddled with poverty for the rest of their lives. So there’s a real need for pro bono assistance.”
Judge Hellums thinks that lawyers often do not volunteer in the community because they get too focused on their work. To her, however, more lawyers need to realize the personal benefit they will get from public service. “You need to remember to save a little piece of time to give back because it will come back to you many times – a hundred fold – the joy that you’ve gotten from giving back and giving of yourself.”



Suewan Johnson
Helping Students Achieve Their Dreams

By Tara Shockley

It’s a long way from Fordoche, Louisiana - population less than 1,000 - to the 27th floor of Vinson & Elkin’s Houston office. But Suewan Johnson had help on the journey from her small hometown to an associate position at Houston’s largest law firm, and she believes it is now her turn to help others.
“For me, growing up, there was always someone in my life, in addition to my parents, pushing me,” says Johnson. “I don’t believe I could be where I am today without the help of many people. I believe it is my responsibility to do that for others.
“The first year and a half I lived in Houston, the only thing I did was work,” Johnson adds. “I felt like something was missing.”
Johnson has found many ways to give back to her community. Several years ago she joined the Houston Bar Association’s Adopt-A-School Committee, which oversees the bar’s partnership with B.C. Elmore Middle School in the North Forest Independent School District. She has chaired or co-chaired the committee for three years, organizing reading incentive parties, tutoring, field trips and other activities to enhance the learning environment at this northeast Houston school that has many needs. She often recruits other associates at Vinson & Elkins to join her for pizza parties with the students to celebrate their reading accomplishments, resulting in new volunteers for the committee.
To attend a reading incentive party, a student must read three to four books and write reports on the books within a three-month period. Johnson says she issues a challenge to the students at each reading incentive party, to bring another student with them the next time. She has seen the attendance grow from 25 at one of the first parties to more than 75.
“I want to make them believe they are better than their current circumstances,” says Johnson. “They can dream, and they can achieve whatever they want.”
A graduate of LSU and the University of Texas School of Law, Johnson practices in the public finance section at V&E. She says it is satisfying to look out her window and know her firm worked on facilities like the Toyota Center and the George R. Brown Convention Center. Johnson says her work on financing of public facilities led to one project that is very important to her. “I got to work on financing for the new B.C. Elmore Middle School,” she says. “I saw what the old school was like, so to have a small role in that, to make a difference, makes it all worthwhile.”
Johnson was able to carry her commitment to B.C. Elmore into her participation in Leadership Houston Class XXI. Her class partnered with First Books Houston to arrange for the donation of new books to Houston schools, including B.C. Elmore. The project was so successful that other cities have copied it. Each Leadership Houston class has a sustaining committee that continues the work of successful projects, and Johnson proudly reports they will give away over 5,000 books this year.
Johnson’s community involvement is not limited to her work with the Adopt-A-School Committee. She served on the HBA’s Interprofessional Drug Education Alliance (IDEA) Committee, where she made presentations to fifth graders as part of doctor-lawyer teams that talk about the medical and legal consequences of substance abuse. She served for four years on the Board of Directors of Crisis Intervention of Houston, and she was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of the Houston Area Urban League. Johnson also will serve next year on the HBA’s Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Committee.



Jennifer Jordan
The ‘Pro Bone’ Queen

By Ruth Piller

Jennifer Jordan, an associate at Hays, McConn, Rice & Pickering, has some tails to tell – and if they wag, all the better.
Jordan volunteers with Houston Beagle Rescue, an organization devoted to the rescue and adoption of beagles. She has spent many a weekend working at functions such as “Woofstock,” a fund-raising music festival for dogs and their owners. Sponsored by the Bay Area SPCA, Woofstock raised funds for Houston Beagle and Hound Rescue, which also mans booths at the Houston Dog Show and other dog-related functions.
Married to David Jordan, an associate at Fulbright & Jaworksi, Jennifer moved to Houston in 2001, shortly after graduating from law school at the University of Oklahoma. She and her husband arrived with one beagle, Lucy, and a rabbit. After the rabbit’s death in 2003, Jennifer decided to foster parent other beagles, so that Lucy could make some new friends. “I thought that we could try our hand at fostering to see if she liked the other beagles,” Jennifer said. She has been involved with the rescue since.
“I like the dogs and it makes me feel like I’m actually doing something that does some good.
If you can work to save one or two dogs, it’s better than having those one or two dogs put to sleep, which usually happens in the shelters.”
Although she remains active with the rescue, Jennifer does not serve as a foster parent these days, having “flunked fostering... I kept adopting the fosters,” says Jennifer, whose menagerie now includes beagles Roux and Fergie, along with Lucy. “I can’t give them up once I get them.”
In between making doggie party favors and prizes and serving as a canine foster parent, Jennifer earned her LL.M. in health law from the University of Houston Law Center. She keeps a sense of humor about her volunteer activities. “I am 32 but I’d much rather believe that I am 41/2 in dog years,” she said.
For more information, or to foster or adopt a beagle, visit the rescue’s website at www.houstonbeaglerescue.org



Fran Ortiz
Hedgehogs, Chuckwallas and Snakes - Oh My!

By Karen Lister Conticello

Fran Ortiz, a South Texas College of Law professor, spends a great deal of time educating others about how to handle snakes. As a docent at the Houston Zoo, Ortiz has spent the past five years teaching area children about reptiles, mammals and other members of the Animal Kingdom in her spare time.
Ortiz became a docent at the Houston Zoo in the spring of 1999 after learning about the program from a student. After six weeks of training, she began volunteering nine hours a month to educate youngsters about animals. “Once I joined, it was so much fun, I just kept with it,” she said. At one point, she served on the Board of the Docent Council.
“The docent program is devoted to education and public outreach, so a lot of what I do involves working with children and teaching them about the differences in animals, endangered species, etc.” she said. Sometimes this involves just walking around the zoo doing roving presentations to people viewing the exhibits. A regular part of her monthly hours involves doing puppet shows in the children’s zoo.
She also has done presentations in local schools, Texas Children’s Hospital and Shriner’s Hospital. Some of the visits involve a presentation on animals and then a chance for children to pet them. “It just melts your heart,” she said.
She has shown, among other things, hedgehogs, tenrecs, ferrets, guinea pigs, rabbits, chickens, doves, turtles, chuckwallas and uromastyx (types of large lizards), a variety of snakes (including a ball python and a boa constrictor), and alligators.
Of course, no good deed goes unpunished, and Ortiz’s retribution for her charitable ways came in the form of a snakebite during a presentation. “I was surrounded by bunch of kids and was showing them a snake when it became startled,” she said. The snake clamped on to her arm and would not release its grip. As the snake clung to her arm, Fran calmly walked toward the Docent’s Office for assistance. “A guy near the door yelled, ‘Oh my God, there’s a snake eating a woman!’” The snake loosened its grip after being doused with cold water. “It wasn’t as painful as you would think,” Fran said. “It was more humiliating than anything.”
Other than the snakebite, the drawbacks of her volunteer duties have been limited to occasionally being nibbled on by rabbits and guinea pigs.
Ortiz has taught at South Texas since 1996. She teaches Property Law, Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Water Law, and International Environmental Law. Additionally, she is a faculty sponsor of South Texas’s Environmental Law Society and Animal Law Society. After graduating from Harvard Law School, Fran practiced environmental law at two Austin law firms from 1989 to 1996.
One of the best parts about being a docent is working with the other volunteers, Fran said. “The docents are so nice,” she said. “You get really close to them.”



Charles Szalkowski
Dedicated to DePelchin

By Kristopher M. Stockberger

Baker Botts corporate attorney Charles Szalkowski’s early volunteering efforts are reflective of his firm’s involvement with one local charity. “I became interested in DePelchin [Children’s Center],” he recalls, “when, as a young lawyer, I was assigned to assist with a project for DePelchin as a client.” DePelchin has been a Baker Botts client since the firm was incorporated in 1892. Since that time, there has been a Baker Botts partner on the DePelchin board of directors.
In his professional life, Szalkowski represents large and small companies in both the public and private sectors in general corporate and securities matters, mergers and acquisitions transactions, and related issues. He also manages to work in time for non-profit clients, many of which are represented on discounted or pro bono terms.
His professional accomplishments indicate the magnitude of assistance he is able to contribute to his volunteering efforts. He was named by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the “Top 100 Super Lawyers” in Texas last fall. While much of his recent work has been for venture-capital backed companies, his mergers and acquisitions experience includes the $2.8 billion Weatherford Enterra merger with EVI in May of 1998. Before the merger, the Houston Chronicle described Weatherford as one of the largest oil field services company in the world and EVI as the largest manufacturer of drill pipe world-wide. To this and similar legal matters, Szalkowski brings a Harvard law degree and Harvard MBA, as well as accounting and economics degrees from Rice University.
Szalkowski’s volunteer efforts include children’s charities, religious commitments and education matters. His dedication to DePelchin Children’s Center has helped numerous Houston children and families through child welfare programs, child mental health programs and a charter school for residential and day-treatment kids, with more than 25 locations in the Houston area and 26,000 children and families served each year.
He volunteered for DePelchin for many years and has been a member of its board of directors for about a decade. He served as chairman of the board from 2002 until this year. He has also volunteered in investment advisory, board member and other leadership capacities for Methodist Children’s Home of Waco, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church, Christian Community Service Center, Rice University and the Commemorative Air Force. He has also served as chairman of the Texas Business Law Foundation, the Business Law Section of the State Bar and the Corporate Counsel Section of the HBA.
Szalkowski emphasizes that “it is important to treat volunteer efforts and family matters with as much dignity and respect as a paying client. If you promise a child you’ll attend a ball game, then you should treat it just as if you promised a client that amount of time,” which he admits can be hard to do.
It is also good business. He notes that volunteering is particularly valuable for lawyers who are trying to develop business relationships. He points out that “young lawyers, particularly, don’t have as much opportunity to demonstrate their skills to potential clients in their work, but volunteer activities provide a means of demonstrating their reliability, responsiveness, intelligence and integrity to make a name for themselves.”

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