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The Year of the Volunteer
The Ballard family at the HBA Annual Dinner. THL: Where did you grow up? Ballard: I was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I grew up in Colorado, Nebraska and Texas. My father was in the school business and we moved around a lot. It was a bit like being an army brat. THL: Did you go to high school in Houston? Ballard: I went to high school at St. Mark’s in Dallas. Then I went off to Davidson College in North Carolina, where I majored in English. I went back to Dallas for law school at Southern Methodist University. THL: Tell me about your family. Ballard: My dad has been a headmaster of several well-known private schools, including Hockaday in Dallas and Kinkaid in Houston. My mother passed away a few years ago, but was a teacher as well. My wife, Susan, and I have been married 21 years. We have two daughters, Jill, who is 20, and Jennie, who is 19. They are both in college, but we have them home for the summer, which is a mixed blessing! We also have a son, Tripp, who’s a rising sophomore at Memorial High School. All of our kids have been very involved in sports, so I’ve spent the last 15 years watching them play games. One of my daughters actually played twelve varsity sports in high school, so that’s a lot of games. My other daughter was a swimmer, and my son is playing baseball and football in high school. When we are not playing sports, we like to go to our lake house in McQueeny, Texas, or to the shore in New Jersey. THL: How did you get interested in law as a career? Do you have lawyers in your family? Ballard: Well, no. I have no lawyers in my family, but I was a wrestler in college, so I really liked competition and trial work seemed a natural fit. THL: Have you always worked for Bracewell & Giuliani? Ballard: I have been at Bracewell since 1981, except for a brief time. Right after I made partner, I went out and did my own push ups for a few years in my own firm. Then Bracewell made me an offer I couldn’t refuse to come back. So, I’ve really been with the firm most of my career. THL: Tell me about your law practice. Ballard: I specialize in complex business litigation, with an emphasis on intellectual property, banking and real estate litigation. THL: Who were your mentors in your legal career? Ballard: At the firm, one of my mentors was Bill Wilde in litigation. And I was assigned to Kelly Frels as my advisor. Both of them were heavily involved in the bar, and both served as HBA president. They got me interested in bar service and really showed me the way. THL: How did you first get involved with the HBA? Ballard: I started at the section level. I worked my way up to serving as chair of the Litigation Section, and I just took it from there. I moved on to committee work, serving as chair of the Administration of Justice Committee, the Fee Dispute Committee and the Member Benefits Committee. I also had the privilege of chairing the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Dispute Resolution Center. THL: What do you think is the role of the organized bar in society today? Ballard: I think we have to be leaders in the community, and the way to do that is by example, through the services we provide. We have over 11,500 members in the Houston Bar Association, which is more than two-thirds of the lawyers in Houston. That is more than many state bars. It gives us a very strong and important voice here in Houston. THL: What do you see as the role of the bar president? Ballard: The president is the spokesperson for the bar. Other than that, I appoint good people to our committees and try to stay out of the way and let them do their jobs. Our sections run themselves, and my job is simply to give direction from time to time. THL: What are some of the things you intend to focus on in your administration? Ballard: Our big push is going to be on providing equal access to justice by increasing the number of pro bono cases handled at the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program. The Supreme Court has challenged each Texas attorney to do 50 hours of pro bono work this year. In response, we are going to Houston firms and corporations and asking them to pre-commit to taking a certain number of cases each year, depending upon their size. We hope to get five-year commitments from them, and hopefully they will take more cases than they have ever taken before. The program will be self-perpetuating as a result of their commitments. I hope that our Equal Access Initiative will be a model for other bars to use to increase the number of pro bono cases they handle and provide equal access to justice for those who need it most. THL: You came up with a unique way of approaching this. Ballard: I wanted to get the boards of the HBA, the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program and the Houston Bar Foundation involved. Members of all three boards have agreed to serve on six teams. Those teams are going to work together to go out and solicit the firms and corporations to handle the pro bono cases. THL: What type of impact do you think the initiative will have? Ballard: Our goal this year is to increase the number of pro bono cases we handle by at least 25 percent, from approximately 1,000 to approximately 1,250. We hope to increase that number each year. THL: Do you anticipate firms and corporations continuing to join the effort? Ballard: I think they will. Those who sign commitments will be on a list of Equal Access to Justice Champions, and we will publicize the good work that they do. I’m hopeful that all the firms and corporations will want to be on that list. We are proclaiming this year “The Year of the Volunteer,” so the emphasis will be clear to everybody. THL: What are some other things you would like to focus on during your year as HBA president? Ballard: We’re going to have an emphasis on diversity and gender fairness this year. We will implement new programs designed to increase the opportunities for minorities and women. THL: What do you think has changed most about the practice of law since you were licensed? Ballard: I was licensed in 1981, which is now further back than I like to think about, and the practice of law has definitely changed since then. The emphasis these days seems to be on the business side of the law – billings and collections. The focus used to be on the client and service, and the rest would take care of itself. I believe we need to get back to that focus. THL: What are some other things you would like to see happen within the HBA? Ballard: I want to get the senior lawyers, and the younger lawyers, more involved with our bar. I would like to see more of our senior lawyers serve as mentors, sharing their wisdom and experience with our younger lawyers, because it’s so important to pass that on. With respect to the younger lawyers, including those who have their third year bar card, I’d like to get them involved in the bar early in their careers. THL: Are you involved with other organizations or bar associations? Ballard: My HBA activities have kept me pretty busy over the last six to eight years. But, I am planning to become more involved in the Texas Association of Civil Trial and Appellate Specialists and in the State Bar and American Bar Associations. And, with one child left at home, I’m becoming more involved with his school. THL: What are your interests outside the practice of law? Ballard: Well, I used to like to climb mountains and run marathons. My wife and I have hiked the Inca Trail. I have climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Rainier. I ran the Houston and New York marathons. And it’s been fun. But these days, it’s more tennis and golf. I think you really have to be in good shape to practice law and I try to stay in shape, but increasingly it’s becoming a losing battle. THL: Do you have plans for future adventures? Ballard: I’m hoping to get my wife to do some more treks. I thought I was a decent mountain climber, but on the Inca Trail my wife greatly exceeded me with her abilities. We’ve got on our agenda trekking in Australia and New Zealand. We’ve also done some walking over in England and Scotland, and are looking forward to doing that again down the road. We’ve been to Africa with the kids and would like to go back. As teenagers, my children aren’t that interested in much that Mom and Dad are doing, but with their sports backgrounds, I hope they’ll eventually take an interest in all of this and we can do it together. THL: Is there anything else you would like HBA members to know about you? Ballard: I just want to state that it is a great privilege and honor to serve as president of the Houston Bar Association. It’s a big responsibility, and I intend to do my best to take care of that responsibility. Text is punctuated without italics.
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