LOCAL HEROES

Houston Bar Association members donated over 43,000 hours of volunteer service to HBA programs last year. In addition, they volunteer their time for countless other programs, projects and events. The lawyers profiled here are just a few of the many who make Houston a better community.

Judge Bill Burke
Building Bridges to Life

By Leslie Yates

When Judge Bill Burke is not presiding over cases in the 189th Civil District Court, he can be found volunteering for one of several organizations with which he is involved. One of these organizations is Bridges to Life, a faith-based prison ministry founded in the late 1990s by John Sage, whose sister was brutally murdered. Sage had an idea that crime victims and prisoners can learn from each other by sharing their experiences, and that by doing so, the healing process begins.
Bridges to Life’s goal is to reduce crime by reducing recidivism. To accomplish this, volunteers like Judge Burke go inside various prison units and facilitate discussion groups with inmates and crime victims, many of whom, like Sage, had family members murdered. As Judge Burke explained, “The victims do not meet with the same offender who committed the crime they have been affected by, but meet with other offenders. The victims are trying to use the terrible thing that’s happened to them to heal and to benefit someone else.”
When Judge Burke was first approached about participating in the program, he was skeptical. But, after one session inside the prison, Burke was hooked. He enjoys working with the inmates and has now participated in about 20 group sessions, working with both male and female inmates. The inmates participate on a purely voluntary basis and are usually close to their release date. Judge Burke and other trained facilitators lead the discussion groups. The point, he says, is not to preach, but to listen and to get the inmates talking about themselves. The inmates attend 12 to 14 meetings, where they and the crime victims share their stories and talk about responsibility and forgiveness.
Judge Burke says the focus of the program is anti-recidivism. And, it appears to be working. According to Bridge’s Web site (www.bridgestolife.org), 3,963 inmates have completed the program since 2000, and 3,093 have been released from prison. Of those released, 429 inmates (13.9 percent) have returned to prison; of those, 271 (8.8 percent) received new convictions, and 158 (5.1 percent) returned due to technical violations. Only 31 (1 percent) of released offenders were returned due to violent crimes. These figures are amazing when compared to a national recidivism rate of 40 to 50 percent. However, as Burke points out, because the program is voluntary, the figures may in part reflect a group of inmates who are more motivated to change than the general prison population. But it is clear from the figures that this is a group of inmates who, after returning to the streets, are doing better than they would have without the help of people like Judge Burke.
He says inmates get little to no assistance from the State in adjusting to life on the outside. “It’s shocking how little we spend on it. We just let them out, send them back to our neighborhoods, and then seem surprised when they commit new crimes and are returned to prison. The system is not working,” Burke says. But Judge Burke is doing more than his share to help see that it does.
In addition to his work with Bridges to Life, Burke is involved with another prison ministry called Karios. Its purpose is to start Christian groups in prison. As part of his work with Karios, Judge Burke travels to the Walls unit in Huntsville and leads discussion groups. He also volunteers with the Star of Hope women’s shelter. There, he conducts 12 step meetings for women who have problems with alcohol and substance abuse, teaches them life skills, and works with them on personal and career development.
Judge Burke encourages others to volunteer. “Sometimes it will amaze you, the changes you see in people and also in yourself.”

Leslie Yatesis a Justice on the Fourteenth Court of Appeals. She is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Kevin Colbert
Big Brother by Choice

By John S. Gray

As a partner in Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, Kevin Colbert is busy assisting his clients navigate the issues in complex multi-party litigation. He is also busy taking care of his family, including his wife, Lynn, and their three children, ages 11, 10 and 2. For most lawyers, balancing the demands posed by an active legal career and a family with young children is enough. But, Kevin believes that to whom much has been given, much is expected. This is why Kevin says he became actively involved in Big Brothers Big Sisters, helping some of the most important members of the community—children.
Kevin says that people who ask children who have been in trouble what would have helped to prevent these problems repeatedly hear the same poignant message: we need somebody to talk to, somebody who understands how to talk to young people, somebody who understands how hard it is to grow up in the United States today, and somebody who can give me a pat on the back when I deserve it and a stiff talking to when I deserve it. Kevin hoped he could fill that void when he joined Big Brothers Big Sisters.
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston serves more than 2,000 local children annually. Its goal is to match children between the ages of 6 and 15 with volunteer adult mentors who provide a one-to-one mentoring relationship with a youth by being their helper, teacher, and friend. This is called matching “Bigs” with “Littles.” The mentoring can be as simple as meeting a couple of times a month to build a relationship, or it can be school-based, where the Big works with the Little at their school. Children in the program have been shown to be 46 percent less likely to begin using illegal drugs; 27 percent less likely to begin using alcohol; 52 percent less likely to skip school; less likely to hit someone; and more confident of their performance in school work and life. These youths also have better relationships with their peers and stronger connections to family members. As a result, they do better in school and have brighter futures.
Other than parents, Kevin believes it is often a brother or sister who brings magic into a child’s life. When he became a Big Brother, Kevin became that person in a child’s life. He also has built treasured memories through a friendship that changed not only a child’s life, but his life as well.
To ensure that the mentor-child relationship will be a safe and rewarding experience for everyone involved, the organization works closely with parents and guardians to match their “Little” with an appropriate “Big.” This process involves screening potential volunteers, then training and supervising them. Kevin’s initial interview was several hours long, and he was eventually matched with Jay. According to Kevin, being a Big is something anyone can do – even lawyers. The only requirements are a willingness to be a friend, to have fun, and to see the world (and yourself) through the eyes of a young person.
In addition to being a Big, Kevin is also on the board of directors of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Houston, which meets every other month, and he is the co-chair for the Bowl for Kid’s Sake committee and task-force leader for its Lawyer Initiative Committee.
Kevin encourages others to volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Firms can sponsor outings for kids, volunteer at an event, or make a donation to buy needed supplies or tickets to sporting events, as well as volunteering as mentors. Of the 20,000 attorneys in Harris County, fewer than 10 are “Bigs.” Kevin explains that he cannot say he has made a difference in Jay’s life, but he can say that Jay has made a wonderful difference in his life.

John S. Gray is a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Harry Johnson
The Man Who Would Build a Memorial for King

By Jocelyn Y. LaBove

Open, genuine, and devoted to his cause is the person who agreed to spearhead a fundraising effort to make the Martin Luther King Memorial a reality. In 2004, Harry Johnson, a local attorney and law professor, became the National President of Alpha Phi Alpha, Inc., the historically African American National fraternity that Martin Luther King joined when he was a student at Morehouse University. Little did Johnson know that this role would lead to remarkable service and accomplishment.
Alpha Phi Alpha had long lobbied politicians to support building a monument in the District of Columbia to honor Martin Luther King. Alpha Phi Alpha, along with The National Park Service and the Commission on Fine Arts, also scoured Washington to locate the perfect site for the monument.
Undertaking the task of building a monument is never a small endeavor, no matter its location. But the brothers of Alpha Phi Alpha would settle for no less than the National Mall as the site for honoring the heroism and idealism of America’s son, Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1998, after the election of President Bill Clinton, Alpha Phi Alpha’s goal was soon to be realized. President Clinton signed a bill approving the memorial and authorized Alpha Phi Alpha to raise the funds and build the $100 million project. Alpha’s president, Adrian Wallace, began searching for a design suitable for the National Mall. The design was chosen from an international competition comprising 52 different countries and over 900 submissions. In 2001, Alpha’s newly elected president, Harry Johnson, worked to see the Memorial completed.
Running a national fraternity along with the fundraising effort to build the monument proved to be a mission unlike any Johnson had ever accepted. He says he quickly learned that he and his brothers could not accomplish their lofty goal without substantial outside help. He spent countless hours strategically planning and executing a plan for success. Relying heavily on the advocacy skills he developed at Texas Southern University Thurgood Marshall School of Law, Johnson became the super lawyer for this cause.
The mission soon overtook his life. As Johnson’s term came to a close in 2005, he realized he could not leave his charge. Thanks to an understanding law partner, Thomas Glenn, Johnson continues to work toward completing the King monument as president of the Washington, D.C., Martin Luther King, Jr., National Project Foundation.
No task has been too menial and no criticism without value. Johnson says he has regarded each as an opportunity to learn and further the goal. He has met with corporate leaders, entertainers, activists and other individuals, determined to grow from the experience, whether positive or negative. After all, as Johnson declares, “This is the people’s memorial.”
Potential donors must have seen that Johnson is not just a messenger; rather, he exemplifies MLK’s dream. Johnson, an African American male, sat alongside major corporate leaders and successfully raised several million dollars in the first two years of the capital campaign. To date, he and Alpha Phi Alpha have raised over $78 million.
Thanks to Johnson’s efforts, the memorial’s emotional ceremonial groundbreaking took place on November 13, 2006, with several celebrities, activists and politicians in attendance to wield the ceremonial shovels. The monument is slated for completion in 2008.
Johnson’s Herculean efforts have promoted public understanding of what the King memorial will mean to the nation, as well as internationally. He proudly points to the international contributions to the memorial, from the $100,000.00 donation from the Embassy of South Africa, to its Chinese sculptor and the special brown granite, also from China, selected to depict the first man of color on the Washington Mall. Johnson doesn’t just talk the talk; he walks the walk, steadfastly executing King’s message of inclusiveness to accomplish this goal.

For additional information on the memorial, go to http:MLKmemorial.org/.

Jocelyn LaBove is a member of the editorial board of The Houston Lawyer and is senior counsel, Labor Relations at Continental Airlines, Inc.

Emily Kuo
Making a Joyful ‘Noyse’

By Mark Correro

Emily Kuo has two passions -- the law and music – and she has demonstrated excellence in both. In addition to working as an associate counsel for Nabors Industries, Emily serves on the board of directors for the Society for the Performing Arts and actively participates with the Houston Grand Opera Guild.
An avid musician since age four, when she first began playing classical piano, Emily’s interests in music have broadened from performing as a violinist while attending Harvard, singing alto with the Houston Symphony Chorus, to participating in service positions in various cultural music organizations in Houston.
During Emily’s time at Harvard, she performed with King’s Noyse, which was founded by David Douglass in 1988 and performs violin repertory from the 16th and 17th centuries. The name derives from the English Renaissance term “noise” or “noyse” and is used to refer to a group of violinists playing together. This type of music is an exciting rendition of 17th century Italian music infused with improvisation and energy related to dance. It is from times when popular and art music were the same. Emily’s attraction to this “early music” lies in the depth, layers, and complex harmonies within. Along with King’s Noyse, Emily also enjoys Bach and Mendelssohn. So much so in fact, that in addition to her time with the Society for the Performing Arts and the Houston Grand Opera Guild, Emily serves on the board of directors for Houston Early Music,a non-profit organization that brings performances of early music from European traditions to Houston.
Emily received her A.B. in Honors History and Science from Harvard University in 1997 and graduated in 2000 from Harvard Law School, where she wrote for the Journal of Law, Medicine and Ethics. Upon graduation from law school, she accepted a clerkship with the Honorable Simeon T. Lake III, United States District Judge for the Southern District of Texas. Following her clerkship, Emily worked in the Houston office of Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. prior to joining Nabors Industries Ltd. In her role as associate counsel, she is responsible for a wide range of complex legal and corporate management matters, including overseeing the company’s litigation docket, managing labor and employment issues, and reviewing and negotiating contracts.
When she is not volunteering within Houston’s music community or practicing law, Emily is extraordinarily active in Asian affairs in the legal community. She currently serves as the president and vice president of membership of the Asian American Bar Association of Houston. She is also on a variety of boards, including the State Bar of Texas Standing Committee on Judiciary Relations and the Executive Council of the State Bar of Texas Asian Pacific Interest Section. In addition, Emily maintains an active membership with the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association, the National Association of Asian American Professionals, and Asia Society Texas.
Whether Emily is practicing law for Nabors Industries, Ltd., participating on the board of directors of one of the above mentioned music organizations or serving within the Asian American Bar Association or on a State Bar committee, she exhibits a genuine passion and loyal devotion to both the law and music.

To learn more about “early music,” visit Houston Early Music at www.houstonearlymusic.org or contact Emily at Emily.Kuo@nabors.com.

Mark Correro practices with the law firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP and is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Marcy Kurtz
Leaving Her Own Legacy of Volunteerism

By Tamara Stiner

Marcy Kurtz is a bankruptcy partner at Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. While she is a highly skilled attorney, lifelong athlete (she has run 50 marathons), and devoted friend and family member, Marcy’s commitment to volunteer work makes her truly remarkable.
A deeply held belief in the importance of helping others is Marcy’s legacy from her father. “He was a wonderful doctor, much loved by his patients, and generous in giving his time and medical care,” Marcy says. He instilled the idea that being educated and being a professional are gifts that must be used to benefit others. This idea is a fundamental reality for Marcy and is expressed in her personal and professional life. Dismissing any praise or credit for her service to others, Marcy states firmly, “I do what I do because it’s important to me.”
Marcy developed Bracewell & Giuliani’s Pro Bono Task Force in 1991 and continues to coordinate the program, along with a multi-office team. She maintains an active docket of pro bono cases and encourages others at the firm to do the same. Today, one-third of the firm’s attorneys handle pro bono cases, and Bracewell & Giuliani is a leader in this area because of Marcy’s tireless efforts to involve attorneys in pro bono work.
One of Marcy’s first pro bono clients in the late 1980s was AIDS Foundation Houston. “Not a lot was known about AIDS and HIV back then, and their clients needed help in fighting discrimination with housing and medical needs,” Marcy recalls. In addition to her involvement with the AIDS Foundation, Marcy provided legal advice, chaired the HBA’s benefit fun runs, and volunteered many hours with The Center Serving Persons with Mental Retardation and The Foundation for the Mentally Retarded.
Last year, Marcy was honored as a Woman on the Move by Texas Executive Women for her professional accomplishments and community involvement. According to the nomination form, Marcy was selected because she is an “independent woman of energy, discipline, intellect and has a vast commitment to helping others.” That is evident through her pro bono work and service to the community.

Tamara Stiner practices with the firm of Bracewell & Giuliani LLP. She is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Meals on Heels
‘What’s for Dinner?’ For Breast Cancer Patients,
Vinson & Elkins’ Project Provides the Answer

By Sharon D. Cammack

In 2005, Vinson & Elkins partner Shadow Sloan was asked to develop a community service project for the firm. She thought of her colleague and friend, Elizabeth Dodge Schwab, an associate attorney in the firm’s litigation section, who had died of breast cancer a few months earlier at the age of 33. Shadow created a project aimed at helping women breast cancer patients and their families. Nicknamed “Meals on Heels,” women attorneys at Vinson & Elkins partner with The Rose, a non-profit Houston breast healthcare center that provides breast cancer screening, diagnosis and support for all women, regardless of their ability to pay.
Meals on Heels’ idea is remarkably simple: women with breast cancer are still caregivers themselves, with families and children who must be cared for and fed. But, these women who are undergoing surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation for breast cancer are both exhausted and overwhelmed by the treatment itself. Meals on Heels began with one basic goal -- to give these cancer patients one less thing to worry about by answering that age-old question, “What’s for dinner?” As it has turned out, this project is about much more than just providing a convenience to patients undergoing cancer treatments. For many of the families this project serves, there is the underlying struggle of how to put food on the table and how to pay for it. Meals on Heels also provides assistance in this way.
Every other month, women attorneys of Vinson & Elkins arrive, still in their high heels after a long day at the office or at court, at the Village Table, a commercial kitchen, for a private cooking night. Volunteers also have included V&E clients, staff, and male lawyers, as well as Elizabeth Schwab’s family members. Once there, they find meal preparation stations, recipes, fresh ingredients (pre-sliced, diced and minced) spices, measuring cups, spoons, and containers, allowing each participant to assemble 10 family-sized, healthy meals in two hours. The meals are packaged for the freezer and labeled with instructions on heating and serving. A week’s worth of meals is then placed in boxes, along with a handwritten note from the volunteer. The bags of prepared food are graciously refrigerated by the Village Table until the next morning, when V&E lawyers deliver the bags to pre-selected women undergoing treatment for breast cancer. Of the more than 30,000 breast cancer patients to whom The Rose provides services on an annual basis, 5,300 receive needed services at no charge. The Rose selects the patients for whom the food is prepared and delivered. Vinson & Elkins covers the entire cost of the meals, along with other incidental charges.
Holly Rumbaugh, an attorney at Vinson & Elkins and a Meals on Heels volunteer, describes her experience as “…special and rewarding. These women are dealing with so much, and the meals Vinson & Elkins provides these women will help feed their families and help reduce some of the stress and struggles they are going through on a daily basis.”
“The need is there,” says Shadow, adding that it has been the “most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.”
In the last year and a half, the Meals on Heels project, in conjunction with The Rose, has prepared and delivered over 1,200 meals to breast cancer patients in our community. Beyond the logistics of meal preparation, these volunteers are also having fun; there is time for socializing with co-workers and clients, with a little wine, a few hors d’oeuvres and, of course, an apron. And fortunately, culinary skills are optional!

Sharon Cammack practices with the firm of Short•Jenkins•Kamin LLP. She is an associate editor of The Houston Lawyer.

MS 150
Firms Ride to Find a Cure

By John S. Gray and Ann D. Zeigler

On April 21 and 22, 2007, 13,000 bicycle riders got together for the annual Houston-to-Austin two-day bike tour known as the BP MS 150. This was the 23rd year that people from all over Texas gathered in Houston to begin a ride through the Texas countryside during peak bluebonnet season to raise money to find a cure for multiple sclerosis (MS) and to fund programs to help those living with MS. Although the MS Society holds nearly 100 cycling events across the country each year, the Houston-to-Austin ride is the largest nonprofit sporting event in Texas, the largest two-day bicycle ride in the country, and a model for charitable organizations nationwide.
Lawyers have been a part of this event for many years. Some law firms, such as Houston’s Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP and Donato, Minx & Brown, PC, sponsor a team of riders. In addition, many area lawyers ride by themselves, with friends, or join one of the many corporate-sponsored teams. To participate in next April’s ride, early registration is important, as last year’s registration, which allowed for 13,000 riders, closed less than two months after registration began.
Events such as the Houston-to-Austin MS 150 do not occur in a vacuum. In addition to the 13,000 riders, the event needs 3,000 volunteers. Many who ride in the event would agree that these volunteers are critical to the ride’s success. Among other things, volunteers assist with communications via amateur radio and/or HAM operators; work at breakpoints to set up, control cyclist traffic, greet riders and pass out food and water; take photographs of the riders; and patrol the route on bicycles and motorcycles. Volunteers also are needed for Support and Gear (SAG) vans to help with rider control, respond to flat tires, emergencies and traffic situations, and, if necessary, drive the riders and their bikes to the next breakpoint. Persons interested in riding or volunteering for next year’s ride can find more information at http://www.ms150.org/ms150.
Although the ride is a lot of fun, its overarching goal is to raise money to fund programs and research to end the devastating effects of MS. In 2006, participants raised a record $11.5 million, beating the previous 2005 record of $9.6 million. The top 300 fund-raisers from the 2006 ride are known as the BP MS 150 300 Club, and they are recognized at http://www.ms150.org/ms 150/fund_raising/300_club.cfm. Collectively, these riders raised more than $2.6 million in 2006 to fight MS. A number of Houston-area lawyers are in the 300 Club, and they deserve congratulations for their riding and fundraising efforts.

John S. Gray is a partner at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Ann Zeigleris a partner at Hughes Watters Askanase LLP and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

 Jill McDonald Pavlas
Volunteer Counsel for CanCare

By Brad A. Allen

Jill McDonald Pavlas does not have cancer, but some of her family and friends have battled the disease. When her husband, John Pavlas, was diagnosed with cancer in 2004, it sent a shockwave rippling through her life that only those who battle cancer can understand. Those were challenging days for her family, and Jill is happy to say her husband is a three and half year cancer survivor. During those difficult days in the hospital, Jill says a visit from a CanCare volunteer helped her family deal with the difficult emotional, spiritual, and relational issues that most people face when battling cancer. Her experience with that organization, combined with hearing a talk by CanCare president, Nancy Tucker, prompted Jill to become a CanCare volunteer.
Jill joined CanCare’s Friends Advisory Board in 2005. She now serves on the CanCare Board of Directors and also serves as CanCare’s legal counsel, bringing with her valuable knowledge and skills from the legal field. “CanCare unequivocally excels in the area of being efficiently organized and well-managed,” says Jill. “The upbeat committed staff and everyone I’ve encountered through CanCare are so positive.
“CanCare remains true to its clear and focused mission: to improve the quality of life for cancer survivors and their families,” continues Jill. “The message is pure and the mission is wonderful!”
Jill speaks openly of her husband’s visit by a CanCare hospital volunteer during his treatment at Methodist: “That support from a cancer survivor offered great encouragement to him.”
From 2003 through 2006, Jill served as vice president and general counsel to CapRock Communications, a global satellite communications provider. Jill is taking a sabbatical to devote time to her family and help her daughter, Megan, as she finishes her last year in high school and transitions into college life.
Prior to joining CapRock, Jill was senior counsel at Locke Liddell & Sapp LLP, where she specialized in technology and commercial transactions. She has also served as in-house counsel at Cooper Industries and was an associate at Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. Jill earned her J.D. degree from the University of Houston Law School, magna cum laude, and graduated with a B.S. in Biology, Phi Beta Kappa, from the State University of New York at Stony Brook.
As CanCare’s legal counsel on a pro bono basis, Jill says she enjoys taking care of the variety of legal needs the organization faces. She particularly enjoys knowing that the donation of her time enables CanCare to continue to direct all of its resources to helping cancer survivors. As Jill puts it, “CanCare is an extremely efficient organization. There is no waste, and I am honored that I can help them be good stewards of their gifts.”

Brad A. Allen is a partner at Martin, Disiere, Jefferson & Wisdom, L.L.P. and a former editor in chief of The Houston Lawyer.

Shawn Raymond
Advocate for a New Public Service University

By Janet Moore       

Many lawyers believe in the importance of education, but Shawn Raymond takes his belief and turns it into concrete results.
Shawn’s commitment to improving education began when he reached a personal educational crossroad. Before completing his senior year at George Washington University, Shawn had to decide whether to enter law school (as his parents wished) or join Teach for America’s teacher corps. Shawn says he chose TFA because he was attracted by the chance to spend two years offering “kids living in an under-resourced community a first chance at receiving a quality education.”
Shawn found himself thrust into Sunflower County, Mississippi, teaching high school special education and social studies and coaching varsity football. He believes that the skills that he developed while teaching have enabled much of his success as a trial lawyer.
After finishing his two-year TFA teaching commitment, Shawn enrolled at the University of Texas School of Law. Despite the rigors of working as the managing editor of the Texas Law Review, Raymond continued his commitment to education. He carved out time during law school to co-found a non-profit organization that teaches leadership and provides educational enrichment to the Mississippi Delta children. This project—The Sunflower Freedom Project (www.sunflowerfreedom.org)—continues today.
Recently, Shawn worked with Chris Myers Ashe—with whom he co-founded the Sunflower Freedom Project—to launch his biggest educational endeavor yet: the U.S. Public Service Academy (www.uspublicserviceacademy.org). As conceived, the four-year, public-service-oriented undergraduate college would be modeled on the U.S. military service academies. Students would repay their four years of tuition-free education with five years of public service to the nation.
“As my generation’s response to 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina, the Academy will help countless numbers of people living in communities without an adequate number of teachers, police officers, social workers and other important public service professionals,” explains Shawn, a partner at Susman Godfrey LLP. “By bringing good works to Americans across the country, the Academy can be the defining American institution of the early 21st century.”
A bi-partisan group of prominent congressmen, including Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, recently introduced Congressional legislation proposing to establish the USPSA.
Shawn also takes on pro bono legal work, including last year’s high-profile representation of Congregation Beth Israel over a missing funeral urn. He serves on the board of the Sunflower County Freedom Project, Houston’s Teach for America, and the Houston Area Women’s Center, where he also serves on the executive committee. Shawn and his wife, Alicia, also co-chaired the Women’s Center’s 2006 5K “Race Against Violence.”

Janet H. Moore is an experienced lawyer who works as a professionally trained executive coach for lawyers. She is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

John Sullivan
Houston Attorneys Give Immigrant Children a Voice in a Foreign Land

By Mindy Riseden

The courtroom is filled with young, fresh faces that have all recently been on an arduous journey to a foreign country—the United States. Virtually all of these children have fled abject poverty, but some have also sought refuge here because they have been abandoned, abused, tortured, or singled out for mistreatment by their own governments, gangs, or militia. These children, ages 10 to 17, have often traveled thousands of miles in dangerous conditions with scarce food or clothing. Although they do not understand the process, each will appear before an immigration judge in U.S. Immigration Court and face off—alone—against a seasoned lawyer working for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) who seeks their deportation.
These children have never had the luxury of trusting anyone and therefore give apprehensive looks around the room to the well-dressed, but seemingly friendly people in the courtroom. It is then that a lawyer from Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. tells the children that they are in the firm’s mock courtroom and these volunteer lawyers are here to help them. After the 45-minute “Know Your Rights” presentation regarding immigration law, the volunteer attorneys then split up and interview the children to determine if a child may have a claim for asylum or some other form of relief. Of the 40 to 60 children that come each month, only one to three present compelling grounds for relief under U.S. immigration laws; other children are simply afraid to come forward.
John Sullivan, a Fulbright partner, normally practices in the areas of complex commercial disputes. Since 2005, however, John has provided representation for many of these young immigrants. He says it is unacceptable that so many children are forced to appear alone in immigration court before a judge, without understanding the language, much less the legal system.
John’s calling to work with immigrant children began with a young man named Young Zheng, who arrived from China in 2003 at age 14. Authorities in the Newark, N.J. airport became suspicious of Young and placed him in detention centers in Philadelphia and later in Chicago. Young, born in violation of China’s one child law and qualified as a tax burden to his family per the Chinese government, arrived in the U.S. with false documents via “Snakeheads,” human smugglers hired by his father. Several months after his arrival in the US, Young learned that he was expected to find menial work in Chinatown in New York City to pay the $65,000 smuggling debt to which his father had agreed.
After the DHS took Young into custody in 2003, Young spent the following two years living in a detention center and then with his uncle in Ohio. DHS allowed him to live with his uncle and attend school while his case was pending, as long as he continued to check in with the officials. During this time, Young may have been out of the detention center, but he still felt imprisoned at times with the Snakeheads’ continuous deadly threats in demanding their smuggling debt.
Although Young continued to check in as required, immigration officers handcuffed him in 2005 without warning and informed him that he was being immediately deported to China. Immigration officers transported Young to Chicago’s O’Hare Airport, where he was to board a plane bound for China. As he walked down the concourse, Young envisioned the ruthless Snakeheads waiting for him and began to panic, striking his head repeatedly against the wall of the jet way. This incident derailed the deportation effort for the time being, and DHS sent Young to a high security detention facility in Houston, pending new deportation papers and travel documents.
Once in Houston, John agreed to take on Young’s case, naively unperturbed by Young’s insurmountable legal position. John, associate Hannah Sibiski and an ever-growing team of Fulbright attorneys and summer associates worked on Young’s case in an impassioned effort to prevent his delivery to the Snakeheads in China and, ostensibly, to save his life.
After months and countless hours of work and legal proceedings in five different courts across the country, John and his team finally got the ruling they needed: a 23-page Injunction Order from U.S. District Judge David Hittner of the Southern District of Texas (Zheng v. Pogash, 416 F.Supp.2d 550 (S.D.Tex. 2006). Judge Hittner found that DHS’s decision to deny Young the right to go to family court for relief was arbitrary, capricious and an abuse of discretion and, further, that Young would suffer irreparable injury if the injunction were not granted. Young then prevailed in the family court, which found that his father had abandoned and neglected him by putting him in the hands of Snakeheads at the age of 14 and by disowning all responsibility for him. In the fall of 2006, Young obtained his Permanent Resident Card, which allows him to apply for U.S. citizenship in five years.
Young now lives in a loving home and attends accelerated classes at a local high school, maintaining an all-A average. A fund has been established for Young’s education so he can fulfill his dream of attending college and one day becoming a biologist.
John, Hannah, and other Fulbright & Jaworski attorneys have dedicated considerable time and energy to this project, which has not gone unrecognized. In 2006, the American Immigration Lawyers Association awarded Fulbright & Jaworski the National Pro Bono Award. Young’s case also received repeated coverage in the New York Times and the American Lawyer.
With all that John and his team have given to this project, John consistently praises all of the other people who have helped them, especially noting invaluable guidance from University of Houston experts such as Anne Chandler, an attorney and professor with the immigration clinic, and Professor Joseph Vail, a former immigration judge. John is also grateful to Cristina Didone at CD Language Solutions, which donated time and interpreters to this project.
John says there is a great need for more help to make the program self-sustaining, and he encourages other attorneys to get involved. He says a lack of immigration law experience or the inability to speak other languages does not prevent an attorney from volunteering. John may be contacted at jsullivan@ fulbright.com.

Mindy Riseden practices with Crain, Caton & James, P.C. She is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Weed and Seed Program
United States Attorneys Volunteer to Make Neighborhoods Safer

By Don DeGabrielle

Volunteerism is nothing new to the 300-plus lawyers and support staff at the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas. The office’s jurisdiction encompasses a wide and diverse territory, with staffed offices in Houston, Corpus Christi, Brownsville, McAllen and Laredo. Its attorneys, thanks to a heavy load of immigration, drug, and white collar cases, as well as significant civil litigation, are among the busiest in the nation. But, in addition to pursuing justice in court each day, these lawyers also pursue volunteer opportunities in their communities.
The Weed and Seed program is one way that lawyers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office give back to the community. President George H.W. Bush launched this program in 1991 to “weed” out crime from dangerous neighborhoods and “seed” those neighborhoods with something positive. This program allows volunteers to come together and discuss issues such as crime, unemployment, gangs, graffiti and other issues that detract from social order. Local communities partner with law enforcement to establish action plans, which are in turn funded through five-year grants from the Department of Justice’s Office of Justice Programs. U.S. Attorneys attend meetings of these Weed and Seed sites and appear at site functions, most of which take place in the evenings and on weekends.
Among Weed and Seed’s most important priorities is taking care of youth through a program called Drug Education For Youth (DEFY). Each year, volunteers take up to 200 youths from Weed and Seed sites in South Texas and send them to a military base for a week-long character building camp. Most of these youth are “at risk” kids who live near drug dealers or gang members. The week-long camp is operated by community volunteers, local law enforcement, and lawyers from our office.
Typically, these youths are not particularly responsive to instruction, and the initial days – which include close attention from Army drill instructors – are often stressful. But after the initial shock wears off, the youths realize they must work together. By the end of these camps, even the most disruptive youths often ask privately whether they can stay at the camp a little longer, or come back next year.
Community Relations Coordinator, Ron Cutlip, keeps the U.S. Attorney’s Office informed about community needs. He oversees the Weed and Seed program, including DEFY, as well as teaches classes at the camp. When not working at the office, Ron assumes his alter-ego: McGruff the Crime Dog.
Another example of community involvement is the Red Ribbon program. The campaign pays respect to the late DEA Special Agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena, who was murdered by drug traffickers while working undercover in Mexico. Each year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office assists DEA in commemorating Red Ribbon day; after a kickoff rally, 300 at-risk children bus to the State Capitol. In Austin, the students participate in an anti-drug program before conducting mock legislative discussion and preparing their own version of a Drug Prevention bill.
U.S. Attorneys have participated along with medical professionals from the Houston area in drug education awareness programs designed to teach young people, primarily fifth graders, about the legal and medical consequences of illegal drug usage.
The office also supports Teen Courts throughout both Houston and South Texas. In Teen Courts, youths who have committed Class C misdemeanors are prosecuted by their peers. Far from merely issuing a citation, which encourages little or no remorse in the offender, a prosecution in Teen Court more sharply focuses the youth’s attention on the consequences of his or her actions. Prosecutors like AUSA Mike Schultz lead evening training sessions at Teen Courts, while others serve as judges. Lawyers and staff also support Career Days and in-school reading programs, at both traditional public schools and charter schools. The support from volunteers in our office is overwhelming; it is often difficult to find enough transportation to bring everyone who wants to participate.
Other activities, like the Drug and Alcohol Awareness Days coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office at the Richmond Recreation Center, have drawn wide attention and far-ranging cooperation from partner agencies. A recent event included attendance by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and its new “bomb truck,” the FBI’s evidence recovery team, a K-9 unit from DEA, and a Texas National Guard helicopter. All of these agencies worked to promote awareness of law enforcement efforts aimed at drug trafficking in the local community.
While their work is itself community-focused, volunteers from the U.S. Attorney’s Office say they want to take that volunteerism to an even higher level, promoting a spirit that betters the community and strengthens ties with citizens.

Don DeGabrielle is the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Texas. He has been with the United States Attorney’s Office since 1986, and is a graduate of Louisiana State University’s Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

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