Denise Bradley
Cultivating Values, Self-Esteem Through Special Olympics and Girl Scouts
By Don Rogers
Denise Bradley is an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney's Office. She started working at the DA's office as an intern while attending South Texas College of Law, and became a prosecutor in 1987 after obtaining her law degree. Since becoming a prosecutor, she has been assigned to various trial-level divisions, including the Major Offenders Division and the Gangs and Narcotics Division, and has tried over 100 felony cases, including 12 death penalty cases, numerous serial offender cases, and many other high profile cases. She has served as a District Court Chief Prosecutor, Chief of the Misdemeanor Division, Chief of Felony Division C, and was recently chosen to be the first Chief of the newly-formed Capital Trial Division.

On a professional level, Denise volunteers on a weekly basis to work in the Harris County STAR Court program, short for "Success Through Addiction Recovery," which works closely with drug addicts who are on community supervision for non-violent felonies. It provides them with drug treatment, transitional housing, and career counseling in an effort to keep them from returning to jail.

While attending college, Denise became involved with Special Olympics, a charitable organization sponsoring year-round sports training and competition for children and adults challenged with intellectual disabilities, with the goal of improving the quality of their lives. After becoming a Houston Bar Association member several years ago, she volunteered to serve on and became active with the HBA Special Olympics Committee, which coordinates and recruits volunteers to support many of the Texas Special Olympics' 22 sports activities. She now spends a substantial amount of her time serving as a volunteer coordinator for the committee and, in that capacity, serves as a volunteer for the Special Olympics sports events with which the committee is involved, as well as recruiting and overseeing other volunteers from the Houston area to work as escorts, timers, scorekeepers, and cheerleaders at those events.

Concerning her volunteer work with Special Olympics, Denise said, "I am constantly amazed by the things that Special Olympics athletes overcome to be successful competitors. I have the utmost respect for them, and the hard work and dedication they give to their respective sports. I am proud that the majority of volunteers I have recruited work at the DA's office, and I honestly believe that, in light of the tragic situations we encounter every day as prosecutors, doing something as rewarding as Special Olympics benefits the volunteers as much as it does the athletes."

Denise, who is married to Robert Bradley, a Houston police officer, and has two daughters, also spends a considerable amount of her time as a volunteer with Girl Scouts of America. She currently serves as Troop Leader of the San Jacinto Council's Troop 18041, which includes her daughter Marron and 27 other fifth graders attending Duchesne Academy. Her scout troop participates in assorted activities, such as camping, canoeing, sailing, and service projects, which are designed to cultivate values, social conscience, and self-esteem in young girls. She also currently serves as Cookie Manager for 18 Girl Scout troops within the Tall Pines Service Unit.

As to her volunteer activities with Girl Scouts, Denise says, "I was lucky enough to participate in scouting as a child and am happy that I have the opportunity to participate with my daughters. My fifth grade troop represents everything that Girl Scouts is about. The girls are resourceful and responsible. I have had the opportunity to see these girls develop into leaders and volunteers. I look at the girls in my troop and can't wait to see the amazing things they will accomplish as strong and self-assured young women."

Don Rogers is an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney's Office and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.



Francis Chin and Sameera Mahendru
Bashing Trash and Beautifying Houston, One Park at a Time
By Hannah Sibiski
This year marked the twelfth annual Trash Bash, a park delittering and improvement project organized and run by Lawyers Against Waste, an HBA committee, in partnership with the City of Houston. Trash Bash commemorates Earth Day and Law Day by offering Houston area attorneys and their families an opportunity to come help make Houston greener.

Trash Bash Co-Chairs, Sameera Kapasi Mahendru from the City of Houston and Francis Chin from Waste Management, had fun cleaning and clearing and enjoyed seeing the large turnout of colleagues and their families come to help make Houston a better place. Sameera is a long-time volunteer on the committee; Francis is new to the Lawyers Against Waste Committee, but has been active on other HBA committees. Both feel the Trash Bash is a project close to their interests and their hearts.

This year was a record-breaker in both bashing and beautification. Over 180 volunteers arrived at Mason Park at eight o'clock Saturday morning, May 8, 2010. For the next four hours, those volunteers cleared trash and brush from this 104-acre park located near the confluence of Brays Bayou and Buffalo Bayou. While about 90 volunteers picked up litter, the other half cleared a large section of overgrown vegetation, shrubs, and trees.

Thanks to the hard work of Sameera, Francis and other committee members, there were 45 door prizes awarded to lucky volunteers, ranging from a cooking lesson with Monica Pope to a happy hour at the Social.

The volunteers were rewarded by more than snacks and prizes. They helped improve and protect one of Houston's most important green spaces. Mason Park offers Houstonians recreation, relaxation, conservation, and flood protection. In addition to tennis courts, an ADA-compliant playground, a bike trial, a swimming pool, and a community center, the park also hosts three and a half acres of wetland environment that has been developed to clean pollutants from storm water before the water enters the bayou, to create an environment for animal and plant life, and to help prevent flooding and protect Houston homes and businesses.

With the help of Sameera, Francis and the Lawyers Against Waste Trash Bash volunteers, Mason Park continues to serve Houstonians.

Hannah Sibiski is a senior associate at Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P. and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.



Justice Kem Thompson Frost
The Gift of Giving Unconditionally
By Jill Yaziji
For a justice with impeccable credentials, top-notch firm background, and ten-year-plus tenure on the 14th Court of Appeals, Justice Kem Frost sounds the opposite of a legal wonk when talking about the impact of volunteer work on her life. Volunteer work has rendered "[me] transformed, tenderized … by forming relationships with those who have been called 'the least of these,'" she said. When she is not delivering opinions for the 14th Court of Appeals (she authored 158 civil and criminal opinions during the 2008-2009 court term, making her the most prolific justice on that Court), being a wife of an equally-committed professional, and a mother of four school-aged sons, she is volunteering her time in and around the City of Houston.
Justice Frost manages to find time to serve on the board of the local American Inns of Court, co-chair the Law Week Committee of the HBA, advise school boards and her church, and give public talks to school kids—to the tune of more than 1,000 young students this year—to mention only a few of her volunteer activities. As co-chair of the Law Week Committee this year, she organized the first team poster competition for special needs students, giving them the opportunity to compete in the Poster Contest in a new category. Along with co-chair Warren Harris, she also helped organize a poster workshop for Hispanic youth in Houston's East End, in conjunction with the Hispanic Bar Association and Mexican-American Bar Association of Houston. She and other judges and attorneys spent three hours talking to students, who ranged from kindergarten through eighth grade, about Law Day and helping them create entries to the poster contest, along with providing all the materials.

Where do the time and energy come from, given all of her personal and professional duties? Quite simply, from the belief that volunteerism is not only an extension of her professional background, but also a projection of her passion and obligation to give back. Volunteer work is not about personal empowerment or financial gain, but personal growth is certainly a powerful byproduct of it: "Follow your heart in choosing a volunteer activity," she said, because that will give you the opportunity to excel."

Such is her zest for life and for giving to others that she believes volunteering is the fruit of her faith, an expression of something bigger than herself, grown out of a commitment to help a wide sector of our society that is in need for help. Justice Frost readily admits that juggling personal, professional, and volunteer commitments is a challenge. Her advice to those who want to volunteer is to choose carefully, stick to regularly scheduled times, and commit one season at a time.

A quick view of the hundreds of thank-you cards she received from school kids she talked to about our laws and justice system is testimony that her volunteer spirit touched them at a profound level.

N. Jill Yaziji is the principal of The Yaziji Law Firm and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.

Mitch Reid
LegalLine: A Life Line for Those with Legal Questions
By Nicole Sain
Mitch Reid is an attorney at Andrews Kurth LLP, doing commercial litigation, including life, health and disability insurance litigation, and business torts. Despite the demands of his busy practice, Mitch finds time to volunteer with both LegalLine and the Special Olympics. As a lawyer at a firm that is committed to volunteering and service, Mitch started out as an HBA LegalLine volunteer, manning the phones frequently. His interest in and commitment to LegalLine led Mitch to seek an appointment as a co-chair for the HBA LegalLine Committee, a position in which he has served for the past five years. He also serves as Andrews Kurth's firm representative for the program. As an HBA co-chair and firm representative, Mitch works to ensure that there will be enough volunteers to staff the phone lines on the first and third Wednesday of each month. Mitch looks to his colleagues, lawyers at other firms, and attorneys at legal departments of corporations to serve the community by answering the LegalLine calls. He also offers them the chance to donate their time to the Special Olympics by staffing the fall and spring events on behalf of the HBA Special Olympics Committee.

When working the LegalLine phones, Mitch and the other volunteers spend time answering simple questions for people that cannot afford to pay an attorney for consultation, or directing the caller to the appropriate resources when their question is one that cannot be answered simply. The questions are wide in range, including family law, landlord tenant and property issues, basic consumer complaints and probate issues. Any legal situation that an individual might be faced with is fair game.

Mitch's volunteer work comes with a great perspective; he feels lucky to be where he is in life and realizes that not everyone is as fortunate as he is, and thus likes to give back. This is especially true for LegalLine, where the help being given must be supplied by a licensed attorney since not everyone is qualified to serve in this capacity. Mitch enjoys being able to use his education and knowledge to help the Houston community and inspires other attorneys to put their talent to similar use. "Nothing feels better than helping someone when they are in need – people should feel fortunate to have made it through law school and be a licensed attorney. To have that ability to help someone in a specific area is a great feeling, and a great service to the community."

Nicole Sain is a partner at OSTROM/Sain, LLP, a boutique focusing on probate litigation and estate planning. She is a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.


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Belinda Smith
Combining a Passion for Pets in Her Personal and Professional Lives
By Don Rogers
Belinda Smith, an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney's Office, has a life-long passion for animal welfare. After obtaining degrees in psychology and geology from the University of Houston, she was awarded the Dean's Diversity Scholarship and obtained her law degree from South Texas College of Law in 1996. Belinda became a prosecutor with the Harris County District Attorney's Office in 1997, and for several years was assigned to the Environmental Crimes Division, where she prosecuted a number of environmental criminal cases and cases arising from cruel treatment of animals.

In 2009, Harris County District Attorney Pat Lykos created a new Animal Cruelty Section in the Special Prosecutions Bureau, and chose Belinda to be that sections' first chief prosecutor, a position she currently holds. In her capacity as chief of that section, Belinda is responsible for the prosecution of all animal cruelty cases in Harris County, and supervision of all the DA's office personnel assigned to the section. She also works closely with law enforcement agencies and other organizations, including Crime Stoppers, the Houston Humane Society, the Houston SPCA, Citizens for Animal Protection (CAP), the City of Houston's Bureau of Animal Regulation and Control (BARC), and the Harris County animal shelter (PHES), to deter animal cruelty and prosecute those responsible for it.

Belinda is a frequent speaker on the subject of animal abuse and cruelty at programs, seminars, or classes sponsored by various institutions, including the Texas A & M University College of Veterinary Medicine, the University of Texas Law School, the University of Houston Law Center, South Texas College of Law, and assorted elementary schools, as well as at conferences or seminars sponsored by law enforcement agencies and other groups concerned with problems associated with animal welfare and abuse. She has appeared on several television episodes about animal cruelty broadcast on Animal Planet.

Belinda volunteers some of her personal time and generously contributes some of her money each year to the Houston Humane Society, a non-profit animal shelter dedicated to eliminating cruelty, abuse, and the overpopulation of animals. She and District Attorney Pat Lykos were honorees at the Humane Society's 2009 annual gala, "The Fur Ball," for their work in the area of animal cruelty and abuse.

In addition, Belinda volunteered for and is currently chair of the HBA Animal Law Section, which was created in 2007 after she and two other HBA members suggested its formation to address legal issues in the emerging field of animal law. The Animal Law Section educates the legal community about issues affecting animals and their welfare through continuing legal education presentations, networking opportunities, and distribution of materials concerning laws, regulations, and court decisions dealing with animals. Past CLE programs sponsored by the section have included topics such as equine law, animal cruelty prosecution, and animals in entertainment.

The Animal Law Section hosts an annual holiday party at which someone who has made a significant contribution to the animal welfare community is honored. It also sponsors or participates in activities such as (1) "Paw and Order SDU," short for Special Dog Unit, which provides therapy dogs to visit with adults and children who are victims of domestic violence at the offices of the district attorney's Family Criminal Law Division and at the Children's Assessment Center; and (2) the Annual Crime Stoppers Anti-Dog Fighting Campaign, which raises awareness and educates the public on certain aspects of animal cruelty.

Belinda says she feels fortunate to be chief of the DA's Animal Cruelty Section and able to volunteer her time as chair of the HBA Animal Law Section, saying, "Now, with the support of District Attorney Pat Lykos, I have my dream job and I am able to promote animal welfare issues through my involvement in the HBA Animal Law Section. Volunteering with the HBA Animal Law Section is a natural extension of my duties with the DA's office. As a prosecutor, I have a unique opportunity to promote animal welfare issues through the Animal Law Section. Sometimes my roles as Chief of the DA's Animal Cruelty Section and Chair of the HBA Animal Law Section overlap, but the end result is twice as good because both animals and ultimately our community benefit from the programs."

Belinda, who is married and has two children, is also a member of and currently serves as Chair of the HBA Environmental Law Section, which offers monthly CLE presentations on subjects relevant to environmental laws and regulation, conservation, and law enforcement.

Don Rogers is an assistant district attorney with the Harris County District Attorney's Office and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.



Connie Simmons Taylor
Helping Women Become Dressed for Success
By Keri D. Brown

"It's an awesome feeling to know that I've helped change someone's life."

Donating a business suit may be a routine task for many, seen as an easy way to clear out the closet to make room for a new wardrobe. But Connie Simmons Taylor knows that a donated suit often means the difference between having a job (and food to put on the table) or continuing to struggle to get by.

As a partner at Baker Botts L.L.P., Connie spends her days as a real estate lawyer. As a board member and active volunteer for Dress for Success Houston, Connie spends her free time changing lives.

Dress for Success began in New York in 1996, and the Houston affiliate took root in 1998. Dress for Success now has more than 80 affiliates worldwide, all dedicated to improving women's lives by providing them with professional clothing, employment programs, and continuing support.

Connie's involvement in Dress for Success began in 2002, when she donated a couple of suits to the annual Dress for Success "Send One Suit" drive at Baker Botts. The volunteer heading up the program at the firm told Connie that the president and founder of Dress for Success Houston, Nancy Levicki, was looking for an attorney to join their board. After visiting the local Dress for Success store and seeing the effect that a suit can have on a woman who needs to go on a job interview but literally has nothing appropriate to wear, Connie was hooked.

Connie first served on the board of Dress for Success Houston from 2002 through 2008, spending two of those years as board chair. After six years on the board, she moved on to the organization's advisory board for a year in 2009.

This year, she was reappointed to the board and serves on the Projects Committee, where her real estate expertise comes in handy as she considers alternatives for Dress for Success Houston's future growth. She also spearheads the annual Send One Suit drive at Baker Botts.

Connie became involved in Dress for Success because she wanted to help the community and had the ability to give back. She remembered being a law student and how important it was to have the perfect suit for the many job interviews. She felt strongly about advocating for Dress for Success, and her role was a good fit for Baker Botts, with more than 100 women lawyers and numerous other female professionals who needed to do something with those gently-used suits that were no longer needed.

As Connie says, serving Dress for Success shows her that "what we do makes a difference. In talking to the Dress for Success clients, I learn how much of a difference having a suit makes. Women will say to me, 'this organization literally saved my life.' That's what matters."

Connie volunteers because she believes that everyone has something they can give back to their community. "If you don't volunteer, you cheat yourself as well as the community," Connie says. "Everyone should experience volunteering at least once, if only for the selfish reason that you feel good for doing it."

In addition to her work for Dress for Success, Connie serves on the advisory board for KIPP Houston, a charter school that develops successful academic skills, intellectual habits, and character qualities in underserved students, and she also serves with the Row House Community Development Corporation (a sister organization to Project Row Houses), an organization that assists low- and moderate-income Houstonians in obtaining housing, develops green space, and preserves historic sites.

For more information on Dress for Success Houston's work, visit www.dressforsuccess.org/houston

Keri Brown is an attorney in the Private Clients Services section of Baker Botts L.L.P. and a member of The Houston Lawyer editorial board.



Mark Wege
Law Week Fun Run a Year-Round Commitment
By Ann D. Zeigler
Did you notice the thousand or so runners making their early-morning way from downtown's Sam Houston Park over to South Shepherd and back on a Saturday morning in late March? That was the 25th Annual John J. Eikenburg Law Week Fun Run, one of the longest tenured running events in Houston, which this year raised nearly $65,000 for The Center, which makes independent lives possible for people with developmental disabilities. Mark Wege, a partner in King & Spalding's bankruptcy section, has been an active HBA volunteer for many years. His big, continuing commitment is to the Fun Run, which he chaired in 2006.

As with other large-scale activities, it isn't a one-day commitment for Mark and the other Fun Run committee members. The race occurs in late March (the date is set as part of the schedule for HARRA, the Houston area runner's organization which includes many runners as part of its competitive annual program). But the committee works year-round. In late September the committee begins fund-raising in earnest, especially looking for the sponsors whose names and logos will go on the race shirts and brochures. Then in December the committee begins soliciting door prizes, as well as arranging for the T-shirt design and printing and then in January the organization of the event itself, including numerous volunteer efforts. Mark gives special thanks to Constable Abercia and the Harris County constables who keep the racers safe and block off traffic during the event, to the HARRA organization which sanctions the race and includes many competitive runners, and to the HBA office, which arranges for many of the critical components of the Fun Run including the support of the City of Houston.

The last two days before the race are full-time work for much of the race-day crew, getting registration check-in materials ready, issuing the race packets with the electronic strips that runners place on their shoes to monitor their race times.

On race day the physical set-up crew begins their day at 5:00 a.m., with the materials from a warehouse on the ship channel, moving the start and finish line structures and other support materials to Sam Houston Park and the race course. Then the numerous race volunteers help the thousand runners, including not only HBA members but competitive runners as well as many residents of The Center who participate in the family walk which follows the runners on the course. By 11:00 they're ready to take it all back down and haul it back to the HARRA warehouse. About a month later, the accounting is complete and the committee finds out the amount raised for The Center. At the HBA's annual spring meeting in May, the fund-raising results are announced and the HBA president presents the check to The Center. In June, the new committee organizes itself for the new bar year, and away Mark goes again.

Mark's other HBA volunteer activities include participating in several Habitat home "builds" and the HBA Consumer Task Force. He is also a past chair of the HBA Bankruptcy Section, and informally assists the mission of the Houston Volunteer Lawyers Program in developing mentoring and training opportunities for lawyers volunteering to provide some assistance to consumer debtors in bankruptcy.

Busy? You bet.

Loving it? No doubt.

Ann D. Zeigler is a senior consultant with Third Coast Consultants. She is the editor in chief of The Houston Lawyer.