Successfully Thinking Pink
By Cisselon Nichols Hurd
On October 6, over 500 women will gather at River Oaks Country Club for the 7th Annual Think Pink! Zeta Tau Alpha Breast Cancer Luncheon. It may come as a surprise to some that this event was initially organized by T. Lynne Eckels, a partner at Shook Hardy & Bacon with an active litigation practice. The first luncheon was held in October 2004 with a small group of women in the Tea Room of the Junior League. The luncheon has since blossomed into a sold-out event in the Ballroom of the River Oaks Country Club that has donated more than $140,000 for Inflammatory Breast Cancer (IBC) research.

What motivated a successful trial lawyer with a busy schedule to create such an event? Lynne sums it up in just two words, her "personal connection," and adds that she loves the practice of law, but her practice really didn't give her the opportunity to give back to the community.

This changed in 2003 when a very close friend and sorority sister, Jenee Bobbora, was diagnosed with IBC, an aggressive and deadly form of breast cancer that is fast growing and often mistaken for a rash or an infection. At that time, Lynne had never even heard of this form of cancer, which typically strikes young women in their 20s and 30s and frequently does not show up on mammograms. Lynne and other members of Zeta Tau Alpha wanted desperately to help their friend Jenee, who had told them that she could not find much information about IBC, even on the internet.

Upon learning of the dearth of information regarding IBC, they reached out to M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, which is home to the largest clinic in the world dedicated to the disease. However, in 2003 the clinic was still in need of an outside funding source. Through Lynne's efforts, Zeta Tau Alpha has become a major funding source for the IBC Clinic. She co-chaired the luncheon in 2004 and served as chair in 2005 and 2006. By 2005, the luncheon had doubled in size, and with its success Zeta Tau Alpha founded the Think Pink! Foundation, which donated $50,000 for the Jenee Bobbora Examination Room at the IBC Clinic.

In January 2007, Lynne's personal connection with IBC became even stronger when her sister-in-law, Katherine Howard, was diagnosed with the disease. Three months' prior to Katherine's diagnosis, she had received a negative mammogram and only became aware of her cancer because her chest became red and swollen. Although Katherine lost her battle with the disease in 2008, Lynne is very grateful for the care that Katherine received at M. D. Anderson and cannot say enough about the wonderful staff.

Lynne has received tremendous support from her law firm, and she offers the following advice for lawyers who want to get their employer's support for similar volunteer projects. First, have a goal in mind and create a proposal that you are comfortable presenting to the firm. She says Shook Hardy & Bacon has been very generous to the Think Pink! Foundation with its time, talent and money. This is likely a direct result of Lynne having a personal connection to IBC and being able to convey how devastating the disease can be. Second, take advantage of your employer's desire to give back to the community. Like many firms, Shook Hardy & Bacon encourages its attorneys to get involved in the community, so her proposal was an easy sell. Still, Lynne says has been overwhelmed by the strong support she has received from the firm.

Having achieved its initial fund-raising goal for the examination room, The Think Pink! Foundation is in the midst of another campaign that began in 2009. The campaign's goal is to establish an endowed IBC Fellowship for a physician to devote full-time to research for a cure and research for treatment options for the disease. The IBC Fellowship will encourage outstanding young men and women to focus on all aspects of IBC, so Lynne is very excited about these efforts.

She is also excited about the tremendous support that the Foundation continues to receive from members of the community and businesses. Survivors who attend the luncheon will receive a beautiful "Think Pink! Scarf" designed by Chloe Dao (winner of "Project Runway"). This is the third year that survivors will be honored with the scarf and that is one of the things that makes this event so special. For more information about the 2010 Think Pink! Luncheon, visit their website, www.ZTAHouston.org.

Cisselon Nichols Hurd is senior litigation counsel at Shell Oil Company in the Litigation Group where she handles environmental litigation for the Downstream businesses. Cisselon has been an avid supporter of the Annual Think Pink! Zeta Tau Alpha Breast Cancer Luncheon since losing one of her closest friends, Drenaye L. Houston, to breast cancer four years ago.



Turning Tragedy into Force for Good
By Pauline E. Higgins
It was a summer night in June 1993 that I will never forget. We lost our twelve-year old son, Nicholas Alexander Higgins. And what's so special about that? Our family turned our tragedy, the death of our son, into a force for good. When Nicholas died from cardiomyopathy, we grieved endlessly. However, we decided that we could use our experiences from his death to effectively, and indelibly, benefit other children and their families who are experiencing heart disease. Yes, children do die from heart disease, too.

On June 27, 1993, at 3:15 a.m., at home alone, I received a phone call informing me that Nicholas had died in his sleep while on summer vacation visiting my family in Toronto, Canada. The cause of Nicholas' death was cardiomyopathy, a serious disease in which the heart muscle becomes inflamed and does not work as well as it should. There may be multiple causes, including viral infections. Cardiomyopathy is often a silent killer. Nicholas was asymptomatic. Essentially, with this heart condition, the heart literally beats itself to death. The condition usually is not detected until it becomes fatal. Cardiomyopathy has taken the life of many athletes, such as Hank Gathers and Reginald Lewis of the Boston Celtics. For some unknown reason athletes, and minority athletes in particular, are prone to this disorder.

Since golf was a sport that Nicholas loved and played by participating in the city's Lone Star Junior Golf Program at Hermann Park, our family and friends created the Nicholas Alexander Higgins Memorial Golf Tournament, benefiting Texas Children's Hospital ("TCH") Pediatric Cardiology. Each year our goal is to raise $100,000. Tournament proceeds primarily support TCH's pediatric cardiology and charity care for Heart Center patients, research at Texas Children's Hospital, and a summer fellowship program for minority pre-medical students from the Houston area. We, through our loss, are helping to make a difference in the lives of young people and families who seek vital and life-saving care at Texas Children's Hospital. Additionally, our proceeds have benefited Covenant House, providing healthcare for homeless children, and St. James School in Third Ward.

We could have simply made a personal donation, but we desired an active participation in educating the public and an ongoing contribution to encourage minority students to pursue cardiology, since minority representation in cardiology is very low. The cardiology internships, for which we provide the stipend, are given to inner city and minority pre-med students to perform research in cardiology toward, hopefully, careers in cardiology medicine. We raise the funds; we have not interfered in the process, and we leave the administration of proceeds and program to TCH.

Dr. Antonio R. Mott, former associate in pediatric cardiology at TCH, expressed his gratitude to our family for the "unique opportunity they have given to this very gifted and talented group of people."
"This opportunity would not have happened if it had not been for your kindness and generosity," Dr. Mott said in a letter addressed to our family. "People choose to honor the lives of loved ones in different ways. We are fortunate that you have chosen to honor Nicholas' life by investing in dreams. What an incredible and honorable investment. Thanks so much for your support and vision. You have made an incredible difference in the lives of others."

Our sincere and deep thanks to our volunteers and friends who have journeyed with us over these twelve years of the Annual Nicholas Alexander Higgins Memorial Golf Tournament—together we have made a difference and we have planted "trees" under which we may never sit— thanks from our hearts for your help in saving many little hearts!

Our family has done its share of grieving for the loss of Nicholas. But we turned our grief into action to ensure the continuation of research on the "silent killer." In turning our tragedy into a force for good, we honor Nicholas by using our loss to positively impact the lives of others.
For details about the 2010 Nicholas Alexander Higgins' Memorial Golf Tournament, contact Junior Higgins at 281-704- 4855 or j.higgins@themdigroup.net

Pauline E. Higgins is a graduate of Tulane University School of Law. She has practiced in Houston law firms and corporate legal departments, was Associate General Counsel of JPMorgan Chase; Senior Partner and Chief Diversity Officer of Thompson & Knight LLP; and former Senior Vice President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of The Metropolitan Transit Authority of
Harris County. She has chaired numerous committees and programs for the Houston Bar Association, including the Minority Opportunities in the Legal Profession Committee, where she was instrumental in developing the IL Summer Clerkship Program, and she founded the Transportation Law Section.



Confronting a Disease to Support Research for a Cure
By John S. Gray
For a few moments, consider how you would feel after you just found out that you have multiple sclerosis (MS); a dreaded disease that is unpredictable. For most of us, we would experience shock. Some may simply not be able to confront or accept it, experiencing denial and perhaps even anger that it happened to them ­—­"Why me?" Whatever other emotions a person recently diagnosed with such a serious condition may experience, it will likely include fear—fear of an unfamiliar medical condition and fear of the unknown. Few of us would know what to expect —except for perhaps a realization of our worst fears. One thing we would know for certain, however, is that our life was about to change. Illness creates change. Multiple sclerosis creates change. What defines us as individuals is how we adapt to change once the shock and fear wear off.

Some would accept their fate, resigning themselves to a disease that will slowly destroy their central nervous system. Others will take on the challenge of their disease, doing everything in their power to confront it and overcome it; leading as an example for all of us—those who have MS and those who don't. John Pearson's story and experience is that of a man who accepted his own MS challenge and turned his adversity into an opportunity for community service.

John Pearson, an attorney with Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, was diagnosed with MS in the early 1990s. Upon receiving the bad news, John did what many good litigators with years of experience would do—he set out to learn about his disease and to create a plan to minimize the damage it was doing to his body. With excellent doctors and strong family support, John learned to manage his disease such that for the last 20 years he has been consistently able to function both at home and at work.

For most of us, that would be enough. But, John Pearson did more. He became very involved with Houston's Lone Star Chapter of the National MS Society where he served for ten years as a board member and for two years as chairman of the board. It was during John's tenure on the board that the Chapter's main fundraising event—the BP MS 150 annual two-day spring bicycle ride from Houston to Austin—grew to become the premier event of its kind in North America.

John Pearson first got involved in the BP MS 150 in 1999 as both a fundraiser and a rider. While John's MS keeps him from competing with the fast riders, each of the last 11 years has seen him finish at least part of the 180-mile ride surrounded by friends and family. Although John sets no speed records, he definitely sets an example of what is possible for all who are afflicted with MS. He is also an example and inspiration for the attorneys who work with him. John was a founding member of Team Gardere, the firm's BP MS 150 bicycle team and one of the team's top fundraisers.

John Pearson's involvement with the MS Society did not end when he stepped down as chair. He recently joined the MS Society's Fast Forward Cabinet responsible for trying to raise $30 million to support critical MS research initiatives. In addition to his own time, the Pearson family has also dedicated time to the National MS Society. His son, Dunagan Pearson, is a ride ambassador for the Northern California Chapter's Bike MS event. Recently the National MS Society inducted John into its National Fund-Raising Hall of Fame, recognizing the dedication he has displayed in the mission to create a world free of MS.

While this is just one man's story about how an HBA lawyer has dealt with adversity, it is a reminder for all of us how we can turn adversities into opportunities for community service.
For information on the BP MS 150, visit http://www.ms150.org/. For information on the Lone Star Chapter of the National MS Society, visit http://www. nationalmssociety.org/chapters/TXH/
index.aspx.

John S. Gray is a partner in Gardere Wynne Sewell's environmental practice group, where he co-chairs the firm's Climate Change Task Force, and he is active as a council member for the HBA's Environmental Law Section. He is an associate editor for The Houston Lawyer.