TCWLA Recognizes Trailblazing Women Attorneys

Three Local Lawyers Honored at 23rd Annual Pathfinder Awards

On January 19, 2023, the Travis County Women Lawyers’ Association (TCWLA) hosted its 23rd annual Pathfinder Awards presentation at the UT Etter-Harbin Alumni Center.

This year’s Pathfinder Awards were given to three Austin-area attorneys: Judge Aurora Martinez Jones of the 126th District Court, Justice Chari Kelly of the Third Court of Appeals, and Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch of Lincoln-Goldfinch Law.

(From left to right) Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Justice Chari Kelly, and Judge Aurora Martinez Jones were honored at TCWLA’s 23rd annual Pathfinder Awards Luncheon.

TCWLA is committed to recognizing trailblazing women attorneys. TCWLA Pathfinders are role models—local women with law degrees who are using, and have used, their degrees in a variety of ways and who represent a diversity of life and work experiences. This year’s three winners spoke movingly of their careers and achievements, and the program was thought-provoking and inspirational.

Hon. Aurora Martinez Jones is judge of the 126th District Court in Travis County. She presides over child welfare dockets, including Family Drug Treatment Court and Dual-Status Youth dockets, reviewing Travis County cases with foster children in the care of Child Protective Services (CPS). Judge Martinez Jones has dedicated her career to ensuring that the most fragile members of our community have fair access to justice.

Before being elected judge of the 126th District Court, Martinez Jones served as Travis County’s first associate judge appointed specifically for CPS dockets. She is a first-generation American and first-generation law-school graduate. While in college at The University of Texas at Austin, Martinez Jones established Minority Women Pursuing Law, an organization to connect and support other minority women planning to attend law school.

Judge Martinez Jones shared with the audience that one of the reasons she is where she is today is that she often said “yes” whenever a good opportunity presented itself. And she reminded us that sometimes you have to keep saying yes when you want to say no and try multiple times before getting where you want to be.

Justice Chari L. Kelly of the Third Court of Appeals is board certified in criminal law by both the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and the National Board of Trial Advocacy. She has served as both a defense attorney and a prosecutor and is also a seasoned civil litigator. Justice Kelly is a U.S. Army veteran and former paratrooper. Before her election to the Third Court, Justice Kelly served as an Assistant District Attorney for both Comal and Travis counties, handling all aspects of felony criminal prosecutions. She has tried more than 35 jury trials, including aggravated sexual assault of a child, attempted capital murder, and kidnapping.

Justice Kelly shared that despite many setbacks, the support of her friends and mentors have helped her reach the position she has today. The five life lessons she wove into her story were insightful and inspiring.

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is the managing partner of Lincoln-Goldfinch Law. Upon graduating from The University of Texas for college and law school, she received an Equal Justice Works Fellowship in 2008, which she completed at American Gateways. Her project served detained families seeking asylum. After her fellowship, she entered private immigration practice. Her firm offers family-based immigration, such as green cards and naturalization, deportation defense, and humanitarian cases such as asylum, U visas, and VAWA. Lincoln-Goldfinch shared with the audience that she has been supported by many women mentors throughout her life, including her mother, who was in attendance at the luncheon. She also shared how inspired she was by her clients, particularly the mothers who sacrifice so much for their families and persevere through great adversity.

A recurring theme among all three honorees was the influence of supportive mentors in their lives, and each pays it forward by mentoring young women attorneys.

Please join TCWLA in congratulating the 2023 Pathfinders!

TCWLA’S MISSION:

• Foster communication among women lawyers.

• Strengthen the image and position of women lawyers in the community.

• Work toward the elimination of gender bias.

• Inform the public about legal issues affecting women.

• Work toward the enhancement of the public perception of the legal profession.

CAROLINE HALL is the TCWLA president for the 2022-23 term.