PRESIDENT'S COLUMN AMANDA ARRIAGA, TEXAS CASA
Get to Know the 2022-23 President Meet Amanda Arriaga as She Takes the Helm at Bar
manda Arriaga is the general counsel and chief external relations officer of Texas CASA. She served as president of the Austin Young Lawyers Association during the 2014-15 bar year. She is a graduate of Texas A&M University and The University of Texas School of Law. She was the recipient of the 40 Under 40 Award for the International Association of Chiefs of Police in 2017. She has been a frequent speaker on project management, contract management, and change management.
for multiple people, rather than one person at a time. My first grown-up job out of law school was as a policy advisor for Governor Rick Perry. I had clerked in the Governor’s General Counsel’s office, but, to me, the policy office was where the action was. If you were motivated and worked hard, there was always more to do. I had many different assignments throughout the years, but the one that was constant was border affairs. I helped to establish Governor Perry’s Border Security Council and was the lead policy advisor for the Border Governors Conference. The BGC was an annual event where all of the U.S. and Mexican border governors and their staff worked together on common issues. While we didn’t always agree, the relationship-building was the real goal, and that always got accomplished.
AUSTIN BAR: What was your first job out of law school?
AUSTIN BAR: What has been your career path from then?
ARRIAGA: I always knew my career would be in public service. I liked the idea that that if I could have a role in changing the law, I could potentially make an impact
ARRIAGA: After the Governor’s office, I spent over a decade at the Texas Department of Public Safety, focusing on many different issue areas, including
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overseeing contracts and HR, where I learned that administrative law is fun. This past January, I left state government for a child welfare nonprofit organization, Texas CASA, where I serve as general counsel and chief external relations officer. This job lets me work both sides of my brain: the side that likes administrative law, and the side that likes public policy work. AUSTIN BAR: How long have you been involved with the Austin Bar? ARRIAGA: I joined the Austin Young Lawyers Association right out of law school. I had been part of the Student Bar Association at UT Law, so when I heard about AYLA Docket Call, I showed up to the next one that was scheduled. The first person I met was an outgoing, fun lawyer checking people in. She invited me to sit down and chat with her. A few weeks later, I saw her again at auditions for Bar & Grill. She told me that I HAD to join AYLA and help her out with some projects, and I quickly became the government lawyer representative on
the AYLA board. That lawyer is Amy Welborn, and we have been friends ever since. I served as president of the Austin Young Lawyers Association during the 2014-15 bar year. Not all AYLA presidents decide to go on to join the “Big Bar,” but I had so many ideas and experiences from the AYLA perspective that I decided I needed to join so that I could make a difference on the issues I think are important. One of those issues involves the price of dues. I am proud to say that after raising the issue of government lawyer dues for many years, this past year, we finally created a new dues rate of $95 for all government lawyers and lawyers who work for nonprofits. I hope we will be able to recruit more members from those areas, and that the new members will receive value from the Austin Bar. AUSTIN BAR: What excites you most about being the new president of the Austin Bar? ARRIAGA: People who know me know that I ask a lot of questions, and I am not afraid of change. The answer that bothers me the
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