Hispanic Bar Association of Austin Remembers Beginnings, Looks to Future

BY LAURA DE LA GARZA

The Hispanic Bar Association of Austin, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year, met virtually in September and featured a panel discussion with the organization’s founding members, Jim Coronado, Tom Esparza, Xavier Medina, David Mendez, and Richard Peña. The panel was moderated by Judge Maya Guerra Gamble. In remembering the organization’s beginnings, the panelists shared their ideas about how to apply the founding principles—increasing diversity in the State Bar and serving minority communities—to our law practices today.

The HBAA formally began in 1995, after a previous group of Mexican-American attorneys fractured over support for two members running for the same judicial office. As a result, the founding members created the organization with an emphasis on unity. They felt that Hispanic lawyers in Austin, and the Hispanic community in general, needed a voice in the legal profession. They met regularly over beer and tacos to discuss current issues and how they could help improve the situation for Hispanics.

The goals of the organization, then and now, have always been to provide equal justice for all and to help the State Bar reflect the diversity of our state. According to the State Bar, just 10% of attorneys in Texas are Hispanic, compared to almost 40% of the state’s population. Peña and Coronado recalled the day when they walked into the office of then-State Bar president Jim Parsons with a list of demands for the State Bar to increase diversity. These demands included items like creating an Office of Minority Affairs within the State Bar and tracking the number of Hispanics graduating from law school and being hired by law firms. To their amazement, Parsons agreed on all items and began to implement those changes. Coronado explained how, as a judge, he felt it was important for members of the Hispanic community coming before his court to see someone who looked like them presiding over their case. Research shows that descriptive representation in government, or seeing officials whose characteristics mirror that of the population, increases public trust in government and encourages participation.

Research shows that descriptive representation in government, or seeing officials whose characteristics mirror that of the population, increases public trust in government and encourages participation.

While the panelists recalled beginning their law practices against outright discrimination, they also described how they fought more subtle, even unintentional discrimination. Medina remembered how Hispanic attorneys were disproportionately impacted by harsher sanctions from local grievance panels and, at the same time, underrepresented on those panels. At that time, the attorneys who were appointed to serve on the grievance panels were typically those who worked at big law firms, had lots of connections, and were mostly white. They gave more lenient sanctions to the attorneys they knew and worked with—other big law firm attorneys who were also white. Minority attorneys, many of whom worked for small firms or as solo practitioners, didn’t personally know anyone on the panel. As a result, they would receive a harsher punishment. Medina helped break this cycle by serving on a grievance panel himself, which led him to serve on other statewide committees. He, like the rest of the panelists, encouraged all attorneys to become involved with extracurricular activities like this. Even though we’re busy, it helps open the door for others.

Today the HBAA carries on the founders’ mission by providing scholarships to Hispanic undergraduate and law students, many of whom are the first in their families to attend college or law school. The HBAA also participates in producing the Diversity Report Card, which compares diversity at specific law firms to the diversity of the greater Travis County attorney population. It gives a letter grade to the firms in an effort to encourage them to consider their own diversity and inclusion practices when hiring. In addition, the HBAA participates in community service each holiday season by contributing Thanksgiving meals and Christmas presents to families in need. More information about each of these activities can be found on the organization’s website, hispanicbaraustin.com.

The panelists agreed that attorneys, whether Hispanic or not, have an obligation to use their positions to create opportunities for minorities and help make the bar more diverse and reflective of the state’s population. We can do this any number of ways, such as teaching, mentoring, recruiting, fundraising, or serving on a board of directors. Racial and gender diversity are critically important in the legal profession, especially when Texas will soon become a majority-minority state.

The Austin Bar Association has created an opportunity for all attorneys to work on attaining these goals by creating the Equity Committee. The committee will host an Austin Bar Equity Summit, lead media events, and facilitate discussions designed to increase understanding with the goal of bringing about inner change to inspire external results. The committee will also compile resources for people seeking guidance on issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion.

We each have a duty to the Austin community and the legal profession to make the bar more diverse and inclusive, and to work together to create substantial, lasting change. AL

Laura de la Garza is a legislative attorney and current secretary of the HBAA.