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A History of the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin
Shaping the Future Through Service
BY (RET.) JUDGE JIM CORONADO
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In celebration of a year of diversity and heritage, the Austin Bar Association has asked me to write a short history of the Hispanic Bar Association of Austin (HBAA). I was present at its formation and served as president of Capital Area Mexican American Lawyers (CAMAL)/HBAA for the 1986- 87 term. Almost 40 years ago, CAMAL/HBAA, was the vision of our first president Richard Pena. Pena envisioned a professional organization of Hispanic lawyers dedicated to community service.
Pena gathered a group of half a dozen likeminded lawyers. We were all in our early 30s and a cohesive and dedicated group. We shared a common vision that our small band could make a positive impact on Travis County and the State Bar of Texas (SBOT). Our objective was to form a collective voice for our local Hispanic legal community.
We gathered in the back room of the law office of our friend and member Thomas Esparza. The original group included Esparza, Pena, David Mendez, Linda Acevedo, Xavier Medina, Robert Ramirez, and myself. We were fortunate to have the counsel of a senior lawyer, Simon Rodriquez, who as one of the few Austin Hispanic legal elders took an interest in our work. Rodriquez, through his friendship with Charlie Smith, then- president of the State Bar, was able to secure for most of us appointments to State Bar standing committees. We also began to serve on Travis County Bar Association (TCBA) committees. Thus began for us a deep involvement in the local and state bar.
Pena had great success with the TCBA and in 1989 became the first Hispanic and person of color to become TCBA president. Pena rose to be the first Hispanic and person of color to become president of the State Bar in 2001. I dedicated myself initially to serving the Hispanic Bar of Texas, serving as chair of the Hispanic Issues Section of the State Bar, then president of the Texas Mexican American Bar Association (David Mendez served as the vice president), and ultimately vice president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. In 2001, I followed in Pena’s path to become the second Hispanic president of the TCBA.
Xavier Medina began his long service on our local grievance committee and on several state legal ethics panels. Linda Acevedo began a 33-year career with the State Bar and rose to chief disciplinary counsel of the SBOT. Mendez became one of the first Hispanic partners in a major law firm in Austin. Esparza, after serving as a justice of the peace, became one of the first Hispanic lawyers in Texas to become a board-certified immigration lawyer. Robert Ramirez unfortunately left Austin.
The 80s and 90s were exciting times for our growing group. We began to network with Hispanic lawyers across the state who were beginning to exert their collective influence in their communities. A very significant year for us was 1989; that was the year we collectively took on the challenge of transforming the State Bar of Texas.
In 1989, the State Bar was at a critical point. It was a year of Sunset Review for the Bar in the Texas Legislature. Many were clamoring to remove self-governance from the State Bar and assign governance to the Texas Supreme Court. It was also a very fortuitous year for our group. In the Legislature, we in Austin were blessed in that our local political representatives, Senator Gonzalo Barrientos and Representative Lena Guerrero, were leading the Sunset Review. Pena had advanced to president of the TCBA, and Mendez and I were leading Mexican-American Bar Association of Texas. Medina had become a leading voice in legal ethics reform in Texas.
We were also blessed with State Bar leadership sympathetic to our issues. The SBOT had elected James Parsons of Palestine to be president. The new executive director was Karen Johnson, the first woman executive director of the SBOT and first woman president of the Travis County Bar Association. The new president of the Texas Young Lawyers Association was a young fellow from Austin, Kirk Watson. At the State Bar we had a great friend, Lulu Flores, the first Hispanic woman to head a State Bar department. She had been hired to be the legislative director for the State Bar to guide it through Sunset.
Our planets had aligned, and we were determined not to let the opportunity pass. We began to formulate a series of changes we believed were critical to improve the State Bar. Our first priority was to implement an annual census of the membership of the SBOT. In 1989, the State Bar had no idea how many minority lawyers of any race or ethnicity were members or where they were located. Without a baseline we could not begin to act to increase our numbers. We insisted on the creation of an Office of Minority Affairs to assist minority and women lawyers to advance their professional goals and professional development. To immediately increase diversity in SBOT governance, we insisted that two minority directors be appointed to represent the underrepresented minority and women lawyers of Texas. We asked that all standing SBOT committees be diversified and that the State Bar local grievance committees be reflective of their communities’ diversity.
We convinced the State Bar leadership to implement our requests. It was a major change for the SBOT and its internal culture. Diversity began to be celebrated and supported. Minority achievements were recognized. The census was initiated, and we began to understand the depth of our challenge to increase diversity. The Office of Minority Affairs was created and began to actively assist our work. Lulu Flores guided the amendment of the State Bar Act, our first at-large director positions were created, and Gloria Leal of Austin and Antonio Alvarado of Laredo were appointed. Alvarado later rose to be the first Hispanic executive director of the SBOT. Flores later served at every level of leadership of the Hispanic Bar of Austin and Texas before she became president of the National Women’s Political Caucus.
As the 90s began, we had accomplished many of our goals to increase diversity within the SBOT. Our leadership shifted to a younger generation more integrated into the legal community than we had been. CAMAL morphed into HBAA. The newer generation sought to make a direct impact on Austin and the education and support of Hispanic students. Under the leadership of HBAA presidents Lulu Flores, Ray Bonilla, Rudy Colmenero, Elizabeth Garcia, and Pat Escobedo, the HBAA Foundation was created. The Foundation has made and continues to make a lasting impact on the community.
I will rely on younger lawyers to tell HBAA’s history over the last 25 years. As for me, I take great pride in my cohort of colleagues who worked tirelessly to diversify and change the Texas legal profession. To those who nurture our flame, I salute you. ¡Adelante! AL
(Ret.) Judge Jim Coronado served as district court judge of the 427th district court from 2009 to 2017. Judge Coronado is a past president of the Travis County/Austin Bar.
