Meet Austin Lawyer’s New Managing Editor, Billy Huntsman

Huntsman Has Been Hired as Austin Bar’s New Communications and Membership Development Director

Hi, I’m Billy Huntsman. I’m the new communications and membership development director at the Austin Bar. I’ll also be the new managing editor for Austin Lawyer. I don’t like talking about myself, but for the sake of familiarizing myself to you, I will.

I’m originally from Albuquerque, N.M. and lived there until I moved to Las Cruces. I lived there for six years, majoring in journalism at New Mexico State University. Why no one held an intervention for me to ask the question, “Why are you majoring in a dying industry?” I don’t know.

Nonetheless, journalism allowed me to pursue my passion, which is telling stories. Stories are at the heart of any successful organization. Stories are the protein— without protein, an organization, the body, dies.

In my role at Austin Bar, I have two main responsibilities: telling the stories of the association and creating value for our membership. These responsibilities go well together.

How can we recruit new members without telling the stories of our current members?

How can we retain members?

How can we get more attendees to our CLE events?

The answer to these questions is: We can’t, unless we tell the stories of the Austin Bar.

But in order to tell our stories, I need your help.

I’m not a lawyer, nor am I omnipresent, omniscient, or omnipotent. There are stories in the Austin Bar I will never hear about on my own, or that I won’t be able to understand the magnitude of.

That’s where you come in. You can tell the stories of the Austin Bar yourself.

Now you may be thinking to yourself, “Well, I’m not really a writer, I don’t even like writing briefs.” Or, “Well, I’d love to write about this or that, but I’m just swamped with my caseload, I don’t have the time.”

That’s fine, that’s where I come in and we can discuss your idea.

Maybe you don’t know where to start—I can help you narrow down to the protein of your story.

Maybe you don’t have the time—give me the broad strokes of the story. I’ll get a draft to you to look over and add any missing details. Frankly, it’s easier to be an editor than a writer.

Or maybe you don’t have story ideas, but you’re really impressed with some colleagues and want other lawyers to hear about some of their recent accomplishments. Send me the kudos you want to put out there, and I’ll make sure all our membership sees it in Austin Lawyer.

I’ll finish this article by quoting a question Austin Bar President Amanda Arriaga recently posed to our section chairs at a board meeting: “Are you getting what you need from the Austin Bar?”

If the answer is “No” in any regard, please reach out to us.

In the short time that I’ve been here, I’ve seen the dedication and approachability of all the staff. I promise I’m the same way.

We all want to help you succeed individually, and also want the Austin Bar to succeed.

Q&A WITH BILLY HUNTSMAN

Rachael Jones, editor-in-chief of Austin Lawyer, sat down with Billy Huntsman for a quick Q&A as Huntsman begins his journey with the Austin Bar Association as communications and membership development director.

AUSTIN BAR: You must have some great stories from being a journalist. What are some memorable moments?

HUNTSMAN: I covered all sorts of stories and have the burden of a good memory to remember them, particularly how boring city council and county commissioner meetings are. My favorite story, though, had to do with monks coming to a vineyard in Las Cruces to pick grapes for the vintner. The vintner didn’t have enough workers, so the monks offered to do it if the vintner would give them some of the wine. I arrived at the vineyard before the break of dawn and was there when the monks came. I interviewed a few of them as they were picking grapes, and I remember how content they were. They didn’t talk a lot at the monastery, but in the rows they were very vocal and goading each other on.

AUSTIN BAR: What are some of your goals as the new communications and membership development director?

HUNTSMAN: My main goal is to tell the stories the Austin Bar has. If we do that well and if we do that enough, the message of how great Austin Bar is will get out there. As newer generations enter the legal profession, there’s a trend to isolate, instead of network. I understand that to an extent: I’m a younger person, and I used to roll my eyes whenever I’d hear someone say, “You gotta network!” But to be an effective attorney—and to be a healthy attorney—you do have to network. The Austin Bar is invaluable for the networking opportunities it provides. All you as a member have to do is take advantage of those opportunities.

AUSTIN BAR: What are some goals for the Bar as a whole for helping to support lawyers?

HUNTSMAN: We’re always looking for ways to provide support and value for our members. We know one of the biggest challenges our sections have right now is the lack of free or low-cost space to host CLEs. In a couple of months, we’re excited to be able to offer our on-site conference room, which sections can use to host CLEs. We also just launched a free app, which you can download on the App Store and the Google Play Store. You can manage your memberships on it and view digital copies of CLE materials on it. Soon, you’ll also start getting jury trial update notifications through the app, so make sure you have notifications turned on for it in your settings.

AUSTIN BAR: Do you need attorneys to submit articles and content for the monthly magazine or website?

HUNTSMAN: Absolutely. This isn’t “our” magazine, this is your magazine. Is there something you’d like to see in the magazine? Write it up and send it to us—or tell us about it and we can find someone to write about it. Is there a topic you think is worth covering month-to-month? Suggest it to us. We want this magazine to be as valuable to you as possible, just as we want Austin Bar to be as valuable to you as possible.