Cheers to 30 Years!

Congratulations on 30 Years of San Antonio Lawyer®!

A volunteer corps of dedicated bar leaders, editors and contributors manage the flagship magazine of the San Antonio legal community. The award-winning publication has grown from the first 1993 Fall edition, a 28-page black-and-white glossy, to a full-color magazine published 6 times yearly. The magazine continues to include court updates, substantive law articles, and profiles of local community leaders. Along the way, the magazine featured a wine column and restaurant reviews.

The San Antonio community is blessed with a cohort of talented member-authors who enjoy sifting through notes, interpreting data and statutes, and conducting interviews to create interesting substantive law articles and provide insightful profiles of legal legends and community leaders.

The San Antonio Bar community toasts the former and current Editorial boards of San Antonio Lawyer®. Cheers to the next 30 years!

Mark S. Kloster and Curt Cukjati, Co-Editors, 1993-1996

“The first issue of the San Antonio Lawyer went to press in the fall of 1993. I was 30 years old then, and I now have a 30-year-old son who’s been practicing law with my firm for 5 years now, so I am OFFICIALLY old!

[The late] Mark Kloster and I both worked long hours in the litigation section at (then) Cox & Smith. It was Mark’s idea to launch the magazine. We had an idea, sure, but zero experience, talent, or even a blueprint. But the endeavor promised a diversion from the endless discovery and sanctions battles (prevalent in the early ‘90’s), and a chance to continue publishing, which we both enjoyed. The venture also held the promise of meeting other attorneys in a collaborative, social setting. In those early days, every San Antonio Lawyer Board of Editors meeting was full of fun people, creative ideas, lively debate, and alcohol.”

—Curt Cukjati

Hon. Barbara Nellermoe, Editor-in-Chief, 1997-2014

For the first few years, the Editorial Board spent hours batting around ideas for content (we still do!) starting with one-themed issues. We soon realized that we weren’t reaching the broad and diverse interests of the San Antonio legal community. Our focus gradually centered on local bar member-authors. In addition to short, readable articles on various practice points, rules changes, local trends, and historical topics, San Antonio Lawyer has published profiles of many local legal stars and judges, as well as an annual obituary issue to pay due respect to the passing of our colleagues. While there have been regular offers from marketing agencies to increase our output to monthly issues, the Board has resisted this and steadfastly remains a volunteer board of writers and editors and has demonstrated that SAL remains a professional periodical.”

—Hon. Barbara Nellermoe

Sara Murray, Editor-in-Chief, 2014-Current

“To me, the success of San Antonio Lawyer is directly attributable to the dedication and commitment of the Publications Committee members, many of whom have also served since the magazine’s inception. When the COVID pandemic forced us to switch to bi-monthly Zoom meetings, but I wondered how successful that would be. To my delight, the Committee members continued to attend the meetings and work on the magazine, just as they always had done. Switching to Zoom meetings allowed committee members who no longer lived in San Antonio to attend the meetings. All of a sudden, we had people attending our meetings from Washington, D.C., Minnesota, Austin, and wherever else they might be. It has been my honor and privilege to work on the magazine with all these wonderful people. Together, we have shaped San Antonio Lawyer into the award-winning publication it has been for decades now. I invite you to join us on the Publications Committee.”

—Sara Murray