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The Quiet Architect of Order Patricia “Patty” Rouse Vargas
The Quiet Architect of Order
Patricia “Patty” Rouse Vargas
By June Moynihan
In the bustling heart of San Antonio’s legal community, a quiet revolution is unfolding. At its center stands Patricia “Patty” Rouse Vargas, the incoming San Antonio Bar Association president. But don’t expect fiery speeches or dramatic courtroom antics from this legal luminary. Patty’s revolution is one of order, structure, and a refreshing dose of humor. It has been nearly two decades since a transactional practitioner has led SABA. “Transactional attorneys tend to stay in the background and partner with the litigators when needed,” Patty jokes.
Patty manages a practice of probate and estate planning at the law firm of Davis & Santos, PLLC, working alongside her husband, litigator, and SBOT President-elect Santos Vargas. Santos says, “Before Patty joined the firm, we routinely referred transactional work to her firm, and her firm was referring out litigation to us. Patty is a strategic addition professionally, and it was a great decision for our family.”
Patty reflects on her path to the Bar Association’s presidency as we sit in her office, surrounded by meticulously labeled Redwells and yellow pads covered in her precise handwriting. “I don’t have any remarkable controversy or hardship that inspired me to become a lawyer,” she admits with a wry smile. “I just like rules.” This penchant for order is not merely a professional quirk; it is the cornerstone of Patty’s entire worldview. In a profession often characterized by adversarial relationships and high-stakes conflicts, she stands out as a quiet but powerful force for collaboration and structure. Her weapon of choice? Probate and estate planning—a field that allows her to create order from chaos and build bridges where others might see only walls.
Patty’s journey to the top of San Antonio’s legal community is as unconventional as her approach to law. The eldest of four children born to a cardiothoracic surgeon and a radiologist, Patty grew up in a household where expectations were high and teamwork was essential. “There were a lot of expectations, and we all went with the flow,” she recalls. “Whether it was something every day, like helping around the house—or monumental, like going to college—we knew the expectations, and all four of us wanted to do our part.”
This early training in managing chaos served Patty well. Her mother, Dr. Veronica Rouse, remembers those early years with a mix of pride and amusement. “It was the early eighties, and women in medicine were not represented in large numbers,” she recalls. “I was the first woman in the practice, and there were few role models to look to. I loved my work, but balancing it all was not easy. At home, everyone pitched in, kids included.”
Perhaps this early exposure to problem-solving led all four Rouse children—Patty, Katy, Steven, and Patrick—to choose law as their career path, much to their parents’ surprise. Their mother muses, “It was a given that they would all attend graduate school. While it would have been nice for at least one of the children to try medicine, the siblings influence one another so much.” It only took one to demonstrate that law was an interesting and feasible career path for the rest to see the benefit. Patty graduated from St. Mary’s University School of Law in 2002, Katy graduated from Georgetown Law in 2003; Steven and Patrick followed Patty’s footsteps at St. Mary’s, graduating in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Patrick noted that they all participated in the San Antonio Young Lawyers Association: “I am pretty sure there was always a Rouse SAYLA member for at least a decade.” This included Patty’s first go at bar leadership when she served as the 2014 SAYLA President.
As the eldest, Patty naturally assumed a leadership role within the family. Patrick jokingly refers to it as “just being bossy,” but there’s an undercurrent of admiration in his tone. Steven offers a more nuanced take: “She always preferred ordered chaos to standard chaos. Our home was always humming with activity. If we started a game, Patty immediately wanted to set up rules and inject some structure.” These early tendencies for order and fairness manifested in amusing and touching ways. Her sister Katy recalls a lovely example when they were all very young, involving a pull-out couch in the family playroom. “Somehow, opening the couch into a bed became a privilege everyone fought over. It evolved into Patty’s creating this ritual to keep it civil.” Whenever the siblings had a sleepover, every child solemnly waited to take their ceremonial turn to flip out the couch, which would be closed immediately for the next child or guest to open. “She never questioned how lame it was that you wanted to open the couch. She affirmed your right to open the couch, and everyone got a turn, so it was fair,” Katy recalls.
This commitment to fairness and support has remained constant in Patty’s life, informing her relationships and professional approach. Ashley Gray, a longtime friend and fellow attorney, notes, “Patty is so supportive and without judgment. If you say something is important to you, Patty treats it as important.” Ashley is part of an attorney-mom foursome that meet for coffee. “We have known each other since our formative years as St. Mary’s Hall classmates. She has always been this way. We have worked together, and we have worked on opposite sides. I can trust that Patty will be a team player to get the issue resolved.”
But do not mistake Patty’s fairness for a lack of competitive spirit. The Rouse family’s tight bond extends to the next generation, totaling twenty-one adults and children who often gather at the family’s house on Lake Buchanan. Here, summers are filled with family traditions and friendly competitions, where Patty’s competitive streak sometimes breaks through. There are tournaments where randomly assigned teams of two (one child, one adult) compete in everything from cornhole to a shoetoss. Up for grabs is a much-coveted traveling trophy. Steven shares some new family lore that “[t]here is some question about the 2020 summer championship with claims that Patty underfilled her balloon toss balloons so they would not break,” he explains, his tone a mixture of exasperation and amusement. “The award ceremony was slightly tainted that year.”
Her siblings claimed that Patty enjoyed special treatment because she was the oldest and illustrated this point by sharing that Patty was the only child entrusted with cutting the grass with the riding mower. “Well,” their father explains diplomatically, “Patty was the only one who stuck around to learn how to ride it.” One summer, all four kids insisted on learning to operate the mower. During the demanded lesson, the mower broke down, as it occasionally did. Dr. Rouse completed the simple but labor-intensive repair to discover that the three youngest had abandoned the project. Patty remained, handing him tools, and thereafter remained the only kid allowed on the mower. “Patty has always finished what she started, no matter how difficult, and continues to exhibit that tenacity in her professional and personal life,” her father concludes.
Santos shares that Patty was instrumental in the success of his recent State Bar of Texas presidential campaign. “Patty is an amazing life partner, and if she is on your team, you just feel like you can do it. You want Patty on your side; she is determined.”
The Bar community witnessed Patty’s determination during the most recent legislative session. San Antonio probate
attorneys have been asking for a third Probate Court for nearly twenty years. It is an unwritten acknowledgment that a community needs one Statutory Probate Court for every 500,000 residents, so at 2 million residents, Bexar County was especially understaffed. The pandemic-related spike in probate court cases highlighted what was to come if the infrastructure did not expand.
Also, the leaders and the community did not completely understand the nature of probate courts. While most courts have a clear beginning and ending with their cases, probate courts handle matters with indeterminate end dates. Probate courts hold hearings and trials but they also handle administrative cases that can last years, if not decades, as they monitor mental health cases, conservatorships, and guardianships. This quieter docket requires annual reports related to the client’s physical and mental well-being but also to the state of the client’s home and financial situation. Probate Courts are a key player in how a community delivers on the promise to care for the most vulnerable members of the population.
The path to adding a court is winding. Stakeholders include local elected officials and county staff, legislative committees, and the various elected state officials and staff needed to build a bill and authorize funding. The 2023 legislative session was shaping up to be a promising possibility. In January 2022, Patty was the SABA Probate Court Committee Chair, and one of her priorities was to advocate for the creation of a third probate court.
Probate Court #1 Judge Veronica Vasquez explains, “We saw an opportunity in the 2023 legislative session to work on achieving her goal. I remember phoning her in January for us to get started. You can always count on Patty to work hard and make things happen, from the third Probate Court to the [Polly Jackson Spencer Probate] American Inns of Court, Patty Vargas has made a tremendous impact on the Probate Court system,” Judge Vasquez adds.
Patty immediately picked up the phone and began rallying the troops to make it happen. Between the lobbyists and legislators, Patty made sure to keep everyone informed and on track. “Every week,” Patty recalls, “the feedback from the legislature was so mixed; we were not sure how this would end.” When the bill was finally signed, there was little fanfare. Patty remembers, “We logged into the system to check the bill’s status. It had been signed a few days prior! It was such a mix of reward and relief.”
Looking forward to her year as SABA President, Patty hopes to use her unique perspective and past leadership experience to benefit the Bar and the community. Her blend of competitiveness and fairness serves Patty well in her professional life. “Litigators often have to argue that someone is right and the other is wrong,” Patty reflects. “Hopefully, my work as a transactional attorney can help avoid much of that discord. A properly prepared document can preserve family harmony.”
Patty’s ability to create harmony extends beyond her immediate circle. She serves in leadership roles in SABA, the Polly Jackson Spencer Probate American Inn of Court, and the San Antonio Estate Planners Council, which brings together CPAs, wealth managers, trust officers, and other professionals in the field. Amelia Edelman, a fellow attorney who counts Patty as a mentor and friend, describes her as “a supportive and quiet leader” who has an “incredible ability to make” people “feel heard and valued.” As Edelman explains, “Patty celebrates our triumphs and supports us through our challenges. It’s not just about the law with her; it’s about building a community.”
As Patty prepares to take on her role as president of the San Antonio Bar Association, she brings this unique blend of competitiveness, fairness, and a deep-seated desire for order and harmony. Her plans for her tenure reflect this approach. “I have been working on a project to present to the county for the installation of portable mother’s rooms that lawyers and the public can access at the Bexar County Courthouse complex,” she explains. “This would eliminate worry and stress for those in this important stage of life.”
She also hopes to help bring a Bench Bar CLE conference to members. “Through my bar work, I’ve been lucky to develop relationships with judges and a variety of practitioners. Because of these relationships, I’ve been able to extend my referral network, which will be of assistance in my service to the Bar.” Patty wants to ensure that more practitioners share in those advantages. “I think all practitioners benefit from knowing their professional community outside of their practice area,” she continues, “and a learning Bench-Bar event is a great way to allow people to contribute as organizers, presenters, and participants.”
Patty reflects on some of her early life decisions that led her to this point. “My plan A was to go to a giant football school in a small college town and immerse myself in tradition,” she muses. “Instead, I landed at a small college of 2,000 students in a city with a vibrant nightlife. It was the ideal scale for me to navigate as a young adult.” She pauses, then smiles and adds, “The backup plan was better than the original plan.”
Indeed, it seems the universe—or perhaps just Patty’s innate ability to find order in chaos—has guided her to exactly where she needs to be. As she steps into her new role at the San Antonio Bar Association, one thing is clear: the legal community of San Antonio is in for a different kind of leadership. We are about to experience the quiet, transformative power of Patty Rouse Vargas: a leader who knows that sometimes the most effective way to create change is not through bold declarations or dramatic gestures, but through careful planning, fair play, and a steadfast commitment to bringing out the best in others.
In a world that often celebrates the loudest voices and the most aggressive players, Patty Rouse Vargas reminds us of the power of quiet competence, fairness in the face of competition, and the profound impact that can be made by someone who seeks to create a little more order in the chaos of life. As she takes the helm of the San Antonio Bar Association, one cannot help but feel that the legal community is in excellent hands—hands equally adept at drafting complex estate plans, encouraging friendly competition, and gently steering a community toward greater harmony and collaboration.
June Moynihan is the executive director of the San Antonio Bar Association.
